Go Back   Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB > All Miscellaneous questions > Travellers' questions that don't fit anywhere else
Travellers' questions that don't fit anywhere else This is an opportunity to ask any question, and post any notice you wish that doesn't fit into one of the other sections.
Photo by Ulrike Hahnel, Rock Formations on the Lagune Route, Bolivia

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Ulrike Hahnel,
Rock Formations on the
Lagune Route, Bolivia



Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 18 Feb 2015
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,598
Being in a foreign country without a passport

In June my passport runs out. I live in France. To renew it I have to send my passport with the forms, paper work etc to the UK passport office who expect to take about six weeks to process a new passport for me. During that Time I will be in France illegally without a passport or the means to return to the UK should any kind of family emergency arise ( like my 90 year old mother currently in a home).

Does anyone have any idea how I can remain legal whilst I await a new passport, Also what happens if it gets lost in the post etc?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 18 Feb 2015
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Kalimantan
Posts: 25
No major worries, just done my renewal have a read here.... https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 18 Feb 2015
mollydog's Avatar
R.I.P.
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: california
Posts: 3,824
I don't think you would be "illegal" in France just because your passport is not in your hands. It's still a valid passport and if there is a record of your entry, then you are legal. But as I recall there is NO passport check between UK and France unless arriving by air. I've done a few Ferry runs ... no passport required going either way IIRC. Ride your bike!!!

Dunno about UK, but in USA I was advised by US state dept. to use my expired passport (which I carry when on the road) in case my current passport was stolen or lost.

It's still works as basic I.D. though not valid for passing borders without background checks. If anyone in authority wants to check further, they can.

Just because my passport is stolen does not mean I am not a valid passport holder, I am, and the Us State Dept. can validate that in 10 seconds with a computer check.

I'm sure Brit govt. (and French) have something similar as Passports are lost, stolen and misplaced dozens a month I would think.

Good luck. We have to pay MORE to speed up the re-newal process. Typical.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 18 Feb 2015
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Wessex, UK
Posts: 2,136
Hang on to your expiring passport and apply for a second stating that you need one because you live in France and might have to come back for your mother, it is worth a try.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...sport-my-33725
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 18 Feb 2015
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Invercockaleaky.
Posts: 1
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldbmw View Post
In June my passport runs out. I live in France. To renew it I have to send my passport with the forms, paper work etc to the UK passport office
I think as a French resident you can send your passport to Paris for renewal.
https://www.gov.uk/government/world/...-embassy-paris.

I have never been asked for my passport whilst in France (15year)
I have been asked for ID. I use my driving licence
It'll also be worth taking a photocopy of your old passport (Just in case)

Bot
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 18 Feb 2015
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Oxford UK
Posts: 2,116
Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog View Post
But as I recall there is NO passport check between UK and France unless arriving by air. I've done a few Ferry runs ... no passport required going either way IIRC. Ride your bike!!!
Sadly that's not the case. Going out by boat from the UK more often than not the French authorities are not bothered and just wave you through. Not always but probably four times out of five. Coming back is a different matter - the UK mob want the whole lot - not only passport presented but helmet etc off if you're on a bike and individual faces peering through the window one at a time if you're in a car to compare you with your photograph.

You'll then get the sniffer dogs growling at you while you're waiting for the ship to turn up and then the contents of your car turned out while they check your steering wheel for dynamite traces or drugs or whatever at the customs post. Welcome to the UK
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 18 Feb 2015
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 4,343
Quote:
Originally Posted by backofbeyond View Post
Sadly that's not the case. Going out by boat from the UK more often than not the French authorities are not bothered and just wave you through. Not always but probably four times out of five. Coming back is a different matter - the UK mob want the whole lot - not only passport presented but helmet etc off if you're on a bike and individual faces peering through the window one at a time if you're in a car to compare you with your photograph.

You'll then get the sniffer dogs growling at you while you're waiting for the ship to turn up and then the contents of your car turned out while they check your steering wheel for dynamite traces or drugs or whatever at the customs post. Welcome to the UK
Broadly true and, unfortunately, totally necessary these days; funny how times change but Mollydog is remembering the good old days when there was a balance of power in the world and everyone toed the line; now there are lots of folks out there who have no experience of that world and who demand their rights to rule the world by whatever means.
__________________
Dave
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 18 Feb 2015
chris's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: GOC
Posts: 3,330
I recently applied for and received a new UK passport. The process took 2 weeks, despite the advised 6.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 18 Feb 2015
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Bristol UK
Posts: 104
my renewal also took 2 weeks but I used the post office check and send service..

Also ref passport control. I recently rode from UK to France and the passport control just wved me through without checking but on the way back I was stopped and asked to remove helmet to confirm passport tied up with me on the bike
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 18 Feb 2015
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Oxford UK
Posts: 2,116
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walkabout View Post
Broadly true and, unfortunately, totally necessary these days; funny how times change but Mollydog is remembering the good old days when there was a balance of power in the world and everyone toed the line; now there are lots of folks out there who have no experience of that world and who demand their rights to rule the world by whatever means.
I'm not convinced it's that necessary tbh. Nobody stops me when I drive from France to Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy or Spain (or any combination thereof). Their societies are not falling apart (any more than ours anyway) because of open borders and it's not as if we don't have any experience of it - you can go from the Republic of Ireland to the UK (Northern Ireland) and all you see is a signpost. If terrorism was the major concern you'd think that would be one border where everyone was strip searched.

It's just island mentality. We (They) keep track of everyone's movements and cross reference travel documents (like ferry bookings) with actual movement because they can - it's easy with only half a dozen ferry routes and a few airlines. It wouldn't be so easy if there were a thousand roads over a land border with France.

What Shengen Europeans think when they arrive at Dover God only knows. Not only does the place look like a Borstal as built by Top Gear, they're treated as guilty until proved innocent by a bunch of grim faced prison guards. For the sake of the tourist industry I can only hope some of it gets lost in translation.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 18 Feb 2015
mollydog's Avatar
R.I.P.
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: california
Posts: 3,824
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walkabout View Post
Broadly true and, unfortunately, totally necessary these days; funny how times change but Mollydog is remembering the good old days when there was a balance of power in the world and everyone toed the line; now there are lots of folks out there who have no experience of that world and who demand their rights to rule the world by whatever means.
Right you are Dave. In 2003 no document checks that I recall. "Good Old Days" indeed. Now a different world!

I like the idea of applying for new British passport at the UK embassy in
Paris. Might be faster, dunno?

I've used US embassies twice for similar things ... once in Ecuador, where I got a NEW passport on the spot. One hour. Place was empty!

Another time in El Salvador, had pages added. Leave passport ... pick up next day. No charge back then.

Sadly, those days are LONG GONE. Now they look upon everyone like they are a criminal or ter rorrist ... I'll be foreign tourists arriving in USA now get
the 3rd degree too. Makes you want to turn straight around and go home!
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 18 Feb 2015
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 4,343
Quote:
Originally Posted by backofbeyond View Post
I'm not convinced it's that necessary tbh. Nobody stops me when I drive from France to Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy or Spain (or any combination thereof). Their societies are not falling apart (any more than ours anyway) because of open borders and it's not as if we don't have any experience of it - you can go from the Republic of Ireland to the UK (Northern Ireland) and all you see is a signpost. If terrorism was the major concern you'd think that would be one border where everyone was strip searched.

It's just island mentality. We (They) keep track of everyone's movements and cross reference travel documents (like ferry bookings) with actual movement because they can - it's easy with only half a dozen ferry routes and a few airlines. It wouldn't be so easy if there were a thousand roads over a land border with France.

What Shengen Europeans think when they arrive at Dover God only knows. Not only does the place look like a Borstal as built by Top Gear, they're treated as guilty until proved innocent by a bunch of grim faced prison guards. For the sake of the tourist industry I can only hope some of it gets lost in translation.
Well somehow we went way and the question of the OP has been pretty much answered in any case.

So, there is no point in pursuing this particular line -- if it is of interest, then the BBC iPlayer can bring up a programme called "bitter lake" which, to me, says why nation states are about the best we humans can manage at present; by no means perfect but that's more or less what Churchill said about democracy.
You will need to set aside over two hours of your life for the full bitter lake, but it is worth it.

And yes, the whole of Dover exudes a dismal air;basically it is in decline like many other seaside towns of the UK.
__________________
Dave
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 19 Feb 2015
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,598
Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog View Post
I like the idea of applying for new British passport at the UK embassy in
Paris. Might be faster, dunno?

!
My last passport I got at an embassy (Bordeaux) but this service is no longer available in embassies

For at least ten years now passports are checked at both ends of a ferry crossing. There were times back before 9/11 when the French would just wave you through.

Point is if I am stopped by gendarmes et al and they ask for my identity I wont have any which is illegal in France.

I have a bloody minded idea to go through the French port entry then post off my passport for renewal and just see how much it costs them when I end up between countries with no way to land on either.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 19 Feb 2015
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Cornwall, in the far southwest of England, UK
Posts: 597
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walkabout View Post
-- if it is of interest, then the BBC iPlayer can bring up a programme called "bitter lake" which, to me, says why nation states are about the best we humans can manage at present
I agree, an excellent feature documentary, although a little slow in places in my opinion. I've now watched it through twice. Superb [read: unusual] background music too.

For those that can't access BBC's iPlayer, then the film can be viewed on YouTube. Here's the link: Adam Curtis - "Bitter Lake"

.
__________________
Right Way Round ...

Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 Registered Users and/or Members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Complete Central America/Mexico/Colombia Border Crossing Information sellheim Central America and Mexico 30 6 Mar 2023 23:33
Buying and registering a motorcycle in Chile timyarb Trip Paperwork 16 2 Jan 2018 18:55
Buying a bike in Arg or Uru for travel to Colombia JimAiken SOUTH AMERICA 25 5 Aug 2013 18:31
Getting Visa for Pakistan in a foreign country? dakaralex Trip Paperwork 19 3 Sep 2012 16:38
Buying a bike in a foreign country muppet8mycat Travellers' questions that don't fit anywhere else 0 12 Aug 2012 14:28

 
 

Announcements

Thinking about traveling? Not sure about the whole thing? Watch the HU Achievable Dream Video Trailers and then get ALL the information you need to get inspired and learn how to travel anywhere in the world!

Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's the list of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now
, and add your information if we didn't find you.

Next HU Eventscalendar

ALL Dates subject to change.

2024:

  • California: April 18-21
  • Virginia: April 25-28
  • Germany Summer: May 9-12
  • Québec: May 17-19
  • Bulgaria Mini: July 5-7
  • CanWest: July 11-14
  • Switzerland: August 15-18
  • Ecuador: August 23-25
  • Romania: August 30-Sept 1
  • Austria: September 12-15
  • France: September 20-22
  • Germany Autumn: Oct 31-Nov 3

2025 Confirmed Events:

  • Virginia: April 24-27 2025
  • Queensland is back! May 2-4 2025
  • Germany Summer: May 29-June 1 2025
  • CanWest: July 10-13 2025
  • Switzerland: Date TBC
  • Ecuador: Date TBC
  • Romania: Date TBC
  • Austria: Sept. 11-15
  • California: September 18-21
  • France: September 19-21 2025
  • Germany Autumn: Oct 30-Nov 2 2025

Add yourself to the Updates List for each event!

Questions about an event? Ask here

See all event details

 
World's most listened to Adventure Motorbike Show!
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...

Adventurous Bikers – We've got all your Hygiene & Protection needs SORTED! Powdered Hair & Body Wash, Moisturising Cream Insect Repellent, and Moisturising Cream Sunscreen SPF50. ESSENTIAL | CONVENIENT | FUNCTIONAL.

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)



Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance.

Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.

Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.

Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!


 

What others say about HU...

"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia

"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK

"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia

"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA

"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada

"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa

"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia

"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany

Lots more comments here!



Five books by Graham Field!

Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook

"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.



Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!

New to Horizons Unlimited?

New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!

Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.

Susan and Grant Johnson Read more about Grant & Susan's story

Membership - help keep us going!

Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.

You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.




All times are GMT +1. The time now is 23:49.