How to renew a British passport from Japan

Around summer last year I started looking into how to renew a British passport from Japan.

The situation was this - I was the holder of a standard 10-year British passport (EU style) in good condition, due to expire in May of 2022. I’m a “British Citizen'' (as written in my passport) born and bred and my looks haven't changed very much over the last decade. Oh, and my name hasn’t changed.

This was my second time to renew a British passport while living in Japan. My memory is vague about what happened the first time around but I think the U.K. embassy in Tokyo might have been involved and I definitely remember having to send the passport itself to Hong Kong to be checked and have a new one printed from there, as was standard procedure at that time.

Ahead of this latest renewal I was largely aware that it would be done either online, without any need to involve the embassy, unlike other nations it seems. 

My primary concern about this renewal, apart from having to be in a foreign land while my passport was in the postal system somewhere, was that with the novel coronavirus pandemic having grounded a lot of flights it might take longer than usual to get things done, if at all. 

As it was, I submitted the application online in late November, sent my (now) old passport back to the U.K. within a week after, and received my new passport just before Christmas Day, so the process took about one month, let’s say. 

The primary cause of frustration regarding how to renew a British passport from Japan was that the relevant page of the GOV.UK website was / is not very forthcoming about the information they require from applicants in order to complete and process their application. Basically, I wanted to see what questions the application was going to ask before actually going ahead and attempting to complete said application.  

Anyway, as far as I could see, the only way to find out what information you need to provide with your application is to go ahead and actually start doing the application, which is a step-by-step process, meaning you can’t get an overall sense of how long it’s going to take / how many questions there are e.t.c. In which case then you presumably have to see it through to the end rather than give up halfway through if / when you don’t have the necessary information to hand.  

The prospect of this troubled me, so I’m writing this to assure most applicants that actually, the information you need to provide (in a simple renewal like mine) is very straightforward. But let me take you through the basics. Please note, this is all being done online via the GOV.UK website which is, as far as I could gather, the only way to renew a British passport from overseas.

Uploading a passport photo

Really the first issue to resolve is getting the passport photo. Under the current online system you have the option to upload an image which you might have taken yourself. Plenty of information is provided as to the requirements (lighting, background, hair positioning, facial expression etc) but it all comes with the caveat that images taken yourself are more likely to be rejected and thus slow down the application process.

It should be noted that the online passport application system will not let you proceed with the rest of the application until you have uploaded an acceptable passport photo.

You can, of course, upload passport photos taken from the passport / I.D. photo booths that are easy enough to find in Japan. However, it needs to be a booth which offers the option to send the image data to your smartphone - just getting a photo printed is no good here. 

I used one of the booths with the name “Ki-Re-i” (https://www.dnpphoto.jp/products/kirei/) on it. This required downloading and installing the related app to my phone. You then have your picture taken as usual but make sure to check the option enabling you to download the image data. This is done via a QR code that comes with the receipt printed out at the booth. The QR code is time-limited (to about a week, I think).  

In terms of using the Ki-Rei-i photo booth, I had no issues. The photo size was fine, and even though there was no option to select a color background, the default color was fine. I got the image uploaded to my smartphone without any issues. When I then uploaded it to the GOV.UK application system, it was deemed to be fine. (I guess, though, that the system itself isn’t the final judge of photo quality. It must come down to an official in an office somewhere.) 

A quick note on getting the passport photo taken - the photo booth option cost about 1,000 yen (for smartphone transfer and prints). I also checked out a photo shop which offered a package of prints, CD, and smartphone transfer for around 4,000 yen. Use the photo booth!

Completing the online passport application

On with the application then. It’s very simple, although I might be missing one or two details in this guide: 

Old passport information - passport number, expiration date - I think that was pretty much it.

New passport information - title, first / middle / last name(s), date of birth, town of birth, gender, country of birth, among others. 

Home address, contact details - need to be careful here as this is where the new passport will be sent. Contact details in the form of telephone number and email address. 

As I mentioned, all of this is a step-by-step process at the end of which you finally get the chance to review all of the information entered and make any necessary changes before confirming your application thus far.

At this point a screen details the supporting documents you are required to send along with your current passport, if any. In my case, I just needed to send the passport.  

Making the payment

The next stage of the application process is to pay for your new passport - £86 at the time of applying for a standard passport, £19.86 for the delivery of your new passport and canceled old passport (sent separately), £105.86 in total. 

I paid this by credit card (Apple Pay and G Pay were among the options). After completing the payment I was taken to a screen detailing what to do next - send current passport back to the U.K. - and how to track the application (by way of a reference number).

And here’s the bit that most Brits renewing a passport while based in Japan won’t be keen on - yes, you do have to send your current passport all the way back to the U.K. Somewhere in Durham, as I remember. 

Some Spartan advice is offered about how to send your passport back - sturdy envelope, signed delivery. 

Sending passport back to the U.K.

I sent my passport back using Japan Post’s EMS tracking service which involved creating an account with JP in order to print off address labels via the Electronic Advance Data (EAD) system - whatever that is - because apparently customs officials are no longer capable of reading handwriting these days. 

The service cost just over 2,000 yen. I didn’t like having to write “passport” on the contents label. I tried to get away with just “document” but staff at the office insisted that I would have to write “passport.” When it came to the value of the “contents” I was a bit stumped - the literal value, the value to me, the value of a passport with only around 6 months validity left? I entered 9,000 yen. I don’t know why because I don’t think it satisfies the value criteria any way you look at it. Still, it didn’t create any issues. 

Actually, I was quite happy with the Japan Post tracking service - it’s quite comprehensive, and despite the pandemic conditions (and the approaching Christmas) I was pleased to see that my passport arrived at the U.K. passport office within a matter of days. 

I was also quietly pleased with the GOV.UK passport application tracking function. Depending on which box you check during the application process you can get updates on the application status via email and / or text message. This was quite reassuring. You can also track the application via the GOV.UK site by entering some simple details and your tracking reference.  

Where the tracking function did cause me a bit of panic though, was the lag behind the Japan Post tracking service. So, while the post tracking indicated that my passport had arrived at the passport office in the U.K., I was still getting messages from GOV.UK asking me to send said passport. Anyway, things eventually caught up and it wasn’t long after arrival that I got another message from GOV.UK stating that the application had been approved followed by a message stating that the new passport had been printed and dispatched.

The new passport eventually arrived at my address in Japan courtesy of the delivery service DHL. I had to sign for it, of course.

One of the key things with these new British passports (which are now a glum, authoritarian blue color) is that online applicants have to sign the passport itself in order to make it valid. Bit of a jittery moment I have to say, but I think we’re now good to go. 

About three weeks after I received my new passport, I took delivery of the old passport (DHL again) which has had the corner cut off. 

Observations

Many years ago I used to work on the U.K. passport service helpline and would take a lot of calls from people who had “gone outside of the box” while filling-out their paper applications. In those days the application forms were machine read so … going outside of the box would mean starting again, I’m afraid. With this in mind, I have to say the online process is very smooth and simple and perhaps less susceptible to human error.

I think I would still be frustrated, though, about not being able to get a sense of the overall flow of the online application process before undertaking it, even though it is ultimately very simple. 

Finally, I don’t think there is any tracking service that could make me feel comfortable about having to send a passport to the other side of the world - although oddly enough it did make me thankful for having a “gaijin card.” It’s not often I would say that. 

It does disappoint slightly though, given the eye-popping mass, and stellar location, of the real estate occupied by the U.K. embassy in Tokyo, that our diplomatic service can’t find a bit of time, space, and tech to sort through applications and print out passports here in Japan.

I dropped a question about how to renew a passport from Japan (during the pandemic) into the City-Cost Q&A.  You can find it here: https://www.city-cost.com/qa/z80Lz-living

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