Currently, there are about 696,000 Polish ex-pats residing in the United Kingdom with a large fraction of them residing majorly in London. Outside London, a large population of Polish ex-pats is found in Southampton, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester, and Slough amongst other areas. A lot of Polish ex-pats migrated to the UK for well-paying jobs and improved economic life.
Regardless of your reason for migrating to the United Kingdom, one certain thing is that you will be required to process your Polish Passport renewal in the United Kingdom upon the expiry of the present one. You can renew your Polish passport in the United Kingdom at the Polish Consul located at 10, Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX.
Can I Renew My Polish Passport In the United Kingdom?
You can process your Polish Passport renewal in the United Kingdom at the Polish Consul located at 10, Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX. The Polish consul in London is authorized to issue both temporary and long-term passports. A long-term passport is valid for 10 years while a temporary passport is valid for 12 months. It is important to note that Polish Honorary Consuls in the United Kingdom are not authorized to issue passports.
How To Renew Your Polish Passport In The United Kingdom
You are required to book an appointment on the Official website of the Polish Embassy at https://www.gov.pl/web/unitedkingdom/ via e-konsulat before you will be able to apply for a Polish passport renewal in the United Kingdom. You will be given the passport renewal application form at the Consulate. You will be required to carefully complete the passport renewal application form and submit it with the necessary supporting documents.
After your application at the Polish Consul office, a consular officer will give you a likely passport collection date. You will also be issued a written verification of the application receipt. You can use the passport application number on the application receipt to track your passport renewal application status online at https://www.gov.pl/web/unitedkingdom/.
You can visit the same Polish Consul office where you submitted your passport renewal application to pick up your new passport on the likely collection date. However, you must bring along your current passport for cancellation and have it returned to you. If your place of residence is very far from the Polish Consul Office, you can request for your new passport to be sent to you via a postal or messenger service provider. You will be required to complete a form at the Consul’s office to this effect and also pay the postage fee.
The Consul office will send your new passport to the address you indicated in the postage request form that you completed when your new passport is ready for collection. However, the consul will not send your new passport without receiving the current one for cancellation. So you are required to send your current passport to the Consul’s office when you know that your new passport is ready for collection. Your new Polish passport will be sent to you with the previous canceled one.
How To Renew A Child’s Polish Passport in The United Kingdom
A child’s parent or legal guardian will be required to book an appointment with the Polish Consul to renew a Child’s Polish Passport. You might collect a passport renewal application form for children from https://www.gov.pl/web/unitedkingdom/. Upon completing the passport renewal application form on behalf of the Child, the next step will be to attend the passport application appointment.
A child above 13 years must attend the passport application appointment with both parents, a parent, or a legal guardian to submit his/her fingerprints. A child that is above 5 years of age must also attend the passport application appointment with his/her parent, parents, or legal guardian. A child below 5 years of age doesn’t need to attend the passport application appointment with his/her parents, a parent, or legal guardian.
After applying for a passport renewal, a consular officer will issue you a likely passport collection date and a written verification of the application receipt. The child’s passport application number on the application receipt can be used to track the application status of your child’s passport application status on https://www.gov.pl/web/unitedkingdom/.
When your Child’s Polish passport is ready for collection, you can pick it up at the Polish consul where you submitted the Child’s passport renewal application form. You must bring the Child’s current passport or temporary passport to the Polish Consul office on the collection day of the new passport for it to be canceled and returned to you.
If the Polish consul office is far from where you live, you can discuss the new passport to be sent to you via postal service. However, this must be discussed with a consulate officer and you must complete a written form requesting that you would prefer your child’s new passport via postage. The Polish consul will send your child’s new passport to your indicated address through a postal or a messenger service provider when it is ready for collection.
However, you must send your child’s current passport to the Consul’s office for annulment before you will be able to receive your child’s new passport and the old one. The Polish Consul office will not send your child’s new passport without receiving the current passport for cancellation.
Required Documents To Renew Your Polish Passport In UK
To process your Polish passport renewal in the United Kingdom, you will be required to provide certain documents. Failure to provide these documents will result in your Polish passport application being denied.
The required documents to renew your Polish Passport in the United Kingdom comprise:
- An appropriately completed and signed passport renewal application form.
- An abbreviated or complete copy of your Polish birth certificate.
- An abbreviated or complete Polish marriage certificate if you got married and changed your name in Poland.
- A colored passport photograph that satisfies the passport photograph requirements of the Polish Passport Office.
- A copy of your Polish birth certificate if you don’t have the PESEL number.
- A document to affirm that you are qualified for a reduced passport fee like a Student card or your pensioner ID card.
- Your current passport
- The passport renewal application fee.
Required Documents to Renew Your Child’s Polish Passport In The United Kingdom
A child’s parents or legal guardian is required to provide certain documents to process their Child’s Polish passport renewal application. Failure to provide these required documents might result in a denial of your Child’s passport renewal application.
Parents are acknowledged to give their consent to the passport renewal application of their children by signing the application form before a consular officer and presenting their valid IDs or Passports. The following are the required documents to process your Child’s Polish passport renewal application:
- An appropriately completed passport renewal application form.
- A colored passport photograph that satisfies the passport photograph requirements of the Polish Passport Office.
- A copy of his/her Polish certificate if the child doesn’t have a PESEL number.
- The Child’s present passport or temporary passport.
If the passport renewal application is done by a parent, they are required to provide one of the following documents:
- An obligatory court order that agrees that the child should be issued a passport in the absence of the other parent’s consent.
- A signed written consent of the absent parent or guardian that is verified by a passport department official.
- A binding court verdict that gives the absent parent no right to decide on issuing a passport to the child.
- A copy of the Polish certificate signifying that the father of the child is unidentified.
- A copy of the death certificate of the absent parent.
The Polish Consul might request supplementary documents of the child if he/she cannot verify the citizenship and identity of the Child based on the data `presented by the Parents, parent, or legal guardian.
Cost of Renewing A Polish Passport In The UK
The cost of renewing the Polish passport of a Child between 0 to 13 years in the United Kingdom is £30. The cost of the Polish passport renewal of a Child that is above 13 years of age in the United Kingdom is £47. An adult Polish passport renewal in the United Kingdom costs £94.
The accepted methods of paying for a Polish passport renewal at the Polish Consul office are cash, credit and debit cards, and postal order payable to the specified Polish Consul office. The Polish Consul in London is the only Consul that accepts Cheques while the Consulate General in Belfast doesn’t accept credit and debit cards.
The following persons are eligible for a 50% discount on their Polish passport renewal fee:
- Pensioners.
- Students.
- Disabled persons on social and vocational restoration and employment.
- Disabled pensioners.
- Dependants of a spouse who is a disabled pensioner, disabled person, or a pensioner.
- Social service beneficiaries.
- War veterans.
- Members of a large family.
- Residents of a residential care facility or a nursing home.
To benefit from the 50% discount on the Polish consular fee you must provide documents to verify your eligibility during your passport renewal application.
Parents will also pay a reduced fee if they apply for their Child’s passport renewal before the current one expires if:
- The Child’s passport is filled up with no empty pages.
- The data of the Child is modified or if the Child’s appearance has changed so much that it is challenging to identify the Child.
Additionally, a parent will not pay for a Child’s Polish passport renewal if your Child’s passport has a technical fault. If your child lives in a residential care facility or a nursing home & has to travel abroad for a surgical procedure or a long-term treatment procedure.
How Long Does It Take To Get A Polish Passport Renewed in The United Kingdom?
The standard processing time for a Polish passport renewal in the United Kingdom is about 4 weeks to 8 weeks. However, if you want a quick passport for an unplanned trip, you have the option of applying for a temporary passport that can be gotten on the same day that you apply for it.
Closing
The processes involved in the Polish passport renewal in the United Kingdom are straightforward. You will be required to first book an appointment with the Polish Consul’s office nearest to you. Afterward, you will be required to attend the appointment with the required passport renewal application form and other supporting documents.
Your new Polish passport will be ready for collection in about 4 to 8 weeks. It’s that straightforward. I believe that this piece has been helpful so I await your comments, opinions, and thoughts on this subject. Please feel free to drop them in the comment section below. I am looking forward to hearing and reading from you.
Related:
[catlist name=”UK”]