Travel Question of the Day: Simon Calder on renewing a passport while living abroad

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A biometric passport is required for visiting the US

Q My daughter went to work in Tenerife last November and her passport is about to run out. She has got herself a job and does not want to come home. Can she renew her passport by post as it costs a lot to fly home just to renew her passport? I can’t find the answer anywhere online.

Hilary Evans

A I have created a short link (bit.ly/OverseasPP) which will take your daughter straight to the UK government web page that deals with applications for passports from overseas, specifically Spain. Your daughter must apply and pay (the usual £83 plus £19.86 for the courier fee) online. She then prints and signs the application. The official advice says your daughter should simply post it to the appropriate passport office in the UK. But were I in her position I would see if anyone trustworthy is flying back to Britain who could carry the passport and application. Doing so removes one potential pitfall: that the document gets lost in transit from the Canaries. The courier, or you, can then take post it locally.

HM Passport Office says renewal will take four weeks, but so long as she gets the application in before the usual summer surge I expect it will be much quicker. The downside is that your daughter will be stuck in Spain until the passport comes through.

.Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles readers' questions. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder