If it makes you feel any better shaunbhoy:
My current passport is from a British Consulate after my old one met with an accident. It only took a couple of days. I thought they were very efficient although they did have what was left of my old passport which might have helped.
That was only half the story though as I had to get the visas replaced too which was a complete c**t and the country I was in at the time only gave me a limited visa which meant extra questions the next time I entered the country.
- Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
- Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!
Reply to: Keep yer hand on yer ha'penny in Paris
Collapse
You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
- You are not logged in. If you are already registered, fill in the form below to log in, or follow the "Sign Up" link to register a new account.
- You may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
- If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.
Logging in...
Previously on "Keep yer hand on yer ha'penny in Paris"
Collapse
-
Worry not sas. Where you are going there is unlikely to even be a Consulate. Your poor missus, in a bid to source some of her ever dwindling collection of friends that will still agree to let her visit with you in tow, is really having to go off reservation.
However, fair play to the woman. That is assuming she is proposing a 12 hour flight sat next to your gurning carcass.
Or has she checked you into the hold again?
Better warn the cabin crew to remove the sharp objects from her meal tray!!
Leave a comment:
-
This thread really does highlight just what is wrong with this country.
It is easy to see why sas would jump to the defence of the sort of underachieving public schoolboy types that seem to frequent the Consular Service, him being a bit of a lame duck himself on the academic front.
However, it appears that many others seem all too willing to simply accept poor levels of service, and just slavishly tug the forelock to those placed in authority over them, regardless of how shabbily they perform their role.
That is why nothing ever changes, until those with the stones to question poor practice get involved.
Thankfully there are still people like me to do some moving and shaking.
Carry on!!
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Old Greg View PostWhy on earth do you expect every consulate to become a de facto branch of the passport service? You had an emergency and they got you home the same day. And you complain!
This is typical of the whingeing culture in this country. Are you and your missus the elderly couple in the paper who complained that their two local councils cut the grass to different lengths on either side of the road?
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by shaunbhoy View PostNow I know you are just trying a bit of flippant Devil's Advocacy here OG, but my points still stand.
Every Gate at every Arrivals Terminal in every British Airport that caters for International flights will have been fitted with Iris Recognition and Signature Recognition Technology for Passport Control. It is relatively inexpensive in the great scheme of things.
It is inconceivable that our Consulates will not have access to this also. It is something that will have been demanded by them in order that they can do their job.
This will have been paid for up front by the very people who may need its help in an Emergency whilst abroad, for it is a core activity of overseas Consulates to deliver this support.
Indeed, it was the work of a few minutes for them to bring up the details of my wife's passport on their system once we had supplied them with our background info. At this point they would have had access to her photo, signature, Iris print, and a host of other personal information that only she personally could have verified.
At that stage they could quite easily and securely have produced something tangible that would have sufficed, and for a fraction of the 116 Euros that they stitched us up for.
It boils down to a blend of surly intransigence coupled with a profiteering mentality unbecoming in a Public Official.
Anyway, we managed to work round them and get home.
One factor this thread does shed a slightly disturbing light upon is just how many people are quite happily prepared to accept mediocrity on the part of those whose raison d'etre is to provide them with a service.
Content to accept a few crumbs tossed from the tables at which they have forked out for a gourmet meal.
I blame the dumbing down in schools and those Baby Boomers that have produced a generation of mollycoddled youngsters that need their hands held and their backsides wiped for them at every turn.
Oh well, if you remove all adversity and responsibility then I suppose this is the bottom line.
God help us when, or if the reins of control are handed over to them. It will probably get outsourced to Bob!!
This is typical of the whingeing culture in this country. Are you and your missus the elderly couple in the paper who complained that their two local councils cut the grass to different lengths on either side of the road?
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by shaunbhoy View PostEvery Gate at every Arrivals Terminal in every British Airport that caters for International flights will have been fitted with Iris Recognition and Signature Recognition Technology for Passport Control. It is relatively inexpensive in the great scheme of things.
Would you really trust these people you criticuse so severely with an online database containing all this information? No, and neither would most other people, which is why the national identity register was scrapped. The database you think they can "just access" doesn't exist.
IRIS is being switched off. AFAIK it was a parallel system, not some huge central database of all passports.
The alternative ePassports work by comparing the person claiming to be you with the photo on the passport that you didn't have. The machines aren't all connected to some central ID database. This is why your ePassport works all over the EU. Assuming you haven't lost it of course.
Keep on digging. At this rate you won't need a passport, you'll have your own chunnel.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by sasguru View PostYou just don't get the irony do you?
You will feel exactly the same if your wife gets her bag pinched when you rock up at whatever god-forsaken flea-ridden backwater she is taking you next. In fact you will feel worse as both passports will have been nicked as she can't trust you to look after your own without getting drool, porridge, or smeg all over it.
I just hope she puts your comfort blanky in the room safe or you might need to be sedated!!
Originally posted by sasguru View PostSo why do you expect your hands held and your backsides wiped
My expectations are merely that the Consulate deliver on their "Mission Statement" without fleecing the punters that provide the funding for their cossetted existence.
You seem happy to accept shoddy service, and that is your prerogative. It will doubtless have handicapped you in life if you but knew it, but as you are too dim-witted ever to have realised, no harm done eh?
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by shaunbhoy View Post... have produced a generation of mollycoddled youngsters that need their hands held and their backsides wiped for them at every turn.
So why do you expect your hands held and your backsides wiped, when you're stupid enough to lose your passport? Sounds like they were efficient enough to give you some documentation so you could travel the same day. And charged you a bit of stupidity tax so next time you'd be more careful.
The entitlement mentality of the lower orders never ceases to amaze me.
But I guess if you've sucked at the tit of the public sector for most of your life, first as a squaddie potato peeler and latterly as a janitor, you wouldn't know much else.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Old Greg View PostSo are you saying this is good value for those of us taxpayers sensible enough to take good care of our passports?
Presumably you had travel insurance to cover such costs?
Every Gate at every Arrivals Terminal in every British Airport that caters for International flights will have been fitted with Iris Recognition and Signature Recognition Technology for Passport Control. It is relatively inexpensive in the great scheme of things.
It is inconceivable that our Consulates will not have access to this also. It is something that will have been demanded by them in order that they can do their job.
This will have been paid for up front by the very people who may need its help in an Emergency whilst abroad, for it is a core activity of overseas Consulates to deliver this support.
Indeed, it was the work of a few minutes for them to bring up the details of my wife's passport on their system once we had supplied them with our background info. At this point they would have had access to her photo, signature, Iris print, and a host of other personal information that only she personally could have verified.
At that stage they could quite easily and securely have produced something tangible that would have sufficed, and for a fraction of the 116 Euros that they stitched us up for.
It boils down to a blend of surly intransigence coupled with a profiteering mentality unbecoming in a Public Official.
Anyway, we managed to work round them and get home.
One factor this thread does shed a slightly disturbing light upon is just how many people are quite happily prepared to accept mediocrity on the part of those whose raison d'etre is to provide them with a service.
Content to accept a few crumbs tossed from the tables at which they have forked out for a gourmet meal.
I blame the dumbing down in schools and those Baby Boomers that have produced a generation of mollycoddled youngsters that need their hands held and their backsides wiped for them at every turn.
Oh well, if you remove all adversity and responsibility then I suppose this is the bottom line.
God help us when, or if the reins of control are handed over to them. It will probably get outsourced to Bob!!
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by shaunbhoy View PostIf British Consulates don't have ultra secure connections back to the UK then they are a liability. Trust me. Some of their "background activities" would require such links to be available 24/7.
They could have issued such a document for a fraction of the cost that they did though. They are, after all, paid for from the taxes of people that may get robbed whilst overseas.
Presumably you had travel insurance to cover such costs?
Leave a comment:
- Home
- News & Features
- First Timers
- IR35 / S660 / BN66
- Employee Benefit Trusts
- Agency Workers Regulations
- MSC Legislation
- Limited Companies
- Dividends
- Umbrella Company
- VAT / Flat Rate VAT
- Job News & Guides
- Money News & Guides
- Guide to Contracts
- Successful Contracting
- Contracting Overseas
- Contractor Calculators
- MVL
- Contractor Expenses
Advertisers
Contractor Services
CUK News
- Streamline Your Retirement with iSIPP: A Solution for Contractor Pensions Sep 1 09:13
- Making the most of pension lump sums: overview for contractors Sep 1 08:36
- Umbrella company tribunal cases are opening up; are your wages subject to unlawful deductions, too? Aug 31 08:38
- Contractors, relabelling 'labour' as 'services' to appear 'fully contracted out' won't dupe IR35 inspectors Aug 31 08:30
- How often does HMRC check tax returns? Aug 30 08:27
- Work-life balance as an IT contractor: 5 top tips from a tech recruiter Aug 30 08:20
- Autumn Statement 2023 tipped to prioritise mental health, in a boost for UK workplaces Aug 29 08:33
- Final reminder for contractors to respond to the umbrella consultation (closing today) Aug 29 08:09
- Top 5 most in demand cyber security contract roles Aug 25 08:38
- Changes to the right to request flexible working are incoming, but how will contractors be affected? Aug 24 08:25
Leave a comment: