renewing passport

The cost of getting a passport is criminal, I agree.

But my understanding is that it doesn't matter when you do it, it costs the same

I just got mine and DDs last week so I could change to my married name. My last one is only 2 years old and yep it cost the full amount for a new one - ripped my undies!

Mamma2N I wouldn't have bothered! I'm still using my maiden name passport!

I just got both kids ones done at $80 each plus $20 each for photo's on top of that!!!

It cost's the same it only takes a month to get it renewed, wait till your going some where and then do it.

They're only valid for 5 years, depending on how much you travel you might not get much use out of it if you renew it before you old one expires.

As long as your old one has 6 months before it expires you should still be able to travel on it.

AandCsmum wrote: Mamma2N I wouldn't have bothered! I'm still using my maiden name passport! I just got both kids ones done at $80 each plus $20 each for photo's on top of that!!!

Only reason is we are relocating to Europe this year and when I'm travelling with DD I don't want any hassles at different airports. I know of several women who have encountered problems due to have different names to their children. And I've slowly transitioning to my married name and would like some ID with that name Otherwise I definetly wouldn't have bothered - the cost is horrendous!

I would love to renew mine so it is under my maiden name but I have better things to spend the money on. I hate buying tickets under a different name to DH and DS.

Five years isn't very long life for a passport if you don't use it very often, so I would probably hold off if you really don't need it. I personally would feel uneasy about not having a valid one as you never know when you may need it in a hurry.

Passports are $150 for an adult, and $80 for a child. As long as there is nothing they need to contact you for and the form is filled out correctly, it takes up to a maximum of 10 working days to be completed, and then is sent by signature courier so ensure you leave time for that.
I would ALWAYS leave longer time if you need to though, as you never know if they need you to send in more information.

If you need an 'urgent' passport, it is an extra $150. (so $300 for an adult and $230 for a child). These are done within 3-working days. Although if you do ever need one quicker, ring them, as they can usually help you out.

Then there is another service called 'Call-out' which is $600, and this is where they can do them pretty quickly - they have staff on-call who come in on evenings/weekends to do this for you.

Any questions, ring them on 0800 22 50 50 - and the trick is not to press any buttons, then it will transfer you to someone at the end who you can talk to directly.

Sorry to threadjack but how do you travel on your maiden name?
We are planning on moving to Aussie this year and my passport expires in 2011 and still in my maiden name but drivers licence etc is in married name.

The different surname to your kids thing won't be a problem if your DH (assuming he has the same surname as them) is travelling with you. If it's just you and the kids, it pays to take their birth certificates with you that list you as the mother, especially if you're travelling somewhere like the USA where they're super paranoid about child abduction...

My passport is still in my maiden name and DH and I have been married 4yrs. So when DD and I went to Melbourne last year our passports had different last names. I took my marriage certificate just in case anyone queried it, but no one did.

Question though: Is it true that children under 5 need a new passport everytime they travel? My mum tells me they get it for free but need a new one to update the pic, but there is no option for this on the form!

Another question: We are possibly moving overseas next month (finding out later this week) and my passport expires in November this year, and DH's in Feb next year. Do we need to get new passports before we go (if we go)?

Sorry for thread jack