Driving licence/passport photo woes.

[Gramaisc]

I now have a valid passport, I decided that relying on people not spotting the old one expired three years ago is likely to be a risky strategy when the jobsworths are let loose shortly.

It used to be a real game to sort it out when outside the state, but I discovered that I can now renew a passport that's less than five years out of date online, subject to some criteria that I met - I just needed an acceptable picture that passes their automated test system.

I got a picture accepted last Thursday evening and completed the rest of the procedure then. The tracking showed that I'd completed the process and was in the post by the end of Friday. The passport arrived here this morning, although it seems to have been in this country since Monday.

And it is a work of art, every page a different scene - they could sell blank ones as posh notebooks.

And they will email me at six and three months before it expires.

 

[proactive]

Puts our system to shame.

 

[Thehooperman]

I now have a valid passport, I decided that relying on people not spotting the old one expired three years ago is likely to be a risky strategy when the jobsworths are let loose shortly.

It used to be a real game to sort it out when outside the state, but I discovered that I can now renew a passport that's less than five years out of date online, subject to some criteria that I met - I just needed an acceptable picture that passes their automated test system.

I got a picture accepted last Thursday evening and completed the rest of the procedure then. The tracking showed that I'd completed the process and was in the post by the end of Friday. The passport arrived here this morning, although it seems to have been in this country since Monday.

And it is a work of art, every page a different scene - they could sell blank ones as posh notebooks.

And they will email me at six and three months before it expires.

Does that mean you don't have to use fake ID to prove you're old enough to buy a beer now then?

 

[Gramaisc]

Does that mean you don't have to use fake ID to prove you're old enough to buy a beer now then?

I'm going to carry on using the 'fake' one until somebody actually spots it.

 

[Gramaisc]

I'm going to carry on using the 'fake' one until somebody actually spots it.

I used my valid passport for the first time on Sunday. As I was in the country of issue at the time, rather than the UK, it seemed a lot more likely that the expiry date might be spotted on the old one.

I was then subject to a subsequent interrogation by the inspecting official, but it centred on the fact that we had the same surname and were trying to establish how closely we might be related. We decided that it must be fairly distant, although he did know my cousin.

 

[Noah]

Tracing family history in Ireland is much easier than it used to be, but the Four Courts fire doesn't help

 

[Gramaisc]

Tracing family history in Ireland is much easier than it used to be, but the Four Courts fire doesn't help

There may be further improvements to come - https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/1205/1097086-beyond-2022-public-records/