Passport
Information for your Florida Flight
Flying
to Florida? Book flights with Floridaflights.com...or read on
for more information
Preparing for your trip
- Read
as much as possible about Florida before you travel. Informing
yourself about history, culture, customs and politics will
make your stay more meaningful. Information can be found in
most libraries and on the Internet.
- Travel
agents and airports can provide brochures and tourist information
about the countries that you wish to visit.
- Foreign
embassies or consulates in the United States can provide up-to-date
information on their countries.
You
will need a valid passport!
You
will need a valid passport to enter and leave the United States.
Be
aware of a Passport That Is About to Expire!
Make
sure any passport you hold is valid for your trip. Some countries
have an immigration requirement for a passport to remain valid
for a minimum period beyond the date of entry to the country.
When
to Apply
Demand
for passports becomes heavy in January and declines in August.
To avoid delays apply between September and December. Whenever
possible, apply several months in advance of your planned departure.
Urgent
Applications
The
Passport Service provides a guaranteed same-day service for straightforward
properly completed applications for passport renewals, amendments
and child extensions only; and a one-week fast track service for
all types of applications. The fee for the same-day service is
£75 (child £61) and for the one-week service £60 (child £46).
These fees include the standard passport fee of £30 (child £16).
Customers will not be able to obtain a first passport or a replacement
for a lost or stolen passport in less than a week. This is to
enable the UKPS to undertake the checks necessary to confirm an
applicant's identity and eligibility.
How
to Apply for Your UK Passport
The
standard 10 year British passport is only available to adults
over 16 years of age who are in the UK at the time of application
and who have one of the following citizenship's:
A
British citizen.
A
British Dependent Territories citizen.
A
British Overseas citizen.
A
British Subject. (Further categories also apply:
For more information on these see the section Rules and Eligibility
for British Passport or contact your local Passport Office.)
Documents
Required
You
must be able to prove that you are of British Nationality. To
do this you must include the original of the relevant document/s
as listed below. Copies or photocopies of any kind will not be
accepted.
If
you were born in the United Kingdom
Birth
Certificate.
If
you were born outside the United Kingdom
If
naturalised, your Naturalisation Certificate.
If
registered, your Registration Certificate.
If
you were born outside the UK before 31 December 1982 but father*
born in UK:
Your
full birth certificate, showing both your parents' names.
Your
father's birth certificate and your parents' marriage certificate.
(*Prior
to the coming into force of the British Nationality Act, 1981,
a person could not claim British nationality from his or her mother)
Born
outside the UK after 31 December 1982 but father born in UK:
Your
full birth certificate, showing both your parents' names.
Your
father's birth certificate and your parents' marriage certificate.
Born
outside the UK after 31 December 1982 but mother born in UK:
Your
full birth certificate.
Your
mother's birth certificate.
Alternatively,
if you hold a Consular birth certificate issued by a British Consulate
abroad, you may submit your consular birth certificate instead
of your parents' documents as listed above.
Married
or divorced women
If
you are a woman who is or who has been married in the past, we
will need to see either your marriage certificate or divorce document
as evidence of your change of name from your maiden name to your
married name (and vice versa - if you wish to revert to your maiden
name).
When
your passport arrives
When
you receive your passport check the details are correct and make
a note of them in case the passport is ever lost or stolen.
Children
included on Passports before 5th October 1998
Before
5th October 1998 many children were already included on a valid
passport. These children can still continue to travel abroad with
the passport holder until either:
The
child reaches the age of 16.
The
passport on which the child is included expires.
The
passport on which the child is included is submitted for amendment
The
Child Abduction Act 1984 makes it a criminal offence for anyone
connected with a child under the age of sixteen to take or send
that child out of the United Kingdom without appropriate consent.
Persons
connected with a child are parents, guardians and persons with
a residence order or who have parental responsibility.
The
appropriate consent is the consent of the mother, the father (if
he has parental responsibility), guardian and anyone with a residence
order or parental responsibility, or the leave of the court.
In
general, a child's father only has automatic parental responsibility
if he is or has been married to the child's mother. A person with
a residence order may take or send the child out of the United
Kingdom without the appropriate consent for up to a month at a
time.
Renewal
You
can renew your existing standard 10 year British passport once
it expires, is full or is shortly due to expire. Using the standard
application form, simply return your passport with two new, recent
photographs (these do not have to be signed or certified) and
payment and a new valid passport will be issued. Please note that
your old passport will be cancelled. Please be aware that this
may invalidate any visas in the passport. You are recommended
to contact the issuing authorities to confirm whether an unexpired
visa in a cancelled passport remains valid.
When
you get married
There
are so many things to organise when getting married that changing
your name on your passport may get overlooked. Some countries
might not accept an unamended passport even if you carry your
marriage certificate (you can check this with your travel agent
or the country’s consulate), so it’s well worth having the name
changed on your passport well in advance.
We
can arrange this for you any time up to three months before the
wedding, although you’ll be unable to use your passport until
the actual day of your marriage.
You
have two options:
You
can be issued with a new standard 10 year passport. If you are
already a passport holder this will mean surrendering your present
passport with no refund for the unexpired time. We will then issue
a new passport with the change of name. Payment will be as for
a new passport.
Alternatively,
if your current passport is still valid you can have it updated.
It is worth bearing in mind that amending your passport will result
in your existing passport being cancelled and a new passport being
issued which will be valid to the same expiry date. This will
need to be accompanied by two new photographs and will incur a
charge for the amendment.
In
both cases you will need to send the following forms:
A
correctly completed standard Application Form.
Form
PD2 - completed by the person who will be conducting the ceremony.
Amendments
to 10 year passports
If
you already hold a 10 year passport, the following amendments
can be made to it:
Amendment
to personal details, for example a change of name.
New
photograph attached.
Extension
of a restricted passport or renewal of a child’s passport which
was issued before 26 March 1998 (total possible life 10 years).
Two
recent, identical photographs taken on a white background will
be needed. These do not have to be signed or certified.
What
to do if your passport is lost or stolen in the UK
Protect your passport
Using
the standard application form, fill in the details of your last
passport in section 3 of the form. In particular, you will need
to know the year it was issued. Fill the remainder of the form
in as if applying for the first time and enclose the relevant
documents, certified photographs and payment.
What
to do if your passport is lost or stolen abroad
In
the event of the loss or theft of your passport while you are
out of the UK, contact the nearest British Consulate or Embassy
who will be able to advise you.
Immunizations
No
immunizations are needed to travel to the United States.
Medical Insurance
Obtaining
medical treatment and hospital care can be costly for travellers
who are injured or who become seriously ill overseas. Even if
your regular health insurance covers you for emergencies abroad,
you should consider purchasing supplemental insurance to cover
medical evacuation.
Do
You Need Travel Insurance?
You
may not need travel insurance if you are already adequately covered
by other insurance policies.
Travel
insurance covers you for cancellation or interruption of your
trip, emergency medical care and lost/stolen luggage. Before you
decide on a travel insurance plan read the fine print and ensure
that it caters for all your holiday requirements. e.g. some may
not cover you for scuba diving, winter sports etc. If you have
a fully refundable airline ticket, you may decide that you would
not need trip cancellation/interruption insurance.Major credit
cards may also provide additional travel insurance, if you have
used them to purchase the tickets for your trip. Your health insurance
may provide certain coverage, regardless of where you travel.
But it is very important to note that some policies only partially
cover medical expenses abroad. It is important that you read your
policy thouroughly.
If
you require car hire during your stay in Florida please fill in
the form on our Homepage or follow the link to the driver
information page
|