Changes to passport services for British nationals |16 February 2013

As of February 11, 2013, the application process will be centralised and British nationals in Seychelles should submit their passport application to IPS in the UK.
 
A communiqué from the British high commission (BHC) says this change follows reviews by the National Audit Office and is designed to achieve economies of scale, greater security and consistency in decision making.  

All British passports have enhanced sophisticated security features designed to reduce the likelihood of identity theft and passport fraud.

Before February 11, British nationals living in Seychelles submitted passport applications to a regional processing hub in Dusseldorf, Germany.

As of February 11, information on the UK government website will advise British nationals on the new passport application process.

All the information required to make an application will be found at https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports.
Customers will be required to send applications to the Passport Customer Service Centre in Liverpool.  There will be no change to processing times.

Fees charged to British citizens applying overseas are based on the current costs of providing the service.

“As overseas volumes are much less than UK volumes it is harder to gain efficiencies overseas.  That is why we have taken the decision to repatriate the issuing of passports to British nationals overseas to the UK.  Once this has been completed IPS will be seeking to create closer alignment between the two sets of fees,” explains the BHC communiqué.