Paphos Life

Has anyone recently renewed their passport themselves online?
Not that I'll be going anywhere anytime soon, it expires in July but as of April it'll be 10 yrs old so the extra months added useless so needs renewing sooner rather than later!
Wondering how long it took approx, where do you collect it from plus do you have to return your old passport before receiving the new one and if so is it ok just to show your yellow slip if you get stopped for sms check? Thanks

Did my wife's passport in December. Now has a nice Blue UK passport.
Took just over 3 weeks to arrive.
Yes you do have to return your old passport as even when using the online system they do NOT start processing the new passport until the old one is received.
The Passport office update you with progress,
The new and old passports were returned using DHL courier services.
Great system.

If you have a yellow slip of any type then you do not need to show a passport at any Polizei checks. Make sure you use your ARC (yellow slip) number when using the SMS system or indeed if you are using the over 65's paper version.

We renewed one of our passports online last summer. From starting the process online, posting the original and getting the new and old one back at at the DHL office was 3 week as Bromerzz experienced as well. Text messages were sent to us to provide updates at each stage, we’ve revived it, we’re preparing it, we’ve sent it, that kind of thing. Very slick. The only trick but is getting the photo right as the system is vet particular in terms of shadows, even tones etc. Took a bit of messing but done. Couldn’t tel,you what colour it is though, makes no difference to us.

Ian