Caribbean Visas In a UK passport

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CatCouple

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I have a UK passport expiry 2019 but I only have 4 or 5 empty pages. We hope to be in the Caribbean in Dec and then spend six months cruising in the region. It occurred to me you could very quickly fill up ones passport with stamps from all the different countries visited there. Am I taking a risk? how easy would it be to get my British passport renewed in the Caribbean? I expect someone here will know :-)
 
CatCouple said:
I have a UK passport expiry 2019 but I only have 4 or 5 empty pages. We hope to be in the Caribbean in Dec and then spend six months cruising in the region. It occurred to me you could very quickly fill up ones passport with stamps from all the different countries visited there. Am I taking a risk? how easy would it be to get my British passport renewed in the Caribbean? I expect someone here will know :-)
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Where are you now. I would recommend getting a new passport before the carrib. getting a Brit passport renewed in the carrib is more hassle than any where else.
 
temptress said:
Where are you now. I would recommend getting a new passport before the carrib. getting a Brit passport renewed in the carrib is more hassle than any where else.
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still in UK for a few weeks then Eastern med. so you think I will fill up my old one quickly visiting different islands?
 
I deliberately renewed my passport before a stint as charter skipper in the Grenadines.
If you like stamps, you'll be in heaven!
They had a damn good try at filling mine up operating between St Lucia and Grenada for a year.
Get one now before you go. Seriously consider getting the bumper edition with extra pages.
Fair winds.
 
Visas are quite rare in the Caribbean the only places you need them are Venezuela, now a no go area, and a US visa if you are visiting Puerto Rico, St John and St Thomas. The US visa needed is a B1/B2 which gives unlimited entry in any American territory for ten years.
 
KellysEye said:
Visas are quite rare in the Caribbean the only places you need them are Venezuela, now a no go area, and a US visa if you are visiting Puerto Rico, St John and St Thomas. The US visa needed is a B1/B2 which gives unlimited entry in any American territory for ten years.
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I think the OP is referring to the stamps you get from immigration on both entry and exit from most islands.
 
>I think the OP is referring to the stamps you get from immigration on both entry and exit from most islands.

Yes but Rivonia correctly suggested ''Keep the old passport when they return it as any Visas in it will still be usable if valid''. I was simply pointing out there are not many.
 
Another very strong recommendation to get your passport renewed in Britain rather than wait until you arrive in the Caribbean.
It used to be that one could just wander along to the nearest British High Commission (there is one in Barbados), hand in your old passport along with the application and a modest processing fee, and get a new passport in a week or so.
No longer.
As noted above, if you are in the Caribbean and you want to renew a passport, you have to apply to the Passport Office in London online directly.
And then send them the fee - I renewed mine in March last year, and I think the fee was about GBP 180, as it included courier return of the new passport.
And also send them the old passport by courier.
Extra expense.
When I applied, I was told it would take '5 weeks'.
Five weeks after applying, the website was saying they were experiencing delays, and they were not giving any time frames at all.
My passport took just over 3 months to renew - and if you do it while you are out here you are effectively stranded, unless you have dual nationality.
I was lucky - I know an English lady who lives here, and she renewed hers at about the same time, and she had to wait 4 months for her new passport to arrive.

Whereas I have been told that if you go and apply in person at the Passport Office in London, and pay the expedited processing fee (still much less than the fee when applying from the Caribbean), then you should be able to get a new passport inside of a week.

If it is like this in 10 years time, I shall make sure that I apply in person in London rather than sending in an application from here.
 
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That's decided then! £88.50 ( x 2) for a new 48 page 10 year passport here in UK and they have told me 3 weeks maximum wait. So my next dilemma is what to do about my USA B1/B2 visa??? US embassy are saying four weeks here in London. How easy is it going to be to get a US visa once in the Caribbean> I dont want to delay setting off from eastern Med by waiting for the US visa in the UK. Anyone got the B1/B2 in the Caribbean.
 
CatCouple said:
That's decided then! £88.50 ( x 2) for a new 48 page 10 year passport here in UK and they have told me 3 weeks maximum wait. So my next dilemma is what to do about my USA B1/B2 visa??? US embassy are saying four weeks here in London. How easy is it going to be to get a US visa once in the Caribbean> I dont want to delay setting off from eastern Med by waiting for the US visa in the UK. Anyone got the B1/B2 in the Caribbean.
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Good decision! Had a similar dilemma on the US Visa in 2011, ended up getting one in Lisbon - far easier than London, 7 days from booking an appointment to getting the passport back. Have heard of folk getting a B1/B2 in Havana! but I think there are limited opportunities for this in the Carib, it needs a US embassy to get it done so you should be able to find out where its possible online through the US consular service.

I wouldnt trust the theory of old visas having indefinite life, despite the visa wording suggesting that - I think the reality is that a new passport will need a new visa. I have a US B1/B2 in a UK passport from the 80s and was advised that it was no longer valid (by the US consular staff) despite it being stamped as 'indefinite'.
 
Barbados is the only island in the Eastern Caribbean where it is possible to obtain a US visa - hence the Embassy has hundreds of people every day applying, from various different islands. And they have to come and apply in person.
A Bajan friend here applied for a visa last year - the application fee was about US$ 170, and it is non refundable if they dont approve the application (as happened to my friend).
It should be a lot easier though for folk from the EU to get a US visa here, especially as if you are flying in to the US you dont need a visa, just an ESTA.

So if it means you have to wait in London 4 weeks for a visa, then it is possible to get one here. I am amazed that it would take so long in London - I think that here you get your passport back the next day usually.
 
For the record and for those that follow... I Applied for a new 10 year 48 page UK passport by post and had new passport back in my hands 7 days later. I applied for a US B1/B2 visa on 17th March and was offered an interview date at the US London embassy of 27th April added to that a five working day process period. I would not get my passport, hopefully with a US visa in it, back until May 4th!!! That's 7 weeks. book early!! The fee for the two of us USD $320. hmmm.

I have no choice but to leave the UK with out it.
 
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