# Valid ID while waiting for UK passport renewal



## cartagena (Apr 21, 2015)

Hi,

I am a UK national living and resident in Spain and I need to send off my old UK passport to the UK for renewal.

With this taking at least 6 weeks I am going to be left without any form of legal photo ID which could be needed if I'm stopped by the police while driving, at banks, paying by credit card etc etc

What is the best thing to do about this? Im obviously worried about getting fined by the guardia or not being able to do certain financial transactions without the passport

Is there anyway to get some sort of document to prove who I am while waiting the UK passport agency to get the new passport to me?

Many thanks!


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Go to a notary and get the passport copied and notarised, that may be OK.
We had to do that with some car documents when we had to send off the originals.

A lot of people probably just photo copy it though.

Do you not have a drivers license?


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## cartagena (Apr 21, 2015)

Thanks very much for the reply pazcat, i should have mentioned the passport has already expired so i imagine the notary route wouldnt be valid

i have also just read that my old style paper uk driving license is no longer valid so im in a bit of a fix as i dont believe i can apply for a spanish driving license either until i get my new valid passport

only myself to blame for not keeping my documentation up to date! I guess i need to go down to trafico and ask re driving although i hope they dont fine me on the spot for not having valid id!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

cartagena said:


> Thanks very much for the reply pazcat, i should have mentioned the passport has already expired so i imagine the notary route wouldnt be valid
> 
> i have also just read that my old style paper uk driving license is no longer valid so im in a bit of a fix as i dont believe i can apply for a spanish driving license either until i get my new valid passport
> 
> only myself to blame for not keeping my documentation up to date! I guess i need to go down to trafico and ask re driving although i hope they dont fine me on the spot for not having valid id!


You can exchange the D/L without a passport.
My passport only took about 8 days for new one to arrive.
Notary here will certify anything. Can't see why it would be a problem.


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

The *only legal ID* UK citizens have when in Spain is their ORIGINAL passport or a copy authenticated by Passport Office or a British Consulate. 

* NO OTHER copy is legal.*

That said, we all normally use non legal ID as an everyday alternative and that will usually be accepted by *non official agencies* i.e. shops, garages etc. 

Some year ago I complained to the British Ambassador in Madrid and at that time he agreed to allow one to keep their old PP until the new one was issued and then for consulate staff to cancel it when we collected our new PP from the consulate.

I have tried again in the past couple of years to get something similar agreed to again so that we could keep the old PP, but whilst the passport section in Madrid knew they were in effected aiding and abetting us committing an offence by not having our original PP, they said they would do nothing to alter the situation.


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

PS. I know from personal experience, Passport office do not need the old PP to issue a new one, and that is obvious in cases where PPs are lost or destroyed, and on application a new one is issued.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

larryzx said:


> The *only legal ID* UK citizens have when in Spain is their ORIGINAL passport or a copy authenticated by Passport Office or a British Consulate.
> 
> * NO OTHER copy is legal.*
> 
> ...


The consulate here advise passport to be copied an signed by notario, this will suffice for inter island travel and identification if requested. However apart from travel on ferries and local air travel, I have yet to be asked for identification.

I still have my British Identification card, somehow I do not think that would be valid anymore.


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

_The consulate here advise passport to be copied an signed by a notary, this will suffice ……………_

The problem with that is the notary has no way of knowing that the passport produced, which has been copied, is in fact a genuine British Passport, i.e. that it is not a forgery. 

On an occasion I was asked by the National Police whether, what purported to be a UK Driving Licence, was genuine. It was not albeit that it was a very good fake.

Hepa _I still have my British Identification card, somehow I do not think that would be valid anymore.
_
What document is that ?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

larryzx said:


> _
> Hepa I still have my British Identification card, somehow I do not think that would be valid anymore.
> 
> What document is that ?_


_

I was called "Identity Card" and I still have mine somewhere. These youngsters...!_


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## larryzx (Jul 2, 2014)

*It was called "Identity Card" and I still have mine somewhere. These youngsters...! *

I don know how much older than me you are. I am 75.

Apart from a vague recollection of war-time ID cards, and a suggestion in around 2006 to introduce them in UK, I have never heard of British ID cards. I have lived in Spain since 1987 so maybe it was some short term new-fangled thing after I left


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

larryzx said:


> *It was called "Identity Card" and I still have mine somewhere. These youngsters...! *
> 
> I don know how much older than me you are. I am 75.
> 
> Apart from a vague recollection of war-time ID cards, and a suggestion in around 2006 to introduce them in UK, I have never heard of British ID cards. I have lived in Spain since 1987 so maybe it was some short term new-fangled thing after I left


I am talking about the wartime ones and they were still in force into the 50s. Whether Hepa was talking about the same thing, I don't know.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

larryzx said:


> *It was called "Identity Card" and I still have mine somewhere. These youngsters...! *
> 
> I don know how much older than me you are. I am 75.
> 
> Apart from a vague recollection of war-time ID cards, and a suggestion in around 2006 to introduce them in UK, I have never heard of British ID cards. I have lived in Spain since 1987 so maybe it was some short term new-fangled thing after I left


a few years ago a scheme was piloted in some areas of the UK for an ID card - iirc they seemed rather expensive, but could be used to travel around the EU - you also had to be resident in the UK to acquire one


https://www.gov.uk/identity-cards-and-new-identity-and-passport-service-suppliers


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> a few years ago a scheme was piloted in some areas of the UK for an ID card - iirc they seemed rather expensive, but could be used to travel around the EU - you also had to be resident in the UK to acquire one
> 
> 
> https://www.gov.uk/identity-cards-and-new-identity-and-passport-service-suppliers


The prices were atrocious but may have been artificially high to cool demand for such a scheme. The attitude of many in the UK is verging on hysterical paranoia and can be seen in relation to the idea of computerisation of medical records. If only people in UK could see the advantages of the Spanish system.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> I was called "Identity Card" and I still have mine somewhere. These youngsters...!


National Registration 

Identity Card

Under sixteen years

Valid until 1959


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