# South African passport renewal



## Brigittedc (Dec 9, 2015)

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum and seeking a bit of advice. I am a South African citizen living in the UK with Indefinite Leave to Remain. I have lived here since 2008 and have had ILR since October 2013. I do not have Dual Citizenship or hold any passports other than South African. 

My SA passport expires end of June 2016. I have been invited to go to Trinidad in late March 2016, which I was not expecting and now have a problem. The Trinidad and Tobago High Commission say that although I don't need a visa to enter Trinidad, I do require more than 3 months' validity on my SA passport so would need to renew my passport before the trip. The problem is, the SA High Commission states that renewal takes 4 months and I technically need to leave in 3.5 months! 

Has anyone on this forum renewed their SA passport in London in recent months, and could comment on how long it took for the new one to arrive? I am really hoping that, like with most visas, the processing time quoted is an over-estimate to cover themselves for those applications that are more complicated and can take a while to process, but that the majority of applications are completed quicker than this. So any feedback on your experiences is welcome so i can gauge how long it usually takes!

I believe there used to be a company called Fast Track that could do it in 2 weeks but it seems they went into liquidation in May and I can't find anyone else that does it. My biggest worry is paying all the money for the trip and then the passport isn't ready in time! Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Brigitte


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