# Best way to send a money order to the U.S. embassy



## VoleQuest (Aug 16, 2016)

I'm an American living in London and I am planning on renewing my passport by mail. It looks like I have to send a money order in USD to the U.S. embassy, but I'm confused about how to do that. 

Is this something I can walk into a U.K. bank and get from my bank? Or is there some other way of obtaining a USD money order / banker's draft here in London? Is this a service offered by the Post Office?

Apparently they used to accept credit / debit card payments but they stopped doing this. Right now they list the following as the only acceptable means of payment -- which would you recommend?


International Money Order to the exact U.S. dollar amount made payable to the “United States Disbursing Officer”; or

Banker’s Draft drawn in U.S. dollars only on a bank with branches in the United States made payable to the “United States Disbursing Officer

Any help much appreciated.


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

This has just changed in the New Year adding another level of difficulty to renewing your passport. 

UK banks can't help you nor can the UK post office. Do you have friends or family in the US who can send you a Banker's Draft or International money order? If not, I believe your only option is to book an appointment at the Embassy where I believe they will still take debit or credit cards.


----------



## VoleQuest (Aug 16, 2016)

Thanks much. I will do what you suggest and have family in California send an international money order. This seems to be the only practical option, with the appointments booked solid for the foreseeable future. What a very strange limitation that they can't accept 21st century payment.


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

I know. It boggles the mind.


----------



## WolfLord (Jul 24, 2012)

Sorry to drag up an older post, but I'm running into problems with renewing my passport by mail as well.

I tried to get my brother, located in the US, to send me an International Money Order from the USPS, but when finally finding someone who had ever heard of such a thing, they were at a loss on how to give him an "International" money order for the UK as it is not on some sort of approved list. When they were informed it was for the US government they suggested a "Domestic" money order instead. I told my brother to forget it at that point as things were too messy.

It occurred to me that I could get a Banker's Draft from HSBC, as I thought it had branches in the US, but I guess HSBC in the US is a subsidiary so I'm not sure if that would count.

I'm at a complete loss here. I really am loathe to take a day off work and spend hours (and pounds) on the train back and forth to London just so I can pay with a card; surely being completely unable to renew your passport via mail in the UK is not the intent of these payment restrictions?


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Unfortunately, if you want to apply by post your only choices are:

International Money Order to the exact U.S. dollar amount made payable to the “United States Disbursing Officer”; or

Banker’s Draft drawn in U.S. dollars only on a bank with branches in the United States made payable to the “United States Disbursing Officer"

HSBC UK cannot issue a US Banker's draft. 

International Money Order:

https://www.usps.com/international/money-transfers.htm


----------



## WolfLord (Jul 24, 2012)

Yes, like I said I tried to get an International Money Order from USPS but was told they can't give me an International Money order for the UK or the US.

Does the US even have the concept of a Banker's Draft? I'd never heard of it before. I could get my brother to go to a US bank and ask for a Banker's Draft and potentially ship that out to me. I guess it might be called a "Teller's check"?

This is a real mess.


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Try another branch of the post office?

I belong to an expat group where this has been a hot topic of discussion recently. Members have had no problem obtaining a banker's draft or an international money order from the US with the help of friends/family or if they happen to be in the US.

The reason they have gone this way is there were concerns about the security of credit card numbers being sent through the post.

And yes, I agree, it's annoying.


----------



## WolfLord (Jul 24, 2012)

Alright, thanks. I hate having my family get the runaround for this nonsense, I may just end up going to London.

I understand that credit card numbers going through the post isn't great, but this all feels like a step backwards.


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Agreed. I think pretty much everything else like visa processing is handled electronically at the Embassy.

On the plus side, I've heard that the new Embassy is quite something.


----------



## HenryThor (Apr 4, 2018)

This really is a colossal PITA: the only solutions I have are to get a friend to go to her bank in the US, get a Teller's Check, and mail it to me (after having to explain why I can't sort this out at my bank/online and why this needs to be her job!) or to have an overnight trip to London as all appointments for the next six weeks are too early for me to get there by same-day train. And the embassy's argument is that this is because it's insecure to send my credit card number by post? Even though they only allow me to send it to them by DX, their chosen courier, and it's fine for them to have my passport? Good grief!


----------



## cosmicnexus (Apr 25, 2018)

*Clearing some confusion*



WolfLord said:


> Alright, thanks. I hate having my family get the runaround for this nonsense, I may just end up going to London.
> 
> I understand that credit card numbers going through the post isn't great, but this all feels like a step backwards.


This is obviously a bit late for the OP, but should be helpful to others coming across this thread...

If you are obtaining a money order in USA for payment to USA Government in USD you are not seeking an international money order, but a domestic money order which will be sent to you so it can be used for your passport renewal by the government passport office in the USA.

If you are obtaining a money order in UK that must be in USD then that is an international money order. 

Therefore your family could have gotten the domestic money order payable in USD and sent it to you and that would have worked. 

All they are concerned about is:

1. It's an instrument that is guarantees the money when it's cashed (ie can't bounce or have a stop pay put on it)

2. It's payable in USD at a US based bank so they do not incur foreign transaction or currency conversion charges and lose some of their fee.

Hope that helps.


----------



## Nathandelabrum (Apr 30, 2018)

Cosmicnexus - is that definitely correct? I need to renew my passport soon and it seemed to me that a money order was the easiest and clearest option, but I too read that USPS won’t send an international money order to the UK. But if a family member back home was to have a domestic money order made to be sent to the UK, that would be acceptable?


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Yes, it's correct. Your UK bank may issue an international money. If you bank with HSBC, Lloyd's or NatWest they apparently do international money orders but only for customers.


----------



## chattywolf (May 10, 2018)

cosmicnexus said:


> This is obviously a bit late for the OP, but should be helpful to others coming across this thread...
> 
> If you are obtaining a money order in USA for payment to USA Government in USD you are not seeking an international money order, but a domestic money order which will be sent to you so it can be used for your passport renewal by the government passport office in the USA.
> 
> ...


I am an American in London in this situation. After reading advice here and elsewhere I've asked a family member to draw out a 'banker's check' for me from a US bank made out to the 'United States Disbursing Officer.' This meets the above conditions. 

I don't think they use the term 'banker's draft' anywhere in the US, so it's really helpful that this is the terminology the Embassy has adopted!! 

I'll let everyone know how I get on, if that's helpful.


----------



## BertBailey (May 24, 2018)

*USD Int'l Money Orders*

Hi. I have recently needed to renew my US passport and hadn't realised the payment method had changed. After panicking a bit from what I had seen on threads from fellow ex-pats, I have been able to get the USD international money order from The Halifax in 2 days! So relieved. I don't know if you need to have an account with them (I have one), but I had tried the Post Office and HSBC with no luck.


----------



## US Wife (May 30, 2018)

*Foreign Draft for US Passport Fees*

I have just found a solution to the problem of getting a banker's draft in US Dollars to pay the US passport fees in the UK. Despite talking to someone on the phone at NatWest who was unable to help and new nothing about a foreign banker's draft, I stumbled across this link:

*So apparently I am not able to post links, but if you search *foreign drafts* on the NatWest Personal Banking website, you will be able to find the information.

I have just successfully ordered a foreign draft (fee £8) for US$110 made out to the United States Disbursing Officer from my NatWest online account. The foreign draft will be posted to me, so it may take up to 5 days, but at least it was fairly straight forward and saves a visit to the embassy. I can then send the foreign draft to the US Embassy with the application form.

I assume it would be a similar case with other online UK banks, but it certainly is possible with Natwest.

Good luck. I hope this helps.


----------



## bltonwry (Jun 12, 2018)

This conversation mentions Banker’s Drafts drawn in U.S. dollars from a bank with US branches, but there's no mention of whether any of these actually exist in the UK. 

By the way, the Embassy answered my query on their contact form within minutes. Highly laudable. They refuse to list banks, and claim that they get Drafts and International orders all the time.


----------



## TNEWT (Jul 11, 2018)

What a nightmare!! I have been trying to figure this one out and my bank have said that what they want in"English" is a foreign draft....which costs £20. Has anyone tried this? Did it work?


----------



## bigmoe168 (Sep 4, 2018)

VoleQuest said:


> I'm an American living in London and I am planning on renewing my passport by mail. It looks like I have to send a money order in USD to the U.S. embassy, but I'm confused about how to do that.
> 
> Is this something I can walk into a U.K. bank and get from my bank? Or is there some other way of obtaining a USD money order / banker's draft here in London? Is this a service offered by the Post Office?
> 
> ...


Hi,
according to US Embassy website, they accept either International Money Order or Foreign Bank Draft.
i haven't found anywhere in UK that does International Money Order but most banks with do Foreign Draft. I have a NATWEST account and i was able to order Foreign Draft online. it takes 3-5 days for the bank to post it to you.


----------



## Nasaw (Jul 19, 2016)

*Foreign currency cheques*

Probably a bit late for this specific query, but for anyone who comes to this thread in the future (like I did!)

I bank with Santander here in the UK and they do foreign currency cheques/drafts for a fee of £10 per cheque up to any amount. E.g., you can get it in US dollars and then they take the £s from your UK account.

You can get them in branch or over the phone, but its easier in branch as you can get the cheque right then and there.

I imagine if Santander do it other banks probably do??

Hope that helps!


----------



## clever-octopus (May 17, 2015)

I've been putting off this nightmare myself, but am in the thick of it now. I've called HSBC who informed that they haven't done bank drafts in years, and they have quite a few American customers who have asked (ultimately they were not able to provide anything I could use). 

NatWest DOES still do them (if you visit a branch) and it sounds like Santander will as well. 

Like a previous poster says, some of the US Embassy's terminology doesn't have a direct analogue in the UK, what you're looking for is a 'bank draft' or 'banker's draft'. If you try to search/ask for an 'international money order' no one will have any idea what you're talking about. I was able to get a bank draft with NatWest, who only issued them in pounds sterling, but that was OK since the US embassy accepts payments in GBP.


----------

