Welcome to the pages of the Benelux France Passport Service. We are based in the British Consulate-General in Paris. This service is available to British nationals in Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, France, Monaco, and the French DOM-TOMs. Please note that our posts in Brussels, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux, and Marseille continue to provide consular assistance in their districts, including the provision of single-journey passports needed in genuine emergencies.

The merger of the Benelux and France passport operations is being carefully managed to meet the needs of applicants. We aim to issue all correctly submitted applications within 10 working days of receipt.

If you are travelling urgently, you may wish to be aware of the following hints and tips:

• Instead of mailing your application to us, a courier company is almost always a quicker option. It can more than halve delivery times in certain cases. Alternatively, you can always call in to see us in person. Incidentally, we now return all completed passports to postal applicants using TNT. The following pages will tell you more, but this new service is designed to speed up delivery and improve security.
• The front page of the passport application form (C1 for adults, C2 for children) invites you to enter your date of travel. Please do this if you are travelling urgently; we will aim to meet your deadline.
  
• Finally, our system allows you to apply up to nine months before your current passport expires without losing any validity. For example, if your passport is due to expire on 12 May 2009 and you were to apply to renew it today, your new passport would have an expiry date of 12 May 2019.

We are committed to ensuring that the quality of the passport service offered to British Nationals in the Benelux France region remains high.

Graeme Wise
Consul-General, Paris and Regional
Director for Benelux and France

Important passport information

Processing Time

For customers who wish to renew their British passport, the current processing time is 10 working days from receipt of a complete application. These processing times do not include the time it takes to post or courier the passport to and from the Passport section. If your previous passport has been lost or stolen, it may also take longer to process.

If you need to travel within 72 hours, you may be eligible for an Emergency Passport.  An Emergency Passport is a one page document valid for one jounrey only to the UK or elsewhere in the EU.  It is issued to British Nationals previously issued with a British Passport, (i.e. they cannot be issued to anyone applying for the first time), in emergency and compassionate situations.  Please click on Lost and Stolen Passports and follow the advice given.

In fairness to all our customers, applications are dealt with in the order that they are received. We regret that we are unable to prioritise applications.

Applications received which do not have all the correct supporting documentation or fees will be returned to you at your expense.

Photographs required for biometric passports

The photograph standards required for biometric passports are higher than those needed for earlier types of passports. If the photograph you send with your passport application does not meet the standards required your complete application (or all applications submitted together as a family) will be returned to you at your expense. This could cause a long delay in processing your application as it will not be given priority treatment when it is returned to us with a new photograph. Please ensure that your photographs meet the required standard, by checking the latest information on the Identity & Passport Service website.

Passport phone enquiries

Our passport information line is now provided by Abtran.

For applicants in France

For further enquiries about British passports, please call: 089 223 0175 from France between 09.00 and 17.30 local time. A call to Abtran will be charged at €0.33 per minute on your telephone bill for the duration of the call and €1.60 per minute on your credit card once you have successfully entered your credit card details.  Please have your credit card details ready before you make the call.

For applicants in Belgium

Please call 070 271 269 between 09.00 and 17.30. A call to Abtran will be charged at €0.17 per minute on your telephone bill for the duration of the call and €1.60 per minute on your credit card once you have successfully entered your credit card details.  Please have your credit card details ready before you make the call.

For applicants in Luxembourg

Please call 900 420 10 between 09.00 and 17.30. A call to Abtran will be charged at €0.16 per minute on your telephone bill for the duration of the call and €1.60 per minute on your credit card once you have successfully entered your credit card details.  Please have your credit card details ready before you make the call.

For applicants in Monaco and the French DOM-TOMs

Please call +44 870 066 9639 between 09.00 and 17.30. A call to Abtran will be charged at an international rate on your telephone bill for the duration of the call and €1.60 per minute on your credit card once you have successfully entered your credit card details.  Please check with your carrier for international rates and have your credit card details ready before you make the call.

For applicants in The Netherlands

Please call 0900 777 9444 between 9.00am and 17.30pm.  This call will be charged at €0.15 per minute on your telephone bill for the duration of the call and €1.60 per minute on your credit card once you have successfully entered your credit card details.  Please have your credit card details ready before you make the call.

Calling from the UK

The UK premium number (0906 664 1717) will service any calls from within the UK from family members of applicants residing in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, with enquiries regarding status updates or general enquiries. These lines have been set up to assist applicants further with enquiries, who may have difficulty contacting the numbers above themselves within the countries listed above. The service is operated by Abtran and calls cost £1.50 per minute. They operate between 09.00 and 17.30 UK time, Monday to Friday, excluding UK bank holidays.

The above numbers might get blocked by cellphone carriers, and in some instances, at work places also. Please contact your cellphone carrier in order to have the numbers unblocked.

Complaints with Abtran

If you have a complaint regarding the Abtran service, please e-mail Abtran directly on: UKPassportServiceBeneluxFrance@abtran.com. All complaints will be responded to initially within 24 hours.