----Lost passports and replacements.
----Issue of totally new ones for children born in the USA to British citizens
----VISAS for travel to the UK for non UK citizens
All these British passport matters are handled centrally by the British Embassy in Washington. Nowhere else. Nowhere in Florida! FIRST: You have to go to the website and click around to get answers, download passport forms and renewal info. It's easy and comprehensive. The UK Government's official website for Brits over here is: www.ukinusa.fco.gov.uk
Or phone (202) 588-7800 and press the relevant option for recorded information. NOTE: Since 2005 the Passport Center has not accepted telephone calls unless you pay. When you phone they will direct you to the website and [for questions] to their 900 pay-as-you go number. ALL the information you need for applying for a passport for the first time, or renewing an expired passport is available on that website including application forms, a list of fees, and what you need to send with your application. The Passport Center does not accept telephone calls. Instead, their service delivery partner, Abtran, will answer your questions on 1-800-285-7277 but they will charge you a fee for this service, and the information they have is exactly the same as the information on www.ukinusa.fco.gov.uk YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: Click on that same website to find answers to every question about your passport.
PHOTOS: UK PASSPORT PHOTOS MUST BE A SPECIAL SIZE--GET THEM DONE in FLORIDA via special service on website: www.passportpictures.orgBUT NOTE: The application forms you receive from the US Embassy in Washington say that photos must be a special UK size and you can't use regular ones cut down. But Florida Brits have told me they submitted passport photos done at Walgreens and CVS [$8 while you wait] and carefully trimmed them down to UK size. The Embassy accepted them! So it's your choice.
NOTE EMERGENCY ONLY British passports in the USA [new and renewals] are issued only by the Passport Center in Washington D.C. But the Orlando and Miami Consulates [see BRITISH CONSULATES page on this website] can provide you with an emergency travel document if your passport has been lost or stolen but has not expired.
NEED TO OBTAIN A COPY OF YOUR BRITISH BIRTH CERTIFICATE? OR MARRIAGE OR DEATH CERTIFICATE? FOR ANY BRITISH CITIZEN you must apply to The UK Government's General Register Office, where all public records are kept. Records of all births, deaths, marriages in the UK since 1837 are kept at St. Catherine's House in London. You can go there in person to order a duplicate certificate [for a small fee]: St. Catherine's House, 10 Kingsway, London WC2B 6JP England or write there. The official website is www.gro.gov.uk You'll find all the info you need there. There is an Overseas Department shown on the website too. Click around and see what you need. If you still have questions about such documents, call the British Consulate in Orlando [407] 254-3300. They do NOT issue any UK replacement documents, but may be able to answer your questions.