U.K.ABROADReviews of ukabroad.net

My contact with u.k.abroad was very unprofessional. Firstly you have a cool down of 12 hours for a 100% refund, but you are contacted always after this time period. Secondly you are not informed in advance what documents you need to send. Thirdly you have to send page for page in high resolution scan of every page of every other foreign passport you have. Fourthly if you question this requirement, they tell you - oh if you have a passport from USA you don't need to send any scans. The whole process was very amateurish. In the end I decided to cancel the application process. The contact was friendly but gun-ho..it felt like the rules were being made on the fly.

Passport full so decided to renew it while in Kuala Lumpur and felt the support of an agency would speed up and derisk the process. I did get new and old passports back in just over three weeks - so thankfully NOT a scam - but still can't help feeling mugged. Around double the cost of DIY and little or no value added to the process which was in fact extended I estimate by one week through involving UKPA (non working week ends, time differences, email turnaround etc.). Also for me an anxious 5 day wait wondering if I had been scammed from paying my money USD 335 for a jumbo passport to getting any concrete proof that application had been submitted i.e. PEX reference and email used through .GOV portal. Applying directly through the GOV portal is very clear, straightforward and efficient and you will be directly updated on the process by both.GOV and DHL throughout if you DIY. Even better and quicker to go to a DHL service point yourself and pay them directly to courier your documents to the passport office rather than wait around all day for then to come to you if organised by UKPA. All UKPA is doing is checking your passport details and uploading the information & digital photo you provide from a template that exactly mirrors the GOV portal and paying the outbound DHL cost. I estimate less than half a days work if being generous for which they get USD 335 less .GOV passport cost GBP 110.50 less DHL outbound USD 50 ....nice work if you can get it! They are not influencing or speeding up the process in any way.... in fact they are slowing it down by adding extra steps. They don't explicitly claim a government relationship, in fact they state they are not associated in the fine print...but it is inferred through their branding. Unless you are extremely underconfident then DIY - or ask a friend to help and take them out for dinner afterwards with the money you will save. Nothing illegal with what UKPA is doing....its just expensive and inefficient. They seem to be preying on a mystique that it's difficult and risky to DIY...its NOT! I have written it all down to experience under Buyer Beware.

We found this service to be generally frustrating and poor value for the fees involved. Our biggest complaint was the 100% reliance on templated emails as the response from our consultant i.e. lack of personalized approach and the often confusing instructions, especially around the courier pick up of our old passports. Gmail threads grew ridiculously long. Our consultant was based in Australia so a one-day delay was automatic and the company uses DHL which is a minor player in Canada. Pick-ups invariably happened at the end of the day - having waited all day. Not recommended, especially for Canada-based expats/residents.