Don't Lose Passport

Note to self:  DO NOT LOSE YOUR PASSPORT.

I go through many moments of paranoia while travelling - obsessively checking and double checking my bag to be sure my passport is where I put it. Losing it has always been a concern of course... like the time in 2005 when a train conductor took it from me in Italy and wouldn't give it back until my friend and I got off...

That concern is only doubled when your passport contains a very valuable visa stamp indicating you have right to work in a foreign country.



Recently, an American friend living and working here was on a business trip in NYC and she misplaced her passport. After getting a new USA passport within 24 hours and getting her parents to overnight her birth certificate to her to do this, she headed to the British Embassy to replace her visa. The embassy very kindly turned her away and said sorry, go reapply.

Even though they have all her information, including her fingerprints to identify her, she had to completely reapply for the visa, a process that takes at least a week.

In order to obtain a new visa, you have to do the following:

1. Have your new USA passport on hand
2. Complete the visa application with the same information previously supplied
3. Attach a letter from your company stating you still work for them.
4. Get your fingerprints taken at an official designated location - an appointment that can take up to a week or more to make.
5. Attach a UK regulation size passport photo
6. Get a police report stating your Visa was lost.

Needless to say, this loss was all very expensive, costing around $1,000 for the expedited USA passport and UK visa replacement alone.

If you try to go back into the UK without the visa, you technically don't have the right to be working there without. Not sure what happens. I don't want to find out.

What happens if you lose your passport and you're not in the USA at the time but some other random country? I really, really, really don't want to find that out either.

TV LicenCe

If you own a TV, you must pay the fee. Every household in Britain pays a TV License (spelled Licence, but the plural is apparently licensing with an s, which is probably why Americans changed the spelling – one of many).

The fee to the Government is £145.50 per annum per household and when I first arrived I thought this was just another way to tax citizens, but alas there is a method to the madness. It pays for the BBC. I suppose its another way of paying for the same thing… TV channels. At our house, we don’t pay for cable channels, so the only payment for “free view” is this £145.50 per year. If you’re over 75 years old, your licence is free. If you’re blind you may qualify for a 50% concession.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/

What does your licence fee pay for?

TV Licensing is committed to making it quick and easy for you to pay for your TV Licence in the way that suits you. The fee you pay provides a wide range of TV, radio and online content, as well as developing new ways to deliver it to you. Click on the devices below to find out more.
All of this content – and the television channels, radio stations and online spaces where audiences can find it – is paid for by the licence fee, allowing BBC's UK services to remain free of advertisements and independent of shareholder and political interest.

This fee is serious business – the government pretty much has to collect from every household in the country. And as you can imagine, plenty of people try to get out of it. You still receive channels streaming through your flat screen, even if you’re not paying the fee. After your licence has been expired for 2 months, and you have not paid, you will receive a notice saying something along these lines (err...don’t ask how I know this):

“YOU ARE HERBY GIVEN OFFICIAL NOTICE: Your Property is now under investigation. Maximum fine: £1,000 plus legal costs.”
Visit: Enforcement officers may be authorized to investigate your case and a visit to your home may be scheduled. If you’re found to be watching TV illegally, you may be cautioned and interviewed in accordance with the Police and Criminal Act 1984.

Good thing we just paid our renewal.

Thanks BBC, you’re one of the only good things I see about British TV. Although I might not be judging fairly considering we don’t pay for 200+ channels or DVR at my house (I miss my TIVO!).