Interviews for British passport applications in Tenerife

On 2 March 2009 the British Consulate will be introducing interviews for some applicants. In 2007 the UK Identity and Passport Service introduced compulsory passport interviews for all first time applicants aged 16 or over, and this brings passport applications in Spain and Tenerife in line with this.

So from March the British Consulate in Tenerife will be introducing compulsory interviews for certain applicants who:

• are applying for a British passport for the first time
• are applying for a replacement passport following the loss or theft of more than one passport over a short period
• present a damaged passport for renewal
• have changed their name, except if that change follows marriage, civil partnership, divorce or dissolution
• have not held a valid British passport for more than 10 years
• are renewing an old style blue passport
• hold a British Overseas Territories passport, other than Gibraltar.

Interviewing passport applicants has been established practice in many British Embassies and High Commission worldwide for a number of years and has proven to be an effective deterrent against passport fraud and identity theft.  To bring our current procedures into line with the IPS in the UK, all FCO posts will adopt the same policy and approach to passport interviewing.  This has become necessary to: 

• establish your eligibility and entitlement to a British passport
• prevent other people impersonating you and using your identity to commit fraud.  Sadly, this is happening more frequently with distressing consequences for victims
• reduce passport fraud and forgery. This sort of crime is becoming more sophisticated and more organised
• counter terrorist activity, making international travel safer and hassle-free
• prevent illegal entry into the UK and other countries.  

Many UK banks, building societies and other organisations now ask for photographic proof of identity prior to transacting business, with a valid passport increasingly being required.  A misappropriated passport therefore can open the way to bank accounts, mortgages, benefits and many other services. The interview has a vital role within the passport application, in ensuring that customers are the rightful owners of that "identity.”

You can find out more about this from the FCO's UK in Spain website.