[basin76]

Hi,

I have recently heard that colour photocopies of passports are illegal. Is this correct? I have copied all my documents in colour ready to send to the immigration team but i'm worried now, should i do them all in b/w. I've done my degree, original letters etc all in colour.

[Rob&Don]

Hi,

I have recently heard that colour photocopies of passports are illegal. Is this correct? I have copied all my documents in colour ready to send to the immigration team but i'm worried now, should i do them all in b/w. I've done my degree, original letters etc all in colour.

We sent all our photocopies in colour including copies of our passports, degree certs etc... and it was fine. Nothing said about them being colour.

Donna

[basin76]

I feel a bit better now lol. I'll do another copy of the passport just in case. I hope the police certificate people didn't mind.. they've received a colour one.

im in uk btw

[Rob&Don]

I feel a bit better now lol. I'll do another copy of the passport just in case. I hope the police certificate people didn't mind.. they've received a colour one.

im in uk btw

We sent certified colour copies of absolutely everything! Not heard of them being illegal at all. HTH.
Donna
XX

[JandM]

Where did you hear colour copies wouldn't do?

[basin76]

after hearing about it i did a google on the subject and it seems to be a 90% to 10% argument for it actually being illegal. It's something to do with ID theft and fraud. Seems the same goes for driving licenses.

It mentions on the passport website only to make b/w copies. It doesnt say its illegal to make colour ones.

... in the end... who knows. It coulde be eitherso it seems.

[Jo Jo]

Photocopies of British passports used to have to be in black and white (so they wouldn't be mistaken for an actual passport page), but they can now be in colour.

If you look on the UK passport site, under FAQs for reproduction of your passport it refers you to the OPSI site (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copyright/copyright-guidance/reproduction-of-the-british-passport) which says the following:

Reproduction of the personal details page in the Passport

Page 31 (the "bio page") of the British Passport contains the personal details of the passport holder. The Identity and Passport Service suggests that passport holders record the information on this page and keep it in a safe place separate to the passport. This will help the Identity and Passport Service process an application for a replacement passport if the current passport is lost or is stolen.

Passport holders’ identity and personal information are valuable. Criminals can find out an individual’s personal details and use them to open bank accounts and get credit cards, loans, state benefits and documents such as passports and driving licences. If an identity is stolen, the individual may have difficulty getting loans, credit cards or a mortgage until the matter is sorted out. The Identity and Passport Service advises passport holders to only agree to the reproduction of the personal details page in the passport if they are satisfied that the person or organisation they are giving this to will protect it from unauthorised disclosure.

The Identity and Passport Service advises organisations who wish to retain a reproduction of the personal details in the passport that they should obtain the consent of the individual to do so. They also advise organisations to retain a record of the consent and to store the passport details securely.

[Joolzr]

Years ago I tried to copy a passport in colour and was told that it was illegal to as it could be interpreted as trying to reproduce i.e fake a passport. So while it may be technically illegal I doubt you'd get into trouble. But I can see why the shop wouldn't do it for me.

[rizjunior]

Once I tried colour photocopy of my kids uk birth certificate and photostate man refused.

[dusk]

we used colour print outs of scans for all our documents, passports included, no one has thus far slapped our wrists (or stolen our identities as far as I can tell!)