Application for an Australian Passport Overseas Form (PC8) - ADULT

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1 PHONE: (03) FAX: (03) MITA MINATO-KU, TOKYO AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY Application for an Australian Passport Overseas Form (PC8) - ADULT PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETE THE APPLICATION FORM IN BLACK INK. ADULT PASSPORT APPLICATION PC8 CHECKLIST Application for an Australian Passport Overseas Form (PC8) form completed in black ink. Two passport sized colour photographs. One must have your Guarantor s declaration of This is a true photograph of (your name in full) and their signature, on the back. Two original forms of ID (other than your Australian Passport), one of which is a photograph ID. You will also need to present proof of your current residential address if it is not listed on one of your forms of ID. Your current Australian passport (except in the case of an application to replace a lost/stolen passport or an application for your first Australian passport ever). The current passport fee plus the additional lost/stolen fee if applicable. IF YOU WERE BORN IN AUSTRALIA: Your original full Australian birth certificate If you were born in Australia you must present your full Australian birth certificate issued by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. If you were born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986, you must also present proof that one of your parents was an Australian citizen or permanent resident of Australia at the time of your birth. IF YOU WERE BORN OVERSEAS: Your original Australian citizenship certificate, and if your Australian citizenship certificate does not show sex or place and country of birth, you must provide your foreign birth certificate (with an official translation if necessary). If this is not possible, you must present your foreign passport. FOR APPLICANTS WISHING TO APPLY FOR A PASSPORT IN A NEW NAME If you are applying for a name change you will need to present originals of documents that explain all name changes. If you have changed your name in Australia you must present the original certificate issued by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. If you have changed your name overseas and were born in or normally reside in Australia, you must present the original certificate from the local equivalent authority AND a name change certificate in the new name from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Where the document is in a foreign language, a translation must be provided. The translation must be performed by a professional translation company/translator. The translation must be on their company letterhead or must have their official company stamp/seal/certificate, and include their contact details. The person who translates the document must be a third party not related to the applicant in any way, nor living at the same address. You can also find qualified translators on the NAATI website: If you have changed your name more than once, please provide details of your most recent name change on the form and provide documents for each name change. 1

2 DOCUMENTS NOT IN JAPAN If any of your necessary original documents are not in Japan with you, you may request a family member/friend to take the necessary document/s to their nearest Australian Passports Office for sighting. The Australian Passports Office will then forward a copy of the document to the Australian Passports Office in Japan to complete your application. Please note it must be forwarded from an Australian Passports Office. We cannot accept faxed documents from any other sources. For further details, please ask your family member/friend to call on in Australia. LODGEMENT Applications should be lodged in person at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo or the Consulates-General in Osaka and Fukuoka or Consulates in Nagoya or Sapporo. A lodgement appointment is necessary. Please contact your local mission to arrange an appointment time. Passport renewals may be submitted by mail only if you live in a remote area outside the metropolitan districts and do not fall into one of the following categories: - those applicants applying for their first adult passport since turning 18 (these applications must be lodged in person); - applications for renewal of a passport with a validity of less than two years (these applications must be lodged in person); or - applications to replace lost, stolen or damaged Passports (these applications must be lodged in person). IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS WISHING TO REPLACE A LOST/STOLEN PASSPORT You will be required to pay an additional lost/stolen fee on top of the normal application fee. The amount of the additional fee will depend on the number of passports you have lost or had stolen in the five years preceding the date of lodgement of your application. Please see the following website for this month s lost/stolen passport fees: Please make sure you complete Section 10 of the PC8 application form, declaring any passports you have lost or had stolen in the past 5 years. Any errors in this section may delay the issue of your passport. Please note that passports reported as lost or stolen will be immediately and permanently cancelled in the passports electronic system. You cannot use the lost/stolen passport again. If you recover the passport that was lost or stolen you must return it to your nearest passport office, where it will be physically cancelled. In some circumstances you may be eligible for a refund of the lost/stolen fee. For further information on replacing a lost/stolen passport and eligibility for a refund, please contact the Consular Section of the Australian Embassy. PHOTOGRAPHS Please refer to the enclosed Australian Passport Photo Guide for photograph requirements. If photographs do not meet the size and quality requirements they will be rejected. Please do not attach photographs to the application with paperclips, staples, bulldog clips, etc. Photographs that have been marked or have indentations cannot be used for the production of a new passport. You will need to have the back of one photograph endorsed by a guarantor. For more information who qualifies as a guarantor, please refer to the Guarantor section below. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION All supporting documentation must be originals. Where the document is in a foreign language, a translation must be provided. The translation must be performed by a professional translation company/translator. The translation must be on their company letterhead or must have their official company stamp/seal/certificate, and include their contact details. The person who translates the document must be a third party not related to the applicant in any way, nor living at the same address. If you are required to provide an Australian Birth Certificate this must be an original FULL Birth Certificate from the Australian Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Commemorative Birth Certificates from the Australian Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages are NOT acceptable, neither are Birth Extracts. (Commemorative Birth Certificates are certificates with a theme or fancy graphic design. A typical commemorative Birth Certificate is A3 in size.) 2

3 GUARANTOR It is a requirement for applicants using the PC8 form to provide additional proof of identity in the form of a completed Guarantor s declaration and an endorsement by the Guarantor on the back of one of the passport photographs. The person completing the declaration must be: over 18 years of age; have known the applicant for a period of more than 12 months; not be related to the applicant by birth, marriage or de facto relationship, nor living at the same address; and either: (a) an Australian citizen who holds a passport of at least two years validity, OR (b) a national of another country who is currently employed in one of the occupational groups listed below: Guarantor Occupational Groups Accountants (Registered) Bank managers Barristers, Solicitors and Patent Attorneys Chartered Professional Engineers (government registered) Clerks of Courts Members currently serving in the regular Defence Forces with at least five years continuous service Members of the Chartered Institute of Company Secretaries Marriage Celebrants Pharmacists Registered Medical Practitioners Postal Managers Teachers - full time early childhood/ primary/ highschool teachers of more than five years service who hold university teaching qualifications and are registered to a Board of Education. Dentists Stipendiary Magistrates Police Officers with at least five years continuous Public Servants with at least five years continuous service service Elected representatives of Parliaments Registered Veterinary Surgeons Judges Registered Nurses University Professors of more than five years service. The Guarantor must complete the declaration on page three of the application form AND endorse and sign the back of one photograph with the words "This is a true photograph of (applicant's name)". Please ensure that the guarantor signs the declaration in Section 12 and the back of the photograph using the same signature. Should the guarantor sign in Kanji in Section 12 then the signature on the back of the photograph should also be in Kanji. SIGNATURES Please ensure the declaration box has been signed and dated by the applicant. Please ensure the applicant has signed in the signature to go in your passport box within the white space. Japanese hanko stamps may not be used in place of a signature. Where the signature to go in the passport differs from the signature in the previous passport, you will need to complete a B11 General Declaration stating the reason for the change in your signature and provide your old signature as well as your new one. APPLICATION FEES Passport fees are set under the Passports Act. Fees are revised monthly based on the current exchange rate (AUD to Yen). Please check the Embassy website ( to ensure the fee you submit is valid for that month. Please note that all fees are payable in yen in cash or by postal money order (yuubin kawase), which is available at the post office. Please check the Embassy website or contact the Consular Section on between 9am and 5:30pm if you require further information. 3

4 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Can I apply for a new passport by mail? You can apply for a new passport by mail only if you live in a remote area outside the metropolitan districts and do not fall into one of the following categories: you are an adult and this is your first passport since turning 18 your current passport is lost, stolen or damaged your previous Australian Passport had 2 years or less validity. When applying for a passport by post, can I send photocopies of my identification (ID) and the passport I wish to renew? No, we are required to sight your original ID and passport. We recommend you send all original documents by registered post. We will make copies of your ID, cancel your old passport, and return the originals to you as soon as possible by registered post. How should I send the passport fee when applying for a passport by post? You can either send cash by using a money registered mail envelope (genkinkakitome) or a postal money order (yuubin kawase). Both can be obtained at your local post office. Do I have to collect the new passport in person? No - we can post it to you (by registered post) or you can provide written authorisation for someone to collect it on your behalf. This person must present current photo ID. What happens to my old passport and my Japanese visas? Your old passport will be physically cancelled and returned to you upon submitting your application for a new passport. Regarding your Japanese working visa and re-entry permit, we do not cancel visas or pages with visas on them. You will need to attend your local Japanese Immigration Office to have your visas transferred from your old passport to your new one. If you are unable to have your visas transferred before travelling, ensure you take both your old and new passports to the Airport. Japanese Immigration allows you to exit/enter Japan with an old (cancelled) passport that contains your valid visa/re-entry permit presented with your new passport. * If you have a Japanese Alien Registration Card (ARC), you should update your passport details on your ARC at your Ward/City Office. Can I have additional pages attached to my passport? No. Can I pay for the passport in Australian Dollars? No. Payment must be made in yen by cash or postal money order only. How long does it take to issue a new passport? Under the Passports Australia Client Services Charter, the Passport Production Centre in Canberra will undertake to process a travel document in ten working days once the passport office has received all the necessary information. Please note the ten working days processing time does not include postal time. You should allow up to three weeks for the processing and issuing of your new passport. Please plan travels accordingly to factor in this processing period. What happens if I don t know anyone in Japan within the required Guarantor s categories? You will need to forward your photograph to a suitable Guarantor (this may be somebody in Australia or another country). The Guarantor will need to complete the Guarantor s section on page three and sign the back of your photograph, then return these to you. As this process could take time we suggest you plan your passport renewal well in advance. 4

5 I have recently married - can I be issued a new passport in my married name at no cost? Yes on presentation of proof of a name change through marriage and completion of a new application form within 12 months from the date of your marriage. If you have changed your name through marriage overseas and were born in or normally reside in Australia, you must present the original marriage certificate from the local equivalent authority overseas and a name change certificate in the married name from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Where the document is in a foreign language, a translation must be provided. The translation must be performed by a professional translation company/translator. The translation must be on their company letterhead or must have their official company stamp/seal/certificate, and include their contact details. The person who translates the document must be a third party not related to the applicant in any way, nor living at the same address. You can also find qualified translators on the NAATI website: Please note that marriage certificates issued by marriage celebrants are not acceptable for change of name if you were married in Australia. You must register the marriage with the Australian Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages in the state or territory where the marriage occurred and show that certificate. No fee will apply but the passport is issued until the expiry date on the original passport, not for a further 10 year period. My passport is running out of pages far earlier than validity - can I get a new passport gratis for the remaining period? No - but we suggest that when you renew your passport you apply for a Business/Frequent Traveller s Passport if travelling frequently. My passport is soon to expire. Will I have problems travelling? Please note that there may be problems in transiting or entering third countries en route - an increasing number of countries will only allow entry into the country to people holding passports with at least 6 months validity remaining. 5