AVOID COPY-CAT WEBSITES

Many of us have been fooled into paying for a service online by copy-cat websites - websites that are seemingly official but tucked away somewhere on their website it explains that they are, in fact, a third party company who will do the online administration on your behalf and charge you for it. Some of these sites charge you an exaggerated fee for something you could get much cheaper at the official website, while others even charge you for something you could do yourself for free on the official website!

 

As long as the website states somewhere that they are a third party submitting the information on your behalf, their business practise is totally legal, if immoral.

 

The purpose of this page is to provide my clients with links to the official websites you should visit to complete the administration of important services, i.e. passport forms, European Health Insurance Cards, US ESTA's, to name but a few.

UK passport application

https://www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport

 

 

European Health Insurance Card application

https://www.gov.uk/european-health-insurance-card

 

 

General Register Office copy certificates (Birth/Marriage/Death)

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

 

 

ESTA application

For travel to the United States of America under the Visa Waiver Program

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

 

 

Car tax renewal

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax

 

 

Driving licence application

https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/driving-licences

 

 

Book your official driving or riding theory test

https://www.gov.uk/book-a-driving-theory-test

 

 

File your tax return

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/file-online.htm

 

 

London Congestion Charge payments

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge

 

 

Visa applications for various countries

There are obviously a vast number of countries that you can apply to for a Visa, so always ensure when you search for the official website that the website domain you use ends with '.gov.[the top-level domain of the country you require]', i.e. to apply for a Visa for travel to Australia, search for something along the lines of 'Apply for Australian Visa' and ensure you choose a domain that ends with '.gov.au' - for example, I chose 'http://www.immi.gov.au/Services/Pages/visitor-visa-online-applications.aspx'. Be aware that US government website domains end '.gov', with no country code.

 

For a full list of country code top-level domains, go to 'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains#Country_code_top-level_domains'.