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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be pissed off with the passport office

68 replies

loueytb3 · 17/10/2011 21:44

I know some of this is my fault for not applying earlier so you're probably going to all say IBU...

Sent off passport application for DS3 (4 months old) 3 weeks ago tomorrow. I did it through the post office check and send service which is supposed to take 2 weeks, except for busy periods which this isn't. I've always got passports within the 2 weeks when I've used this service before.

2 weeks pass, no passport. I phoned the passport office last Wednesday to find out what was going on. They said they had sent a letter to the counter-signatory to ask her to confirm in writing that she had signed the photo. She wrote a letter and put it in the enclosed envelope on Thursday. I phoned again on Saturday and twice today and they still haven't received it. The person I spoke to today said the envelope they enclose is 2nd class. We go on holiday on Friday morning so we need the passport by Thursday. They won't let me apply again because there is already an application open. I can't speed it up until they get the letter. I've phoned my friend and she is going to do another letter tomorrow which I can send recorded. They won't accept faxes, we've already tried.

I'm fuming because 1) they left it until right at the end of the 2 weeks to send a letter to the counter signatory and 2) what is the use in sending a 2nd class envelope when you have a 2 week turn around (allegedly). If we can't go on Friday, I doubt we will be able to go at all because I'm sure all the flights will be booked as its half term.

OP posts:
EdithWeston · 17/10/2011 23:36

Lucky them - wasn't my experience.

Though of course they would be unable to do that if your DCs were on your passport, so that's another plus.

FirstVix · 17/10/2011 23:39

We just got our DD's first passport back within 3 weeks using the normal through the post service. She's 5MO and the counter-sig wasn't asked for confirmation so I'm guessing that's a random element rather than for every first passport.

BimboNo5 · 17/10/2011 23:41

You shouldnt book a holiday until you have the passport- it says that on the website/passport form etc. Why did you leave it so late?

Cant fault them when I applied for mine a couple of months ago- it was back within 5 days.

bottleofbeer · 17/10/2011 23:45

Well yeah they'd have needed their own passports to leave the country without me but otherwise, I honestly don't see much point. A photo of a three month old baby that might now be four years old, and imo it proves nothing having them simply named on yours didn't.

Passports would be no more proof of ID than your birth certificate would be.

...and I'm sure you realise just how easy it would be to get hold of someone else's BC! unless things have radically changed, when I got a copy of mine all I had to do was tell them my name and DOB. No further ID required. Scary! suppose that's what makes the interviews for adult passports a good idea. They ask you nothing much more than details from your application form (although tbf the "how much do you owe on XYZ catalogue would have thrown an impostor for a loop unless they really did their homework) and I think that they just have your photo up on screen and see you in person to check the likeness for themselves.

ronx · 17/10/2011 23:48

I had this nightmare earlier this year when I applied for DD's first passport which was delayed because the passport office wanted the countersignatory to verify who she was. They accepted a faxed letter from her, though and I had to pay an extra £60 to get the passport printed and sent overnight. Was lulled into a false sense of security because my DS's first passport arrived within a week.

LineRunner · 17/10/2011 23:50

When I counter-sign I'm always very careful to make sure that along with a mobile mumber there are also landline phone numbers that are verifiable for both work and home, with verifiable addresses.

And you do also have to give your own British passport number.

LineRunner · 17/10/2011 23:53

So I'm unsure if the writing to counter-signatories is because of a 'flag' or simply a random check.

gasman · 18/10/2011 00:58

I countersign lots of kids passport applications mostly first ones

(My social circle is getting to that age).

I've only been contacted once and that was by the Australians when I signed an application for a kid with dual nationality.

Original poster
loueytb3 · 18/10/2011 03:56

Can't sleep, not helped by having AF-pains from hell.

Linerunner - i cant remember about the landline number but she definitely put in her passport number and work address, and that's where they sent the letter to. She's a teacher and she's been a countersignatory before and never been asked to do this. Nor have I and I've done a few passports too.

Edith - no we haven't. I think it must just be random bad luck.

Bimbo - I know we should have done it earlier and I'm kicking myself now. I was waiting for the school holiday rush to end and then DTS1 and 2 started school so early September was a bit mad.

Ronx - both the counter signatory and I have separately tried to get them to accept a fax of the letter. They won't. How did you manage it?

My friend is going to print off another copy of the letter first thing for me to pick up from her school. If the passport office still haven't received the 1st letter when I phone up later on I'm going to ask if I can physically bring the letter into the London office and get the passport issued. I don't care how much it costs. My fear is that they are going to say the application is in Liverpool and that is where the letter needs to be.

OP posts:
nomoreheels · 18/10/2011 07:16

Hope you get the passport in time, it does sound like you've just had bad luck.

I got DD's in less than 2 weeks after applying in early August with check & send. I had checked it all myself but paid the extra as they promised the quick turnaround. The PO employee was very thorough so a positive experience in my case overall.

I was travelling alone, so I had to fork out another £60 to two solicitors (one to prepare, another firm to co-sign)to get a Statutory Declaration from DP saying he knew about the holiday & was ok with it. However next time I will just copy the body of the letter & re-do it myself, & pay a solicitor to co-sign it. That bit was only £7! It was needed though, Canadian customs asked for it straight away.

ronx · 18/10/2011 08:08

I begged them. Grin

I said that we were going away in a few days and that I was prepared to drive up from Oxfordshire to Durham to get the passport.

The best thing is to keep calling every day and to make a nuisance of yourself. Don't know if that kept my application on top of the pile. Good luck!

worldgonecrazy · 18/10/2011 08:33

I had a completely different experience of the passport office. Admittedly it was a renewal for lost passports, we'd filled in all the forms correctly except my husband hadn't signed the form to say that the other passport had been lost.

I was nearly in tears in Newport at the office as we were travelling the next day. The lovely lady told me to get my husband (who was 200 miles away) to get a new form from the nearest post office and get it faxed to the office by 10.00 a.m. and they would be able to sort out the situation. We got our new passports at 1.00 p.m. that day. I think they were brilliant.

Do keep calling, don't give up. I was initially told they couldn't help me and then told to turn up at 8.00 a.m. the next day (they have an appointments system, you can't just turn up randomly).

The people next to me in the queue weren't so lucky. They were also travelling the next day but had a more serious problem with the forms and were unable to get passports issued.

pinkdelight · 18/10/2011 08:36

Really hope you get it sorted in time, but as you say, you should have just done it earlier, and not be so surprised that they leave it till the end of the fortnight to contact the countersignatory etc. When you've not been able to hurry things and you have a vested interest in getting it done, why would a big, processy, not v customer-focused machine make any special effort for you?

PattySimcox · 18/10/2011 11:40

"not v customer-focused machine" - it is exactly that that really annoyed me.

It is very costly to get a passport and the process is really unfriendly. That said, all the people taht I spoke to on their helpine were really apologetic for the process and as helpful as they could be.

Original poster
loueytb3 · 18/10/2011 13:35

The good news is that they have issued the passport so the letter must have got there this morning. The bad news is that because it has been issued, they can't escalate it to get it to me any quicker. I am Angry because 2 separate people told me yesterday that they couldnt escalate it until they had got the letter. Apparently it is now in a queue to be printed, but they can't tell me when. Then it will be couriered to me but they can't tell me when it will get here until it's printed. I feel like I'm going round in circles. Will be phoning again at 4ish to see what stage it has got to.

OP posts:
bottleofbeer · 18/10/2011 14:50

Please try not to worry. I had my interview Saturday morning, so it couldn't possibly have been printed before then. It was couriered to me by Tuesday afternoon. Take Sunday out of the equation and it took what? a day and half, two days? I was in no hurry for mine either, just be as polite as you possibly can be if and when you need to speak to them again, it really does make a difference in terms of people being willing to help you out that little bit more - maybe put it to the top of whatever pile it is they sit on.

You will get it, think positive thoughts!

Original poster
loueytb3 · 18/10/2011 16:27

It's been printed but is not showing on the couriers system so I can't expedite delivery until it does. And that can take 1-2 days. Argggghhhhh. I have visions of it turning up in the early hours of Friday morning. I can't pick it up in person, tried that so I'm at the mercy of the couriers who are apparently "really busy".

OP posts:
PattySimcox · 18/10/2011 16:34

IIRC I was told that if I rang and asked to be transferred to the couriers at 8.00ish they could check if they had received it in and then I could pay an extra £20 or £30 to guarantee delivery - tbh at that stage I was so stressed about it not arriving that I would have sold the DCs to get it on time Grin

Fingers crossed for you louey

FunnyHaHaPeculiar · 18/10/2011 16:40

lol its nothing to them if you are going on holiday in one day or six months - thats your affair. And the Post Office service is really a waste of time, effort and money.

coraltoes · 18/10/2011 16:43

I do recall the forms saying not to book travel until you receive the passport....so YABU

Andrewofgg · 18/10/2011 19:25

OP Your passport should be given priority over that of someone who applied in time because . . . ?

Original poster
loueytb3 · 18/10/2011 20:23

No of course not Andrew - but they did tell me that I could pay extra to get the premium service (ie upgrade) and get it more quickly. Anyway, it's irrelevant now as we need the couriers to pick it up and give it a tracking number.

OP posts:
Andrewofgg · 18/10/2011 20:25

Not for the first time OP I now think I was harsh and unkind. I'm sorry. Good luck in getting your passport.

PattySimcox · 19/10/2011 18:11

Any news OP?

Original poster
loueytb3 · 19/10/2011 21:24

Passport turned up this afternoon. Am so relieved - thought it was going to go to the wire. DS1 and 2's passports expire next year. Guess who is not going to leave it until the last minute to renew them...

OP posts:
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