Passport Nightmare - has anyone any advice?

[Sazzley35]

Hi all,

I am having a nightmare, my daughters passport has not come back yet, its been gone over 4 weeks. Like a fool I didn't make a note of the barcode & I can't get through to Durham passport office to find out what the problem is & we are flying on Saturday.

Is there anything I can do, its just a straightforward renewal not anything complex and I am happy to pay for it upgrading and go collect it but I can't get from the call centre to Durham to speak to someone who knows. I keep getting a different tale every time I phone up and I feel like crying (again!!)

I am considering driving up there tomorrow and seeing if I can get some sense out of someone but the people on the phone say I won't get seen with no appt.

Any advice anyone?

If it is just a renewal, have you had the old passport back yet? This is normally sent back before the new passport. If you have had it back, you have the passport number on it (I don't think they change these) so you should be able to ring them and use that number. If you have not had the old passport back, then I would think that it's caught up in the backlog, or lost (worse case scenario!). Hope you get this sorted and have a lovely holiday :)

Mine is the same, ordinary renewal but its been 6 weeks and all i get too is different stories from IPS staff, after hours and hours in phone queues rarely getting through, Ive waited twice for 48hr call back from Durham. I too am happy to pay to upgrade but cannot speak to anyone to do it. There is no direct number and no email.

I will likely go the end of this week as our holiday on Saturday is going to be ruined and I'm so helpless just doing nothing but wait and watch the time tick by.
I will drive to Durham and sit on their floor and cry ...what else can I do?

Did you get this sorted?

today, it arrived with 48 hours to go. Keep persevering, ring, message, email pester, pester pester is my best advice.

Got them back today too. phew now we can start to look forward. Have a fantastic time and thx for your support.

Hi there,

I'm panicking about my son's passport arriving in time for our holiday next week and getting no where with the 0033 number.

Can some one please give me the 0845 Durham - thanks !

0845 129 0055