Help - Does anyone work at the Passport Office at Durham

[janeb204]

Im at my wits end...I need to speak to Durham Passport office, I am going on holiday Saturday and my daughters passport renewal is stuck in a backlog at Durham. I will pay for accelerated service but can't get through to ask for it. The general phone number takes hours to be answered, the call back service doesn't work, the 48hr email reply service doesn't reply. Can I drive to Durham and sit and wait. I'm frantic to resolve this...but what can I do? Has anyone got any suggestions of what I can do....apart from cry? Does anyone work there and can tell me something I can DO

I got through within 20 minutes to the 0300 number for Belfast.

Cry!

Steady it's Durham.

We live in Devon, bring back Newport,never had this fiasco when we used them.

UNREALLLLLLLL!!!!! My local MP office said they would my actual local MP herself who would ring up to demand my passport get sorted out! Within 15 minutes Durham had called me to take payment and print this afternoon for me to collect before closing time! He didn't guarantee I would have it but almost guaranteed it and is calling me back within an hour to tell me to set off!! My advice is to call your local MP and to be honest the closer it has got to my holiday, the more progress thee has been. It's now just a fingers crossed situation that I get the green light to travel now! Keep the faith and remember get on to your MP.

Does anyone know what time Durham closes?
The ironic thing is that my father in law is a same day courier and you guessed it! He has a job to Durham today!!
My wife has asked me to call to see if there is any chance they and get it through today and he could collect but he wont get there till 6.
I don't even think they would do it anyway.
Its just laughably ironic that we want something from the very town where our passport is stuck to where the my father in law is going!

Thats great news Sidogg. Did you chase up your MP today?

Yes chased and chased but got there. It has been amazing how quick it moved since my MP got involved!! I have just had a call to tell me it's gone to print and I'm just about to set off to Durham! Good luck everyone there is light at the end of the tunnel

I would agree! Contact your mp and call the office holding your passport directly. There is no point calling the advice line, I have been given different information each time I called. On Thursday I found this forum and called the Liverpool office, I then contacted my mp. I rang Liverpool today to find my passport was printed on Sunday and is on the way so it can be done. Don't give up! Keep on at them!!

Had a call at 12 noon
LOVELY lady (probably my most favourite female in the world right now) phoned- said she had approved the applications for both DD and DP. Probably missed todays run for printing/sending out.
I could go to Durham to collect from tomorrow or have it sent by DX Delivery. It wont go to DX until tomorrow so should be here Thursday or Friday am at the latest- she also gave me DX number to contact to liaise with them

I could have had it sent next day delivery but wouldnt be in to sign for it and didnt want the added stress of having to go to the Royal Mail depot.

Im in my office at work and I actually cried with relief. I didnt sleep at all last night- I really felt that DD's birth certificate had been lost in the post and we wouldnt be able to travel.

I cannot fault Durham at all to be honest- It sounds like they are working under intense pressure and really up agaisnt the wall.
Way back at the beginning of the month (7th May) when I first got through to them on the 0845 number the fisrt man I spoke to said I 'probably wouldnt' get any upgrade call until 'around the 27th, so I have to say that they have been true to their word.

Very valuable lesson learnt here about being timely. I have been so stressed, snappy etc- all my own fault.

Thank you everyone on here who has offered advice and support. I hope those of you still waiting also get a call.

I am in the same situation, my OH sent his 1st passport application on the 24th April it was received at the Durham office on 29th and has been sitting there ever since, we are due to fly on the 18th June. We have contacted the helpline every day for the last 3 weeks and are still none the wiser. He has been told so many different things its a joke. First person said its ready for printing the next said he needed an interview and to ring ABI which he did to be told without a unique reference number they couldn't book him in , then he was told passport would be here by 2nd June the latest is that it hasn't even been looked at. I am going out my mind with worry cant stop crying my kids renewals are also at Durham security checks completed and ready to be printed. We have now resorted to going to our local MP for help and all we can do is hope this moves it along for us, but I hold out little hope that it will be here by 18th June and have settled to the fact I will be going without him :-( he is currently on the phone to them again after telling them he will phone every single day if he has to. Iv also emailed the chief executive to complain about all the lies we have been told about his application.

Anybody know what time the lines close?

3 have turned up,it appears one of my ds's is missing.No explanation or reason.All were filled out the same with the same company doing the photos.

One good thing,if we have to fast track it will only be for one.Can it be sent to you if fast tracked?

The passport lady who did my fast track said you don't need to sign for passports as houses are classed as secure addresses for delivery purposes. All of our passports have been delivered via the front door.

Had a call at 12 noon
LOVELY lady (probably my most favourite female in the world right now) phoned- said she had approved the applications for both DD and DP. Probably missed todays run for printing/sending out.
I could go to Durham to collect from tomorrow or have it sent by DX Delivery. It wont go to DX until tomorrow so should be here Thursday or Friday am at the latest- she also gave me DX number to contact to liaise with them

I could have had it sent next day delivery but wouldnt be in to sign for it and didnt want the added stress of having to go to the Royal Mail depot.

Im in my office at work and I actually cried with relief. I didnt sleep at all last night- I really felt that DD's birth certificate had been lost in the post and we wouldnt be able to travel.

I cannot fault Durham at all to be honest- It sounds like they are working under intense pressure and really up agaisnt the wall.
Way back at the beginning of the month (7th May) when I first got through to them on the 0845 number the fisrt man I spoke to said I 'probably wouldnt' get any upgrade call until 'around the 27th, so I have to say that they have been true to their word.

Very valuable lesson learnt here about being timely. I have been so stressed, snappy etc- all my own fault.

Thank you everyone on here who has offered advice and support. I hope those of you still waiting also get a call.

sorry!!! didnt mean to do that!!

First Mumsnet post but for the record here is my experience of tracking passport progress today:

We applied for first time passports for our daughters 3 weeks ago today using the Post Office check and send. We're hoping to go away this Saturday so it was very late I know (no excuses here although I have quite a list!).

After being quite confident that they'd arrive, this weekend I lost my nerve and started trying to find out their progress.

The online checker at gov.org didn't produce any results. The 0300 number were pretty useless and various calls give you various answers - no confidence in them whatsoever. I did however find out that the passports were being processed in Durham and were not yet sent for printing.

The 0845 number (thanks Daryl123) rang for an hour this lunchtime until my phone went dead. I tried again at 5pm and it rang for 45 minutes then someone picked up! She was lovely and very helpful. Their office is open until 8pm. On Thursday they will pull the two applications from the normal queue, check them, then call me for payment. I will have to pay £60 each for this but they will be able to send them with a guaranteed courier on Thursday for arrival Friday, or I can pick them up in person. This service is prioritised according to day of travel therefore if I were leaving sooner they would get onto it sooner. Luckily I mentioned that we are leaving at 6am Saturday morning so they are planning to get them to me for Friday.

To cut a long story short. Call 0845 6015175, have a full phone battery, wait on hold for an hour or so, and Bob's your uncle. One stressed and tearful wife now crying with joy!

Let's hope our passports do come as promised, and wish us luck driving to France with newborn twins and a 2 year old!!

Why is it you cant fast track adult first passports but can childrens , I thought it was no fast Track on any first time passports ? Does anyone know ?

You can't fast track first adults as they have loads of identity background checks to do. With children's, you have to name the parents and their passport numbers so likely they are satisfied with the parents clearance. On the website it says under first children's passports that it can take longer if info is missing or they need extra details, I'm guessing if parents had never had a passport, that they'd take longer and ask for more info.

thanks for the reply alteredimages, fingers crossed!

I'm glad that so many of you are actually getting your passports but I have no idea if that will help us. We live in America and I applied for my kids passports ages ago.
They were received at Durham passport office on March 13th. On April 11th the application case was opened, May 22nd was 6 weeks later (the length of time you are told it takes) and we have booked travel on June 7th.
I have called the main number several times and they have sent emails to the Durham office asking them to contact me as the real stress is that the supporting documents I sent in included my sons American passports, their birth certificates, ours and also our marriage certificate. This means that even if I dont get the British passports we cant travel as they have their other passports, I also cant do emergency US passports as I havent the supporting documents to apply with. ITS CRAZY... I allowed over 3 months to do this and its still gone wrong.
I sent a letter by fedex last week asking them to send the supporting documents back asap, I have also emailed them and today was on the phone from America for 40mins x 2 waiting to get through on the direct number. I have no idea what my phone bill will be like!! I feel at a loss as I cant even call as suggested at 8am as its the middle of the night for us.

Its my nana's 100th birthday on the 13th of June which is why were are coming back, The kids havent been over for 2 years and we have no family here so its a really big deal for all of us.

If anyone has ANY ideas at all of what we could do which I havent already I would love to know. I was told today that the UK passports are in line to be printed but no-one can tell me how long that will take. At this stage I just want their American ones back so we can at least still travel but Im worried that I might have been BS'ed about the stage the process is at... I am out of ideas as to what I can do now.

Hi ukinusa what a horrible situation the only advice I have for u is to call 0845 601 5175 this is for durham passport office they are usually much more helpful than 0300 number, good luck!

The passport office lost my supporting documents and claim never to have received them, despite getting and confirming they had 3/4 of them. Unfortunately it my passport that they deny getting and so I cannot now travel.

Not one of the people I spoke to an the passport office told me this until I had a courier at Liverpool, had paid £200 for him to take it to Bristol. Only then did they say "actually, we don't have it"

They are awful.

This is my wife's account and I've always been sceptical of these forums, but I have to say thank you to those who have posted advice above.
It remains to be seen whether we will actually receive our baby sons passport in time, but......having genuinely wasted 6 days of my life calling that pointless 0300 number (please please don't bother), I have followed the advice above on 0845 Durham office number, yes it opens 8am, and actually spoken to a real person who could formulate complete sentences (not the case on 0300 line).
She appeared totally genuine, very helpful, off to retrieve application from an enormous pile, upgrade (60.50) should happen assuming checks are ok, yes it might still be in travel date due volume (travelling Tue 3rd).
To fellow sceptics out there, don't give up, don't call 0300, follow the invaluable advice given and it might save your family holiday.
I don't know if this will result in a passport but it's a damn site better than ringing the 0300 number to speak to uninformed call centre workers.
Thank you

Ukinusa have you tried contacting your senator? A call from a US official might put the wind up them esp if they've had your us passport for 3 months.

Just spoke to sil, she sent her ds renewal off with post office check and send two weeks ago exactly and has just had text saying it's been printed and out for delivery so only 2 weeks so far. That was liverpool so looking like there's no back log as such there.

I spoke to a colleague yesterday at work who got hers back in 12 days. That also went to liverpool.

They told me directly the problem is only really Durham. Though you have precisely zero influence over which office your application goes to, it's random. Except too many go to Durham obviously......