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

hi, can anyone tell me if they've recently sent off for a passport and recieved it yet? i sent my just after the easter break, and was told i wouldnt get it back anytime before june!

Hi, I got first passports for the kids (3 and 5) before just before Easter. I sent them through check and send and got them back just over two weeks later.

Hi, I sent my sons 1st passport off on the 14th April. I was told it originally went to Liverpool but they were busy so it was transferred to Peterborough.
I rang the helpline on the 29th asking for an update and I was told that it was ready to print and should be with me shortly. I then booked a last minute holiday on the 30th for the 10th May thinking I would receive it well in advance.
How wrong was I!!!!

I rang the helpline on the 2nd May and was told that my sons passport hadn't even been looked at!! I was fuming!!!

I have rang every day since and have had no joy what so ever, I feel like crying!!

I have contacted my local MP who has been brilliant :) and is helping me get more info.

I received a call today from Hashgera who stated that my sons passport was ready to be printed and should arrive on time. However with me being a tad apprenhensive I contacted the MP and asked if she could check.

The MP emailed back saying that the passport office had made a mistake and someone with the exact same name had been processed and not my son.

I contacted the helpline again and as usual I was told that I had to wait 48hours for a call back, I explained that they have been making numerous mistakes and it is going to be me who will end up paying and not go on holiday with my kids. I even said I would pay extra but nope, I have to wait.

I hope that will all the mess ups they have done that they are able to fast trak it and I can collect it on Friday!!! Fingers crossed.

I don't understand why so many mistakes are being made..

Rant over haha, I will keep you posted.

Hi just wondering if you got ur passport sorted as I'm in exactly the same boat. No passports, sent 14/4 didn't get logged till 17/4 and still not processed. Holiday due 10/5!!! Is it worth driving to Durham???!

Hello Mums,

I am in the same boat as so many of you. Needless to say the (un)help(ful) line have been thoroughly frustrating. I called on Friday to find out what stage our passport applications were at. I was told that the applications were received on the 16th of April and checked on he 25th of April but they were unable to tell me when they would be printed, stating that there was no information regarding this on the system. I then asked if I could be upgraded for the 7 day services as we are supposed to fly on Friday (16th ), which would have been cutting it fine. I was told that she would email Liverpool and request they contact me so that I could pay for the upgrade and get the ball rolling. At no point was I told that I would have to wait 48 hours. So in the middle of the afternoon I called back and was told that the initial email had never been sent but the very helpful girl read the email she was sending explaining that we would be flying in 7 days. I was then told I would be contacted in 24 hours but at the absolute latest 48, which would have been today.

Anyway no call comes and so I contact the (un)help(ful) line again to be told that even though there probably are people doing overtime at the Liverpool office today I could not expect my call back until Tuesday !!! now Friday to Tuesday !! I explained that all I wanted to know is if my passport is likely to be printed this week, obviously if I get a call back on Tuesday I will not have time for a 7 day turn around! I am willing to drive to Liverpool I just want to know where we stand.

Does anyone have the direct line for the Liverpool office? I am at my wits end.

Frustration does not even come close! Even though I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we will not be going to Italy on Friday I couldn't help but cry when I got off the phone today.

I really feel like it is being left to the very last minute in order to force people to pay the absolute maximum, I know this probably sounds a bit paranoid but it feels like just another way of the Government getting more money from us!

Hello Mums,

I am in the same boat as so many of you. Needless to say the (un)help(ful) line have been thoroughly frustrating. I called on Friday to find out what stage our passport applications were at. I was told that the applications were received on the 16th of April and checked on he 25th of April but they were unable to tell me when they would be printed, stating that there was no information regarding this on the system. I then asked if I could be upgraded for the 7 day services as we are supposed to fly on Friday (16th ), which would have been cutting it fine. I was told that she would email Liverpool and request they contact me so that I could pay for the upgrade and get the ball rolling. At no point was I told that I would have to wait 48 hours. So in the middle of the afternoon I called back and was told that the initial email had never been sent but the very helpful girl read the email she was sending explaining that we would be flying in 7 days. I was then told I would be contacted in 24 hours but at the absolute latest 48, which would have been today.

Anyway no call comes and so I contact the (un)help(ful) line again to be told that even though there probably are people doing overtime at the Liverpool office today I could not expect my call back until Tuesday !!! now Friday to Tuesday !! I explained that all I wanted to know is if my passport is likely to be printed this week, obviously if I get a call back on Tuesday I will not have time for a 7 day turn around! I am willing to drive to Liverpool I just want to know where we stand.

Does anyone have the direct line for the Liverpool office? I am at my wits end.

Frustration does not even come close! Even though I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we will not be going to Italy on Friday I couldn't help but cry when I got off the phone today.

I really feel like it is being left to the very last minute in order to force people to pay the absolute maximum, I know this probably sounds a bit paranoid but it feels like just another way of the Government getting more money from us!

I too am at my wits end. My daughters application was received in Durham on the 12th April and it's not yet been reviewed by the examiners. I have rang the helpline weekly since three weeks and have have assured me that it will arrive. Now they are saying it looks unlikely it will arrive for our trip to disneyland on the 27th may. I've a call back booked to Durham and keep e mailing for updates. It's making me feel ill.

By way of an update I e mailed my MP in the early hours this morning and have received a phone call from a case worker. They are contacting the passport office by a separate helpline just for MP's. He said its something they get involved with a lot and does tend to help the process. Still no passport but at least I have someone else on my side! Additionally one of the delays for my daughters passport is because I didn't pay £3 for recorded delivery return of the birth certificate. However I didn't request this. It meant the application was paused whilst they wrote to me for £3 and them re entered the system from scratch.

Nicolaplustwo

I am in the exact same boat i sent my application for my daughters passport in on the 15th of April to Glasgow and they sent it on to Durham who have been incredibly slow in processing. I have been on the phone to the 0300 help line who are completely hopeless and this has got me nowhere fast. If the Passport office removed any mention of a 3 week turn around time they would do themselves a massive favor and avoid a lot of hassle. I'm due to leave on the 22nd, I'm not crossing my fingers though =(

ADVICE FOR ANYONE TRYING TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR PASSPORT AT DURHAM.DON'T USE THE 0300 NUMBER ITS A WASTE OF A PHONE CALL. KEPT GETTING TOLD SOMEONE WOULD CALL BACK AND NEVER GOT A CALL. LOOKED AT THIS MESSAGE THREAD AND RANG THE 0845 6015175. YOU WILL GET A MESSAGE SAYING YOU CAN ONLY USE THIS NUMBER IF YOU HAVE RECIEVED A LETTER. IGNORE THIS AND SOMEONE WILL EVENTUALLY ANSWER. TOLD THEM I HAD BEEN GIVEN THIS NUMBER AS I HAD NOT RECIEVED A CALL BACK. THE LADY WAS VERY HELPFUL TOOK MY DETAILS AND TOLD ME EXACTLY WHERE MY PASSPORTS WERE AND WHEN I WOULD RECIEVE THEM. RECIEVED THEM TODAY VIA COURIER. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PUTS THIS NUMBER ON, SAVED ME A BREAKDOWN. GOOD LUCK.

My MP's office has been in contact with them and I finally got a phone call today from Durham. It wasn't from the upgrade team but was a result of the MP phone call. He advised that he will speak to the upgrade team but that they work to travel dates so I may not here from them until Thursday. Said they would get the passport ready and then call to take payment and arrange the courier so I have to sit tight. He had looked at the application and there were no errors and it was straightforward. However the upgrade hasn't yet been agreed and I won't know if it has until Thursday and the passport is needed on Friday ready for bank holiday travel! He gave me the direct line to Durham with strict instructions not to abuse it and not to use it before Thursday!! Yeah right as if I'm going to leave it until Thursday.

I have been having the same problems called the advice line 100 times with no luck !!

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THE ADVICE LINE !!!!!!

For Liverpool office call 0845 601 5107

For Durham office call 0845 6015175

IGNORE THE BIT WHERE IT SAYS THAT THE NUMBER IS ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO RECEIVED A LETTER KEEP HOLDING AND YOU WILL GET TO TALK TO THEM !

They sorted mine out within 2 hours

!!!!!!!!DO NOT CALL THE ADVICE LINE 0300 NUMBER ITS A WASTE OF TIME

They've said to me that they upgrade applications according to date of travel so mine won't be processed and received until right at the last minute. I've never been so anxious and stressed in my life!

I sent DPs renewal and DD's first passport in last week of April

As soon as I posted the application forms I realised that I hadn't included DD's Birth Certificate so spent a week trying to speak to someone helpful on the 0300 number. No joy. (they really are pointless)

So I phoned Durham and spoke to a lovely man who said my applications still hadnt been seen by the examiners but not to worry, I still had plenty of time- wait a week.

So ive been back and forth now to Durham - they are very friendly people and helpful but because the examiners haven't looked at the applications yet there is very little they can do.

I now have to wait until Monday to request an 'upgrade' (costing £££extra)- I also cant send in the birth certificate until I know which upgrade team to send it to.

Once its upgraded and examined- does it take very long to process?

They can do them and courier them very quickly but it's getting through to one of the upgrade examiners that takes a long time. They also work to your travel date Durham have advised me so you may not hear straight away. My booked call back never materialised but they are working Saturday and Sundays at the moment

I think my biggest anxiety is the birth certificate thing- because obviously if the examiner doesnt look at our application until say, the 27th and then discovers that my application is minus the birth cert- then its cut it down really fine.

I am not exaggerating when I say that I am not sleeping!

Posted on the other thread, but just a quick question: Durham told me today that DS's passport has been approved and sent for printing, but that it will take ten working days to get to me.

I am in Paris, but still, DHL only takes 48 hours! Has anyone else been given a really long lead time for printing?

Reading these threads have made me more anxious and upset....we travel on Sun 18th and my sons passport hasn't arrived. It's a replacement for a lost passport and I had to put the date of travel on the form, they obviously don't take any notice of it though!!! I've had to tell him tonight we might not be going on holiday and he's heartbroken. Iv tried since Tues to get a call back from Durham and despite 3 complaints to managers and my MP emailing them I'm still waiting. I received a text 3 weeks ago telling me it was being processed but still nothing.
This can't keep happening, too many people are being let down and left out of pocket and devastated. I'm contacting my local newspaper in morning, hopefully the more people complain and take matters further something will be done to change the process.

Right im going to TRY and Upgrade these passports today AND try and get some kind of idea where I should send the birth certificate to.

I told them last week that we fly on the 31st May but just realised that we actually fly at 7am so I need the passports for the 30th.

I am also in the same boat as so many others! Wait for my DS 1st passport which I sent off 5 weeks ago! I didn't realise there was a backlog until I saw this thread as the woman told me it was only taking around 2weeks at the minute, I was starting to panic something was wrong even though I paid for check and send!
I rang them last week and they should be ringing me today, although after reading the recent post on this thread I'm not hopeful!
We don't fly until 3rd of next month so I've got a little bit of time!

Thank you sooooo much Daryl123 you may have saved my life. Got through to Liverpool after a week of waiting for promised ring backs. Spoke to a nice helpful lady who has said we can upgrade and get my son's passport for Friday. We fly on the 27th nobody cared on the 0300 number!!!!!! They have had the application over a month, I did check and send. We applied for 6 passports 2 were first ones had all the others just not my 3yr olds. Still a possibility I may have to collect it it but she assured me we'll have it. Without you posting the number I would have been out of time. Hope u all get ur pp. The stress is killing me!!!!

Thanks to this thread and the advice given I received my babies passport this morning.
I was persistent with calling the Liverpool office on 08456012058 and I also got in touch with my MP.
People are being told they can upgrade for £60.50 but if you chase them early enough then you shouldn't need to do this.
The 0300 gave me some terrible advice and I am so pleased I got the advice from here in time.

Thank you sooooo much Daryl123 you may have saved my life. Got through to Liverpool after a week of waiting for promised ring backs. Spoke to a nice helpful lady who has said we can upgrade and get my son's passport for Friday. We fly on the 27th nobody cared on the 0300 number!!!!!! They have had the application over a month, I did check and send. We applied for 6 passports 2 were first ones had all the others just not my 3yr olds. Still a possibility I may have to collect it it but she assured me we'll have it. Without you posting the number I would have been out of time. Hope u all get ur pp. The stress is killing me!!!!

Sorry it posted twice.......jenloukell when do you fly.......I've been told I need to pay the £60.00

I'm waiting to.... on my son's renewel passport. We should be travelling out on the 3 / 6 / 14 all I keep being told is that my application is with the inspector. I'm so stressed out.