Passport Processing Time

[bex12345]

Anyone have any idea on processing time of First Passports at the moment? We sent our daughters application via check and send almost 2 weeks ago and no idea on when to expect it back. Hopefully someone can shed some light?!

Phone them and check. Passports seem to come back quicker than notification of a problem. I sent off for my daughter's at the beginning of the month and phoned on Friday to ask where it was. Turns out it had been rejected. We are going on holiday this Friday. Touch and go as to whether we will make it now. Still haven't got the actual letter of notification, and it seems to be impossible to actually speak to anyone that can help... I think there is a way of tracking application online but I couldn't get it to work.

dog did you do yours check and send?

I did the DC last week and am scared they will be rejected even though they passed check and send without issue.

We aren't flying until May but I've got 'the fear' that we will still be waiting last minute.

Thank you both. I will chase if we don't hear anything by the weekend i think. We are also travelling in May. We gave it recommended number of weeks but just want it in my hand now then I can breathe a sigh of relief!

How old is DD? If she is under 16, it should come back in around 3 weeks. If over 16, then it will be at least 6 weeks.

We applied for first passports for our three DCs in January - 2 year old DD & 12 year old DS2 got theirs back within 3 weeks. We are still waiting for DS1's, as he is 16 & there was a problem with his photo which we were only notified of last week!

dogrilla, we have tried to track the progress of DS1's application online - all that happens is you enter your reference number & they e-mail you back with an update. Apart from I enquired 3 days ago and have not heard back yet.......

She is 2 so its a relief to hear it should be quicker. I think part of the panic is that we haven't received a text to say they've received the application- but then I suppose an automated texting system isn't fool proof. Hopefully it wont be too much of a wait, will the birth certificate be back first?

Yes, our birth certificates (for DD & DS2) came back about a week before the actual passports arrived.

You should only have problems if the application is refused or held back for some reason - they seem to be really rubbish at letting you know what you need to do next!

I am travelling on Sunday and waiting for mine. The call centre is headbangingly hopeless. Has anyone ever driven to Durham? The call centre keep saying they will call back, NOTHING! I am wondering whether to drive and see if I can speak to a human being. At this rate there is no way we are flying on Sunday! I applied in the 19th March stupidly thought it would come back within the three weeks as I have had one back within a week before!!!!!

Oh dear Sarah124 .

Yes, the call centre are literally reading information from a screen & they are nowhere near the actual passport office handling your application!

If you do get through to someone helpful, they say they will try to find something out for you but - in reality - they cannot get through to Durham either on the phone! They can only e-mail and hope someone replies - by which time the helpful person has probably gone off shift!

Are you 100% sure that your application is even at Durham? Apparently, it is not a given that it will be .

That is what they keep telling me when I get a remotely helpful person. I am still waiting for the 48hr callback that will expire tomorrow. I managed to get a fax number and faxed them too but nothing still. The 10 digit number the website asks for is a 9 digit number on my post office form so it won't accept that either! I just wonder if going to try and speak with a human at the offices will help despite it saying you won't be seen. Just so stressful.

It is a renewal for my 15 year old Daughter by the way. 3rd renewal!

Which are of the country are you in? I am in london When I sent my DS passport application in last year it took 3/4 days to get back to me. A friend in York had an absolute nightmare it 11 weeks in total.

I am in the UK. It is a renewal of my 15 year old Daughters passport. Her third renewal and we have never had a problem before! In fact her last renewal came through within 10 days! I am going to go to the offices and just try to speak to a human being!

Sorry, Birmingham.

I spoke to the Passport office last week and was told they had a backlog of a couple of weeks for processing. I had used the check and send service for passport renewals for my children. I sent the renewal application in 10 days earlier, using the post office check and send service. I had to pay £60 per child (on top of the original application fee + check and send fee) to have the applications removed from the queue and processed quickly. We needed ours for the Easter holidays. I was told that someone would call back later that day or the next day. Luckily I received a phone call the same day and received the passports the next day. They reminded me that the processing time stated is an estimate and may take longer at busier times of the year. I had previously used the service and received my own Passport back within the week.

Do you mean go to the offices in Durham, or the offices in Birmingham? As far as I know, Birmingham is only for the new passport interviews and will not be able to help you .

What magicfarawaytree says above may be of use to you sarah124? Providing you can get through to someone at the passport office to start with . £60 extra is a lot of money but probably worth it to salvage your holiday.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler I mean go to durham. I cannot upgrade because I cannot get through on the phone. The 0300 number is a joke and they put you in a queue for a call back. I have waited 48 hrs for the callback and NADA!
Has anyone else ever had any luck visiting without an appointment?

Sarah124 I didn't bother using the call back service. I just waited, it took about 15 minutes of the phone being on speaker phone, but I did get through to a person. The £60 is per passport being processed.

Magicfarawaytree what number did you use? I only have the 0300 number and that seems to take you to a call centre not the actual Durham office.

I will pay whatever but can only speak to a useless and usually rude person in a callback centre who tell me they will request a callback via email to the Durham office.

A number for Durham is on another thread as 0191 3707141

ilovepowerhoop thanks for that, I will try tomorrow morning first thing before I do the four hour trip up there!

I rang 0300 2220000. It was the number listed on my check and send receipt. I think it is just the standard contact number. I was transferred to someone (presumably my local passport office) who found the applications and advised me that I would be called back once they had physically retrieved them and payment would be taken at that point. Once paid for they arrived the next day. I am sorry I don't have a more direct number. I really hope you get your passport sorted out.

Good luck this morning sarah, please let us know how you get on.

We are not travelling until the end of May, so will wait until early May to see what materialises!

Please everyone......listen up!! Forget the shitty call centre, I don't even have the time to tell you what I went through with them AGAIN this morning!!!!
Email the Home office, leave messages on EVERY nber for Theresa May you can find. Most importantly email her office!!!
I went from a brick wall to someone calling me who had checked on progress and mysteriously the passport was I my hands 4.5 hours later??
I did throw my dolly outta the pram and said I was driving to the regional office with every single press member I could inform to expose this pantomine of ridiculous circumstances I has endured.
Try it everyone!!!! I had my passport at 2.30pm!!!!