HELLLPPP!!!! 3 childs passports going through security checks liverpool we go on holiday next week!!!

[yummmymummy1]

has anybody recently had they passports go through security checks i have been ringing the passport office for 3 weeks they have had our applications for 5 weeks now i must have rand 50-60 times for call back which i have never received was waiting for liverpool to call me back for 1 week so i could either find out or upgrade them i naughtily rang a direct number i found on a forum this morning which is supposed to be used for people who have received a letter and finally spoke to someone who said they had been taken by security for checks and were released by security on the 2nd of june but he said its was a how long is a piece of string scenario as as to when they would be sent to the examination room!!!!! i want to know if it would be worth me upgrading them and going all the way to liverpool with 3 kids in tow or if theres any hope of us actually receiving them before we fly :(

I'd phone back and ask them to get upgraded then

Are they children's first passports? My friend applied for 2 children's first 3 weeks ago. We fly in 2 weeks. She tried initially to book faster track but was told she couldn't as for emergencies only

They're are liverpool too.

there have been real probems at Liverpool recently. According to a traveller's forum they don't phone back unless it's a week to go. They do sometimes upgrade for free if it's been more than 3 weeks.

yes 1 kids renuewal and 2 kids first its so frustrating my local MP us trying to find out what is happening now for me :(

Do you know why they went for security checks I.e. Are they straight forward or more complex applications?

no no idea 1 straight forward renewal and 2 straight forward child passperts me and dad are married and bot have british passports so have no clue im wondering if they are just telling me this to stall me

If it's the children's 1st passport,the security checks are with the people who signed the forms and pictures to say that they know them.This is usually/sometimes done via the post.

It's probably that they've contacted consignser. That's what's just happened to us for a straightforward renewal. My one responded to them yesterday so hoping we get passport next week because apparently that's all that's now holding it up arrgh

We're now into 5 weeks of waiting by the way and it only reached examiner on Monday

I'm guessing the renewal is fine and they are contacting counter signatures for the new ones. My sil sent her kids renewal to liverpool in mid May and had it back in 17 days from post office to front door!

I know of 3 others who were similar so I don't think there's any delay for straight forward renewals at liverpool. I do know of one who waited 6 weeks for kids first passport though recently.

I do wander if they contact the countersignature listed on a form if they have never countersigned before? For example my friend is a teacher and has countersigned for me and others loads of times. When I went for my premium one day passport, she said she needed to check countersignature on the system before accepting it for one day. Within minutes of looking on the system she confirmed it was fine? Just a theory that it may be related to why some people get contacted and others never do and why some forms are done quickly? It seems odd as kids can be done on a fast track one week service so presume they don't contact countersignature in these cases?

My daughters is a straight forward renewal. Counter signer has done loads before and she was contacted this week. I don't get it at all. I think though that they might be doing it to confirm she actually does knows me and my daughter. The letter asked for specific information that points to them wanting to confirm she does know us personally. Maybe they're making sure I didn't just get someone random to do it for me I guess. When I done first passport we used doctor who had signed loads before and passport was back in a week exact. I guess this are getting more strict

Did yours go to liverpool indie as most of the delays are at Durham? there are very few for liverpool in comparison.

ive been told liverpool is inundated at the moment... :( thye have had my countersigners letter back on the 28th of may so im hoping things might move along this week

Keep ringing for an upgrade, use any number you can find.

I'm flying week after next and sent off my child's first passport with 6 weeks to spare. I chased 2 weeks ago as I had seen some of the threads on here about the delays. After being passed around to 3 people Orr the course of a week, I upgraded for £60. He said I may not need to, timescales were approx 5 weeks, but agreed to take upgrade fee. I had mine posted the next day (he gave the option for me to drive to Liverpool that very day, which you may need given timescale)

Keep trying. Good luck!

im going to ring them back now i cant afford the ugrades as its x3 but will however drice to liverpool for my own sanity

If its been there over 3 weeks you should be able to get free upgrades...well alot of people have anyway.

ive just spoken to the escalations team AGAIN and he was extremely rude and said that we are told its only an estimate the 3 weeks and that if i have booked travel and have to cancel then i only have myself to blame ever though they have had them for over 6 weeks that its my own fault he said the MPs are wrong and that there isn't a back log just lots of applications and people are complaining in to little time that if we stopped complaining and let them just get on with the thousands of applications and stopped getting the MPs involved mabey things would move along quicker he said all the Mps are doing is scaremongering he said liverpool wouldnt ring me back for an upgrade until the passports were in the final stages and ready to send for printing so they wouldnt ring me until then and mine are still going through checks was so annoyed i just put the phone down

With regard to the counter signature, I'm an accountant and often sign peoples forms for them, but I was quite surprised, when recently, a nurse offered to sign a form for someone she had known less than 9 months. The mum, who I have known for about 10 years, got me to sign it, but I was a bit as I thought the rules were fairly clear.

Fewer delays in the Liverpool my bottom!! That photo released to all the papers was taken in the Liverpool office. All offices are experiencing severe backlogs, and this will get worse as people panic-apply, in addition to the school holidays beginning!

yummmymummy - try email Paul Pugh with subject heading ' Pending 5 weeks, flying next week '. My dd's passport was printed 2 days later after I emailed. Though maybe also because my MP involved.

PS. Make your email short ( this is very important as they don't have much time to read ) but do remember to put your application number for their quick tracking.

We fly 6am tomorrow and my daughters passport isn't with us :(

chocchoc- can you apply an emergency travel document for your daughter?

Unfortunately that is not applicable in this case:-

"You can apply for an emergency travel document (sometimes known as an ‘emergency passport’) if you’re a British national outside the UK and your passport has been lost, stolen, damaged or has expired".