What is happening with my passport application?

[foncused]

Hi,
I applied for a passport renewal for DS at the very beginning of May. The online tracker just says, 'We have received your old passport'. Does anyone know if there are other statuses beyond that? How do I know if they have even begun processing it?

Mine sat at “old passport received” for weeks and then changed to “we are processing your application”, “your new passport has been issued” and “your new passport is with the courier” all within 3 hours of each other.

@ChangedMyNamrButStillMe That is ridiculous! How long did it take to arrive after that?!
Not sure what the point of a tracker is if nobody bothers updating it. Last time I applied for DD, it still said 'Waiting for your old passport' by the time we got the new one... but overall it was around 3 weeks from start to finish so I couldn't complain. This time we're getting antsy as we'd like to make bookings for the summer hols.

I had a message saying the old
passport was received a couple of Thursdays ago, a message the next Thursday saying it had been approved and one today saying it Had been sent for printing

I've been on processing since May 15th.
We can't even book a holiday in case it doesn't come and my annual leave starts at the end of July.
Stressful.

@Ledkr Am hoping that mine is at least processing too, just the tracker hasn't been updated. Because if it's still sat in a pile on the 'Mail In' tray and it'll take another 10 weeks once someone picks it up, we're scuppered.

@foncused it arrived a couple of days later. A day earlier than the booked delivery slot but luckily my mum was over at mine and the delivery guy reluctantly handed it over to her.

I hope you get an update soon.

Thanks for all your replies!

I really hope yours arrives shortly OP

mine arrived this morning so it’s taken 15 days from submission to receipt of passport but I thought I’d mention I applied for my sons online which may be what’s made the difference? Just a thought for anyone looking to renew a passport shortly

Thanks @Shylo
We applied online too.
I finally got through to an adviser via webchat this morning. Apparently, the passport is still at the beginning stages and hasn't even been examined yet. We applied almost 8 weeks ago! The only way to speed it up is to be within 2 weeks of travel (you need proof), so I'm tempted to make a booking just to hurry it up.

Just thought I'd update.
I spent the last week badgering the Belfast passport office by emailing them daily ([email protected]). I also called the adviceline several times, and asked my MP to try and intervene. Not sure what did it in the end, but on Friday I had a call from a lovely woman at the passport office offering to upgrade my application (for a hefty fee, of course), and the passport will be ready to pick up on Monday!
@Ledkr If you still haven't gotten yours, maybe this is the way to go.