Applications whilst locked down

Thanks hottoast. The plot thickens. I have had no text from TNT but then I don't recall ever giving the Passport Office my mobile number (where I live there's no signal in the house so I don't usually bother with it), so TNT wouldn't have it anyway to send me a tracking number or link. I certainly haven't had any texts from the Passport Office updating me on the passport; I've only had their emails which included the latest saying it was printed and sent on 4 June - this added no information about tracking delivery or anything. Did you pay for expedited delivery? That might explain it. It's all very odd.

Out of curiosity, are people who receive their passports getting the old burgundy or the new black ones?

Just to add for extra info for people. Passport delivered 4th june. Its the new blue one. Delivered by TNT. No tracking but a text message on the day it will be delivered. No time just that it will be that day. No signature required. Pushed through letterbox.

Thanks for the info! I will post my complete timeline when I get the passport, hopefully early next week.

Thank you lewlewduckie. That's very useful to know about the lack of tracking, and not needing the signature - I had a feeling that must be the case or else the email from the PO about having printed and sent the passport would provide the relevant guidance for tracking. The delivery details seem to vary. I checked with my neighbour. He renewed his passport in February, before lockdown. His passport was delivered by TNT three days after the 'printed and sent' email from the PO. No tracking either, but he had to sign for it - probably because it was the first time he'd had a passport sent to that address (he only moved in late last year). One question: when your passport arrived, did it have a separate TNT consignment number on the envelope? Or just the Passport Application Number starting PEX?

Sorry grantham cant help with envelope i didnt pay much attention. Assume the lack of signature is due to covid. I had email from PO on 1st june saying approved. 2nd june a email about it being posted. Arrived 4th june. Note: this was a replacement of lost passport.

Hi All, What a useful thread! I requested a passport renewal with name change. I am frustrated that I cannot get even an estimation on the timeline when I call them. I see this site is estimating 27 days- is that accurate for others on here? Mine has been taking longer. I am living in Dubai and my application was sent to Liverpool. Application submitted: 12 April 2020 Application received: 12 April 2020 Documents received: 24 April 2020 Application being processed: 5 May 2020 Thanks

So looks like they have sent my application to a different office. I sent it Peterborough, but now looks like it's gone to Liverpool? Reply on Twitter from HMPO Hi, some people are getting their passports back much quicker as they are going through the automated system that a few people will qualify for. By qualify I mean for example, if an adult is renewing their British passport, there are no changes and they haven't significantly changed since their last British passport photograph then there is no need for human intervention to view supporting documentation or raise queries and they are all processed automatically. As this is a child's application one of my colleagues will be required to view and verify the supporting documentation. However I can appreciate it is frustrating to see tweets like that when you are waiting for yours. If you require the supporting documents back early please email Liverpool@hmpo.gov.uk along with, the application reference, the applicant's full name, date of birth, full address and a brief explanation. Emily

So looks like they have sent my application to a different office. I sent it Peterborough, but now looks like it's gone to Liverpool? Reply on Twitter from HMPO Hi, some people are getting their passports back much quicker as they are going through the automated system that a few people will qualify for. By qualify I mean for example, if an adult is renewing their British passport, there are no changes and they haven't significantly changed since their last British passport photograph then there is no need for human intervention to view supporting documentation or raise queries and they are all processed automatically. As this is a child's application one of my colleagues will be required to view and verify the supporting documentation. However I can appreciate it is frustrating to see tweets like that when you are waiting for yours. If you require the supporting documents back early please email Liverpool@hmpo.gov.uk along with, the application reference, the applicant's full name, date of birth, full address and a brief explanation. Emily

Update on our situation after over 11 weeks since applying from overseas (Australia) still no passport have tried Twitter dms still nothing. We rang the overseas number and asked to put through to a supervisor no joy the bloke we spoke to was working home and couldn’t put us through. We asked to put through to the complaints department he took our details and we eventually got through, both times they where the most helpful people we have dealt with during the stressful tome. We have applied for an Emergency travel document now.

Oh! it seems my passport has been printed on 4th June and being sent by DHL (to Dubai). However the passport has been sent back to PO because it doesn't have my "full" name. Only first name initial and Surname. Anyone experienced something similar? I guess its not over till its over! My daughter's, done at the same time, is on its way. Should receive by mid next week.

OK - some delivery information. I managed to get through to the Passport Office Advice line today (Saturday 6 June) on 0300 222 0000. I asked some very specific questions about delivery and tracking. As we all know this information is never wholly reliable, but this is what I was told by the Passport Office chap who answered my call: 1. He said: the Passport Office is using TNT for delivery but is also still using DX to finish off the remaining part of DX's contract (TNT started taking over in January 2020). 2. He said:the courier companies have significantly reduced the number of days they collect passports from the individual passport offices. This used to be done 6 days a week, but now it's only about 2. This means that your nice new passport (and perhaps mine) is still at the passport office in a bag awaiting courier collection, despite the email being sent out to you that says it's been printed and sent. Clearly we have no idea when those reduced days are. If they're Monday and Wednesday - for instance - then your passport might be ready on Thursday but not collected until the Monday. 3. He said: once the courier company collects the passports they are entered into the courier's system along with contact details for each passport holder. This should result in an email and/or text to be sent to you with tracking information and date of delivery. Obviously, if couriers are making collections with reduced frequency from the passport offices then a few days may elapse before you even get the tracking information. 4. He said: if your letterbox is in the front door of an individual home (i.e. NOT a shared front door) then a signature is not normally a requirement - the courier will push the passport through into your house. If your letterbox is in a metal box OUTSIDE then they will need to get someone to come to the door to receive the passport. 5. I told the operator that not everyone seems to have received tracking information. He said it goes into spam sometimes, but that the couriers always send out tracking information. Whether that's true remains to be seen. All I can say is that I've heard nothing so far in terms of tracking since the 'printed and sent' email on 4 June. 6. This is my speculation but it would seem the critical factor is when the courier collects the passports from the passport office. Since the courier is allowed 2-3 days to deliver once it has your passport, this could in theory mean an overall period of up to 6 days or so before your passport is actually delivered, despite some people apparently receiving theirs within 1-2 days. I don't know about anyone else, but the amount of money I'd pay and the distance I'd drive to end this here and now is increasing exponentially by the day. The frustrated impotent exasperation is becoming all-consuming. When (if!) my passport finally arrives I will give full details here of exactly what did and didn't happen with regard to tracking information, what courier was involved and how the passport was delivered, and precisely how long it took to get here after supposedly being sent. As for the advice line, that's become much busier. If you call up now you'll probably be held in the queue. After 70 seconds you'll be offered the callback service or you can continue to hold. This offer repeats every 35 seconds. Shortly after 3 minutes of waiting you are taken to the callback service anyway - I did that yesterday but nobody ever called me back. It took me several goes of re-dialling to speak to a person.

An addendum to the previous post. This afternoon (Saturday 6 June) I did get the callback from the Passport Office (over 24 hours after I left my number). I decided to have the same conversation with the operator and see what he said. The story - needless to say - was a little different, though much was the same: 1. This time I was told the courier companies are collecting every day (instead of only a couple of times a week as I was told earlier today) but a passport probably won't be collected until the day after the day on which the 'printed and sent' email went out. It could be TNT or DX, he confirmed. 2. He said that the courier company has to enter the passport on its system and send out tracking information by text and/or email to the passport holder, but their systems may not update over a weekend until Monday. He said tracking information should always be sent out by the courier company. 3. He added that the courier companies are so busy and sometimes understaffed that this may result in a delay to delivery, also because there is at present high demand for passports. So, there you go - two conversations with two Passport Office agents asked the same questions and some differences and similarities in the stories. He suggested that if I had heard nothing by Wednesday next week to call in again.

Hi all, Glad I found this thread. Waiting on a child renewal that is being processed in Durham, Application was done 15 may Passport sent 16th May Received 26th May Processing 26th May We have a holiday booked for July 3rd so now having a major panic that it won’t be here in time looking at everyone else’s wait times

My boyfriend applyed for a passport and it have been processing since 27th april. He lost his earlier passport. Do you think he will need to go on a interview to get a new passport?

Waiting since8th April. I'm a Twitter novice, how do I tweet them please?

Hey I'm hitting brick walls trying to get info out of hmpo. I have been waiting for my daughters 1st passport since 18th March. I've asked repeatedly for her birth certificate back on twitter but just get generic responses. Is anyone else waiting for a passport from march still? Application History Application being processed 3:08pm on 18 March 2020 Documents received 11:44am on 18 March 2020 Application received 9:22am on 14 March 2020 Identity details received 9:22am on 14 March 2020 Email sent to person confirming your identity 9:13am on 14 March 2020 Ask someone to confirm your identity 9:08am on 14 March 2020 Application submitted 9:08am on 14 March 2020

Teresa Crowley- Search for... @HM_Passport on Twitter Sorry, Im a twitter novice too. Set my account up on Friday as heard that's how to get a response from a person. Perhaps hear back Monday morning. JaMouse: Yes, waiting since March. Also need our marriage cert back to prove a link to our newborn baby who we are trying to get a visa for to enter a different country.

Grantham Traveller: many thanks for sharing the information you got from the helpline. Hopefully you will get your text soon. I got my "Passport printed and sent" notification a day after yours, and am still waiting for the text with the delivery date.

@JaMoUsE ; Also been waiting since March 17. Been having exchanges on Twitter with HMPO, latest response is am being told being told if I want 'special' consideration I will have to provide evidence for my urgent requirement. (New Passport needed to renew my Malaysian Employment Pass expiring next week). I have asked why IS IT some people are KEPT waiting months and others get dealt with straight away ? - but no response. It is shambles. Everyone accepts there must be delays that is a given but why the inconsistencies in processing times? Mine is a simple Adult renewal -applied on line from Austria on March 17. Stuck in processing since May 1. Liverpool Office. About to lose my job but hey-ho so are Millions of other poor souls. This issue has not been dealt with very well. If everyone is dealt with in the sequence with when they applied, I think everyone would accept this?

We're still waiting for our daughters first passport. Liverpool office - application was submitted on 18th March. Changed to being processed on 1st May.

Our times are the following for a child renewal at Durham: Application being processed 12:28pm on 18 May 2020 Documents received 2:20pm on 5 May 2020 Application received 10:20pm on 29 April 2020 Identity details received 10:19pm on 29 April 2020 Email sent to person confirming your identity 11:25am on 26 April 2020 Ask someone to confirm your identity 11:21am on 26 April 2020 Application submitted 11:21am on 26 April 2020 Holiday is booked for 18th July. Only have to the 30th June to rebook. If we don't rebook and the holiday goes ahead we lose the lot if we don't have the passport. (Was hoping to hold out for a refund but I can see holidays starting up again just in time for the school holidays!!)

Further to my earlier message of today just received SMS to say 'Application Approved'. So finally out of processing (since 1st May).

OK. As promised: details of delivery. 1. Despite being told by TWO Passport Office members of staff on their Advice Line this weekend (6/7 June) that I would 'definitely' receive a text and/or email from the courier to confirm tracking details, I received nothing after the passport left Peterborough's PO. 2. Thanks to a very helpful person at TNT who responded to my query on Friday when she told me the passport had not yet appeared on their system, she emailed me this morning (Monday 8 June) to tell me the passport had now appeared on the system and was out for delivery today. She provided me with a link that showed the TNT consignment number which is completely different from the Passport Application Number. It would appear you won't get anywhere tracking it without the consignment number. You can try with the PAN but don't include any letters. The email address to contact TNT is delivery.hmpo@fedex.com (yes, TNT is part of Fedex) The tracking page is delivery.tnt.com/tracking 3. The envelope with the passport showed only the TNT tracking number, not the PAN. On the back someone had written in biro my mobile number which shows that the PO and TNT had it, but I never received any texts from either. 4. The passport was delivered by a courier driving a small van, not a big TNT van. I assume the passports are delivered in batches by drivers only delivering passports. They do not seem to deliver passports on Saturday or Sunday. 5. The tracking showed that the passport was collected late in the evening on the date it was printed (Thursday 5 June) and was entered into TNT's system the next day, even though that did not show up until this morning. Summary of my timeline: application 28 April, old passport received 29 April, being processed 12 May, approved 4 June, printed 5 June and sent (Thursday), received 4.50 pm Monday 8 June. Five weeks and six days. I have found this to be a monumentally stressful experience. I cannot imagine how much more frustrating it is for anyone else on this forum still stuck in limbo. You have my sympathy - truly. Now I am going to go and enjoy not having to worry about this again for 9 1/2 years.

Grantham Traveller, thanks again for sharing all this incredibly useful information! By logging on to the tracking page delivery.tnt.com/tracking with my "PAN number" (without the letters, as you pointed out) I found out that our baby's passport is going to be delivered on Wednesday. By the way, out of curiosity, did you get the "blue" version as well?