Durham

Liverpool definitely seems quicker than Durham. Had to send to different locations, because of being in the same family. This is for 2 x children's renewal Sent on the 19th of April Both signed for on Royal Mail Tracking on the 20th April Text message as received from Bootle, Liverpool on the 22nd April Text message as approved from Liverpool - 26th April Text message as printed from Liverpool - 28th April I've not had anything from Durham to say that they have even received the passport. I looked at the signature of the Royal Mail and was signed by a J Barett, whereas the Liverpool one just said signed by HM.Passport. Anyone else have this?

Mine was signed for by B King on April 8th.

Does anyone have the direct phone line for Durham?

Update passport just emailed me and they have rejected the photo, got to take another now, hope the wait isn’t to long

Not an online application I hope :(

The process seemed to go quickly once they received the documents at Liverpool, so fingers crossed it will go through quickly for you

Yes online application, I remember it happening to my daughters 2 years ago, the picture said good but apparently it has shadows 🤔

My application has finally been approved!! Been in processing since March 15th.

Yay, so glad they starting to get approved, sent new photo so fingers crossed mine will be soon aswell

I go on holiday 18th June, submitted my renewal 5th April (yes a bit later but this was on the basis that 3 others in the group received theirs within 3 weeks), sent next day tracked 1pm, 6th April. Confirmed with post office they received it the 7th. It’s now the 28th and still no receipt of delivery and wasn’t too concerned until looking at this forum. I have tried phoning several times to the generic advice line just to put my mind at ease but it just get hit with “10 mins” queue then after 3 mins “sorry but it’s too busy right now”. So, Iv so far never been through to an advisor. Looking through the forum it’s looking like 5 weeks until they’ll maybe mark it as delivered, or at least I hope! How does this 2 week premium thing work, as I wish I can just get it back now and do the premium 1 week thing so it’s all sorted? Be absolutely gutted if all my friends and girlfriend end up going and I still don’t have my passport!

Fingers crossed! Hope it won‘t take too long to get it printed and sent!

2 kids renewals at Durham now. Received on 16th April. Hopefully approved soon but still awaiting an examiner.

I recievd my Liverpool passport today Sent on the 19th of April Both signed for on Royal Mail Tracking on the 20th April Text message as received from Bootle, Liverpool on the 22nd April Text message as approved from Liverpool – 26th April Text message as printed from Liverpool – 28th April Received 29th April The Durham passport has been signed for but have no communication from them to say received... I know which office will get the Christmas bonus this year......

Mine arrived Durham 19th April, not even a single update yet

As promised I have come back when my process is finalised. My passport was submitted on April 4th. Approved on April 22nd. Passport was printed on April 26th and Delivered this morning. I know I’m a lucky one but I can’t fault the Durham Office for my process it was quick and easy. I wish you all the best in you application - being kind to the call handlers from what I’ve seen on Facebook goes such a long way.

Thanks for the update @JamesJ1992, you are indeed lucky. My documents were signed for two days after yours but no approval yet. All the best!

I have been following this thread for months, trying to seek comfort in knowing that I am not alone. I want to post my timeline on here for anyone that may have applied from France. Passport printed - 28 April 2022 Application approved - 27 April 2022 Application being processed - 6 April 2022 Documents received - 1 March 2022 Application received - 9 February 2022 Application submitted - 9 February 2022 This service has been one the worst I have ever used, mind you, I have been living in France for 7 years. The lack of reactivity is dreadful, they said they received my passport on 1 March but according to French/UK tracking, they received it on the 12 February. My process was slowed down by them requesting a letter explaining “damage” to the passport’s . I sent a first letter, which somehow got lost in their offices, so I had to send a second. This is both expensive and time consuming. And honestly, I think is just another ploy to slow the process down even more and buy themselves more time. It has truly been a stressful 2 months and a half. This service has cost me 500€ in changed flights, expensive calls to their “customer service” line, and just a whole lot of stress not having any ID living abroad. The only thing that has kept me going has been this thread, and seeing other peoples’ timelines, I even stopped calling after a while because it only led to frustration and tears. It has also been reassuring seeing that the process was relatively quick from the moment they received my second letter. I am now waiting for my passport to be delivered. In true style, they have not sent me a tracking number, so I was wondering if anyone knew what delivery service is used for international applications, TNT or DHL? Thanks for taking the time to read my diary entry lol.

Submitted 16th: old passport signed for j Barrat 19th Tracking still says send passport :(

14 days now still says send passport, which is at Durham signed for.

Is there anyway to email the Durham office without going to upgrade department? I travel in 4 weeks but really cannot cope with being stressed out for another month. Don't want to end up chasing a passport last minute. My only saving grace is fact I fly on a Tues afternoon and my hubby is off on the Monday so I might end up at my local passport office demanding my children's passports

Mines an online application being processed since the 16th of March I've heard noting I have tried calling countless times but I can't even wait on hold ss I keep getting cut off I've wrote a letter with no response I am hopefully going abroad on the 25th of May. But with my luck I won't get it back.

@cooky987 seen a few getting approved from mid March so yours shouldn't be far behind I wouldn't think. I'm about 2 weeks behind if they are doing them chronologically. Been waiting 8 1/2 weeks total but they only marked it as processing on the 1st of April. Not sure if it will help with not getting cut off but the number I call is 03001231973 Don't have to push any buttons just wait on hold. I think it's direct to the Liverpool office and they seem a lot more knowledgeable and helpful than the number on the website.

Two quick questions as I just called in: 1. Can agents check the specific documents (birth cert / supporting letter) you send in? agents I just spoke to couldn't see any of documents i sent it, but the previous one could see the birth cert... 2. Do they only put your application in the examiner queue if all the required documents are present? Can you still be rejected at this stage? I'm worried they might be missing a document as it was taped on... 3. Is the 10-12 week processing time from date of application or date of processing?

I hope this helps anyone that is worrying about passport waiting times. I applied for a child's renewal online when the current wait time was 5 weeks, the day after submitting the application it moved to 10 weeks. I left 9 weeks between applying for the passport and our holiday therefore I was rather worried and have been monitoring this thread closely for updates however I can honestly say that the wait time has been far better than I expected. Application approved 7:52pm on 28 April 2022 Documents received 12:18pm on 27 April 2022 Application received 8:11am on 8 April 2022 Identity details received 8:10am on 8 April 2022 Email sent to person confirming your identity 5:01pm on 7 April 2022 Ask someone to confirm your identity 4:58pm on 7 April 2022 Application submitted 4:58pm on 7 April 2022 The biggest wait was for the Durham office to confirm that they have received the old passport however once this was done the process was extremely quick and today I received the new passport. The tracker had not been updated to let me know the passport was on its way. This morning I received a text from DHL confirming delivery between 9 and 10am. My neighbour applied for an adult renewal the day after and their passport is arriving tomorrow. In total it has taken 4 weeks exactly for the new passports to arrive. Hope this provides a little hope for those still waiting. From what I have read the biggest wait with Durham is the acknowledgement of the old passport arriving however they are still quicker than the 10 weeks suggested.

Submitted renewal 16 April and old passport arrived on 20 April tracking still says send passport. Was hoping to go away next month beginning to look unlikely :-( I thought renewals submitted online would not take so long.