Durham

Looking at twitter this morning, it seems people are receiving them 7-8 days after they’ve been printed, so you should receive it c9th/10th June. Worth checking TNT website to see if it’s been picked up by them yet, maybe?

Wanting3 My timeline was same as yours approved 31/5, printed 2/6 and I received it today by DHLHope you’ve got yours now

Have your received now? Mine was same days as you for approved and printed and it got delivered today

I submitted 5 applications, 3 of them on 28th April, 2 on 29th April. All sent to different offices, I’ve received 4 of them up to now but the one I sent to Durham I’m still waiting to be approved. It’s renewal from child to adult, last update on tracker says old passport received on 13th May and that’s it. Anyone else similar timelines to this?

Maccas5, yes I finally received mine today. I feel so relieved! One of my first child passports that was approved on Saturday got printed today, just waiting on another first child passport that was approved today. Hopefully will get all 3 within the next week. It’s been much more stressful than I would have liked!

I know it’s awful how stressed it makes you feel isnt it, I’m still waiting on one more don’t understand how people that I know who applied afterwards have already received them. It’s not fair is it they should work in date submitted order. I honestly feel sick with worry about it.

Hi, glad ye have received yours. Just to update I got an email this evening tracking has updated now to printed and says its been sent by secure delivery. I'm just hoping now it arrives before Monday 13th when we are due to fly. Its been such a stressful experience especially seeing other applications sent in after mine come back so quickly.

Hi Rapha, Really don’t know what the whole second identity confirmation was all about. The guy who did the first one also did my younger daughter’s barely a year ago. When they wanted a second confirmation I asked someone else to do it, his wife in fact and it was soon approved. I called HMPO out of curiosity and they said it was a good idea to get another person to confirm instead of asking the same guy again. I reckon something went wrong with the first one or they wanted another validation because my daughter has a bit of asymmetry with her eyes which is obvious on her photo. As for timing, looking at other passport offices, it seems Durham takes longer between actual delivery and them acknowledging delivery, but shorter to approve once it’s logged as delivered. With many other passport offices it’s the other way round. So basically six of one! Cheers, Ray.

My son's renewal is at Durham and seems to be completely stuck in processing, haven't been asked to confirm identity but have been told by HMPO that it might not be needed as its awaiting an examiner which seems really strange to me as I thought it was a given it had to still be done, given up now trying to speak to anyone to getting help, took them ages to confirm the receipt of the old one, around 4 weeks from being signed for and is now just sat somewhere likely in a pile with all the others that actually require someone to look at them, we have a few weeks left before we hit 10 weeks so just getting ready with trying to sort it out then if I can, thought allowing 12 weeks before travel would have been more than enough time... starting to think I was completely wrong on that one!

Hi @Rayclark. Unfortunately not for me! I have been waiting on the "Old Passport Received" stage since the 24th May. My timeline is as follows : “Application submitted” online 12:19 28th April 2022 for a (straightforward) adult renewal “Application received” 12:19 28th April 2022 (Old passport posted on 29th April and tracked as received by HMPO Durham on 4th May 2022) “Documents received” 15:48 24th May 2022 I was half hoping that once the "documents received" stage has been reached that everything will be plain sailing however it just seems to be sitting there (I appreciate that there are others who have been or are in a much worse situation). I wonder if it makes a difference being an Overseas Application? Is anyone else in the same position or can give me hope? I have tried the helplines for advice but to no avail. I have now almost admitted defeat. Being overseas I am not eligible for the usual fast track, upgrade etc options.

Hi @GoodLife I have an overseas renewal in for my son submitted start of April. Tracking only updated as documents recieved 12th May....been waiting till 4th June to change to approved. Last night I got an email saying passport printed and got an sms text this morning from passport office saying it will be delivered to the address I gave. Hoping it is delivered by this Saturday as we are due to fly on Monday. Was told by helpline this morning as we are in Republic of Ireland it will be delivered by DHL but haven't heard from them yet notifying of a delivery time frame.

Hi @Caz86 Thanks for the reply. It is truly reassuring to hear back from others in the same situation especially where there is good news at the end of it!! I will have my fingers tightly crossed for you that you receive your passport well before Saturday... here's wishing you a lovely holiday in advance 🙂.

Hi @Rayckarke @Goidlife & @Brussels83 To try and give some hope in this distressing situation, I applied for an overseas application passport renewal (Europe) Application submitted 5/5/2022 Signed for in Durham 6/5/2022 (DHL delivery) at a cost of €38.00 Received by Passport office 1/6/2022 Application Approved 8/6/2022 What I do know is if all your details and paperwork is correct with no errors including a good photo then all should flow reasonably smoothly however if there is any slight discrepancy then a delay is inevitable, do have patience with the help line, stay calm and say thanks often you will get the necessary help required, good luck to all..

Hi @Richie I had been wondering how your application was going. Thank you so much for your update. I am extremely pleased that you have now been "approved"...it gives me some hope. Fingers crossed that yours will be printed and sent within the next few days. I was just wondering if you needed to contact the helpline at any stage and whether you felt it had helped? Please keep us updated! It's good to see how other overseas applicants are getting along.

Glad some of you are getting approved. We are on day 111 since submitting our overseas application. Having replied with the requested additional information we have since heard nothing. It's frustrating.

Hi All, I have finally had a response from the upgrade team asking for proof of travel. I’ve booked my holiday separately so does anybody know if me just sending the email confirmation from the hotel is enough?

@Upsidedown 111 days is crazy, you need to call them and tell the agent that you need the new passport to renew a visa (my justification for an escalation) or some other important sounding reason.

For those waiting for supporting documents for an overseas application... I just got a notification 17 days after getting my passport that DHL have collected my documents and will deliver them to me here in Hong Kong within the next 5 days. Full timeline below: Application received Sun 03rd Apr 2022 [Old passport sent] Mon 04th Apr 2022 [Old passport signed for] Fri 08th Apr 2022 Documents received Wed 27th Apr 2022 Application approved Mon 16th May 2022 Passport printed and sent Tue 17th May 2022 [DHL Tracking Passport] Thu 19th May 2022 [New Passport Delivered] Mon 23rd May 2022 [DHL Tracking Documents] Thu 09th Jun 2022

#17102 #Goodlife. Yes I did contact the helpline initially as I knew applying overseas would mean I could not avail of any fast track option, I also contacted the British consulate to explain my concerns, although they informed me that if I did not receive my passport in time to travel I could apply on line for a emergency passport at cost of €100 they also stated that if on line proved to be an issue I could call directly to to consulate office where they would assist in issuing an emergency passport, this would not effect my original application as I had the Gov passport tracker with updates. As the helpline extreme patients is required, I did get to talk to a very nice operator called Julie who did make some off line calls to assist, but I have seen reports that if they put a note on your application this can lead to your application going to manual route which is worrying, if desperate then call the help line be polite and ask for phone assistance as they can do this rather than rely on e-mail.

FINALLY!! Submitted 2 adult renewals on 12th April, one came back in 17 days, the other, after 8 weeks and many, many emails sent, we received it today. Very stressful experience, particularly when no one responds for weeks, and the 2 replies we did get were conflicting and false, also online chat never works. Understand their busy, but a quicker response and easier contact system would really help. Passport printed 4:13pm on 7 June 2022 Application approved 8:38am on 3 June 2022 Application being processed 3:58pm on 29 April 2022 Documents received 12:12pm on 16 April 2022 Application received 5:49pm on 12 April 2022 Application submitted 5:48pm on 12 April 2022

To Mikecul, I’ve been to Durham passport office this morning and had to show them proof of travel, they wanted to see the email confirming the flight details with the passenger list to show the names person on the passport was due to fly. Hope that helps!

@Laura1984 anyone been to the office under 6 weeks it will only be 5 and a bit weeks for me. Really doubtful but need to try

What email address did you use for Durham please?

Durham@hmpo.gov.uk or DurhamUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk I repetitivly sent about 30 emails over 6 weeks,finally had a call a week ago, received passport today after 8 weeks from submitting application.

Hi @Richie Thanks for the post. It is really informative and very much appreciated. It seems that it is hit and miss who you get to speak to. I have had a few very knowledgeable and informative advisers but others who are perhaps not so au fait (but very pleasant nevertheless). I agree with you on the addition of notes. Like you, there was urgency to my application which was made more difficult by exclusion from the upgrade and fast track options. Unfortunately, I ended up with notes added to my file. I am not certain but I suspect that this has resulted in my application ending up at the manual processing route (2 advisors have told me that I had a problem free application). I guess it needs to go along this route so that the examiner can read these. Therefore by trying to expedite my application I have unwittingly ended up doing the opposite!!... I am now destined for the prolonged route.