Hemel Hempstead

Hi all, There are many reassuring posts on this forum so thank you! I completed my application online on the 24th September and they received my old passport on the 27th. (Hemel hempstead office) I have not had any further update yet (7th october). I am due to fly to cancun on 19th November and british airways require the api information 2 weeks before I fly (latest 5th november) so about 4 weeks left. It is just a replacement passport application due to water damage. My damanged passport was only renewed in June. I am worried that i won't get the passport in time. Is there anything I can do if i don't receive it closer to the time? Has anyone recently received thier passport and how long did it take? Another concern is that I forgot to sign my old passport (under the picture) before returning it, does anyone know if this will cause a delay the applicatoon in anyway? Thank you in advance for any information.

I've posted in the general discussion also, if anyone has had a delay of over two weeks between their documents being delivered to Hemel by Royal Mail (or other courier) and marked as received on online tracking, please post there. Mine were 'delivered' on the 30th Nov, I'm aware of one more case where documents were 'delivered' on 28th Nov and neither have been acknowledged/scanned on the system yet. If I can find any similar cases we stand a greater chance of someone taking the enquiry seriously to find the lost bag of mail...

Same here - foolishly I sent my daughter's passport to HH by 1st class not tracked on 6th December - as we renewed 2 passports thro HH in spring, both in about 3 weeks when demand was higher, I assumed things would go quickly but we're now on 23rd and still nothing on the tracker to say her old passport has been received!! Lots of other stuff posted at the same time was delivered within a couple of days !! As were supposed to go away on 21st Jan and I can't imagine much will happen over the next two weeks I'm getting a bit twitched !! Doesn't help as we cant even check in for flights online without her passport !!

I posted my passport using 'Signed For' on the 3rd of December, it was finally delivered to HH on the 23rd December. Even with the strikes and Christmas post I was surprised it took 20 days to even reach HH. It is not yet showing as received in the tracker but what with the holidays I guess that's not too much of a surprise.

Message from HH at 930 this morning (29th) to say documents received and further message less than an hour later saying approved and gone for printing - that's just over 3 weeks since old passport was posted 1st class - hopefully new one should arrive shortly

Also just received notification that the documents had been received and the passport approved. Looks nice and prompt from the passport office, the big delay was with Royal Mail getting my passport to them.

Passport has now been printed and 'will be transferred to our delivery supplier in the next few days.'

I think their tracker is a bit out ?? Documents supposedly received yesterday and application approved - passport printed at 0059 this morning but, surprisingly, it arrived thro the door this morning about 11!!! So, just over 3 weeks from application to receipt, which, considering Xmas post, royal mail strikes and Xmas break isn't too bad

Hi everyone, We sent our sons passport, late November, confirmed delivery by UPS on 5th December but we are receiving no updates despite calling them and being advised it would be updated within 24 hours, our application is quite pressing due to living abroad (because of laws in this country regarding registering newborns) and they are aware of this. Just wanted to know other peoples experiences currently as my worry is they do not have/have lost the documents and I am going to have to replace birth certificates, marriage certificates and everything else. Or has anyone managed to contact the hemel hempstead office directly to check whether they even have a record of it being received? I even have the name of the person who signed for it! I am not too fussed if there is just delays, it is the fact they can't even tell me they have it despite telling me each time it will be located. Thanks for any help!

Passport received this morning. Old passport posted 3rd Dec Delivered by Royal Mail 23rd Dec HH Acknowledged receipt 28th Dec Printed 29th Dec Received 3rd Jan I never received a tracking number for the delivery, it was just put through the door, with no signature required.

Glad some of you are having success, HMPO have still not acknowledged receipt of my documents but Royal Mail say they delivered on 30th Nov. It feels like Royal Mail are lying to me, I don't think the passport office would sit on it for a month, there isn't that backlog at the moment.

I was assigned the Hemel Hempstead Passport Office for my passport application. Application created on the 27th December. Old passport posted by Signed For 1st Class on the 28th December. Royal Mail delivered the passport to the Passport Office on the 6th Jan. New passport delivered to me on the 12th Jan. Stages of my passport application from gov.uk: Passport printed 10 January 2023 Application approved 10 January 2023 Documents received 10 January 2023 Application received 27 December 2022 Application submitted 27 December 2022

Hi have you received your old passport back yet ?

I have applied for a child password renewal for my son on 9 January. His old passport was delivered and signed for on 10 January by the Hemel Hempstead office, but his application still has not been updated to show as being received. Is this normal to take a week or more? My other concern is both my other children's old passports were received at another office and signed for by HMPO with no signature whereas the old passport sent to Hemel Hempstead was signed for by STUART, with a signature.

Online adult renewal. Used a PhotoMe booth with the digital reference. Documents went to Hemel Hempstead Passport Office. Passport application received: 06/01/2023 Royal Mail delivered: 09/01/2023 Documents received: 17/01/2023 Passort application approved: 18/01/2023 Passport printed: 18/01/2023 Passport delivered by TNT: 20/01/2023 Awaiting return of my supporting documents.

Child and Adult - Renewal I thought I would share my experience with HEMEL HEMPSTEAD office as it happens, as I have been finding comfort reading everyone else's reviews and hope this helps someone else. Both applications were done online. Photos taken by myself using a free passport photo app. I sent my children's old passports via next day special delivery service (I paid more than regular signed for service as this is not guaranteed next day, but I am a little desperate because we have March 9 booked for travel. So I wanted to make sure Royal Mail doesn't mess me up with additional days delivery times). Both applications had a different passport office address to send the documents to but I read that you could send all documents together to any address given (chose HH - not sure why) to keep the applications together as family application. Useful if you are needed to send 1 document for 2 separate applications. My excuse was that I was then just paying 1 postage cost for sending 2 old passports. Posted Documents: 17 January Delivered at HH: 18 January So far this is what I have: CHILD UPDATES Application received 8:23pm on 16 January 2023 Identity details received 8:23pm on 16 January 2023 Email sent to person confirming your identity 4:30pm on 16 January 2023 Ask someone to confirm your identity 4:17pm on 16 January 2023 Application submitted 4:17pm on 16 January 2023 ADULT UPDATES Application received 11:58am on 16 January 2023 Application submitted 11:57am on 16 January 2023

Did you get an update yet to say they have received your son's old passport?

Hello everyone! I recently applied from the U.S. for my first UK passport along with my mom, who was born in the U.K., and my two siblings. We mailed all of our supporting documents in one mailer but within separate manila envelopes clearly labeled with our respective names and PEX reference numbers. However, while my siblings and I received confirmation that our documents were received on the exact same day and time (January 12th at 7:06AM NYC time), my mom still hasn't received the same email about her own documents. Has anyone experienced this before? I reached out to HMPO via email about a week ago and they said to just give it more time but it seems odd because all of our documents were within the same mailer. Additionally, my sister received an email asking for us to send our parent's marriage certificate but didn't ask for any of her other documents (e.g. birth certificate) which leads me to believe they actually do have my mom's documents. I might call them this week if I don't receive any update but it's fairly expensive because I live in the U.S. so I would appreciate any tips if someone has experienced the same thing – thanks!

Sorry, I meant to check this sooner. No I haven't received my old passport back yet. I have a feeling that the HH passport office doesn't get regular postal service. Took forever to deliver my old passport there and it's taking forever for them to get it back to me. Very efficient once they had my passport though.

UPDATE TO MY EARLIER POST. Both applications had a different passport office address to send the documents to but I read that you could send all documents together to any address given (chose HH – not sure why) to keep the applications together as family application. Useful if you are needed to send 1 document for 2 separate applications. My excuse was that I was then just paying 1 postage cost for sending 2 old passports. Posted Documents: 17 January Delivered at HH: 18 January So far this is what I have: CHILD UPDATES Delivered at HH: 18 January Posted Documents: 17 January Application received 8:23pm on 16 January 2023 Identity details received 8:23pm on 16 January 2023 Email sent to person confirming your identity 4:30pm on 16 January 2023 Ask someone to confirm your identity 4:17pm on 16 January 2023 Application submitted 4:17pm on 16 January 2023 ADULT UPDATES Documents received 11:50am on 24 January 2023 ***THIS IS THE ONLY UPDATE*** Delivered at HH: 18 January Posted Documents: 17 January Application received 11:58am on 16 January 2023 Application submitted 11:57am on 16 January 2023 Noticed how the passport office ONLY scanned in the Adult's old passport as received and not the Child's old passport which was sent in the same envelope as the Adult's one. So the child application is still in the "send old document" status. Obviously, panicking slightly as trying to get information from their telephone helpline as to why the Child one has not been updated, does not get you anywhere. They keep saying to wait and the Child one will get scanned in "after 7 days, then wait till the weekend". No solid guidelines. Will update again

Hi All I have the same situation for my son I have sent the documents on 9th and arrived by 10th and till now the documents haven't been scanned. Is there anyone received an update from Hemel Hempstead for child passport?

Hi Tito2023, They finally scanned my youngest daughter's old passport as "received" on the 27th of Jan. bearing in mind they signed for it on the 18th of January. I would call the help line and ask why yours is still not scanned in as it has been a long time from receiving it on the 10th till now.

UPDATE: CHILD UPDATES Documents received 2:37pm 27 January 2023 Delivered at HH: 18 January Posted Documents: 17 January Application received 8:23pm on 16 January 2023 Identity details received 8:23pm on 16 January 2023 Email sent to person confirming your identity 4:30pm on 16 January 2023 Ask someone to confirm your identity 4:17pm on 16 January 2023 Application submitted 4:17pm on 16 January 2023 ADULT UPDATES PASSPORT ARRIVED (POSTED THROUGH DOOR) 1 FEBRUARY 2023 Passport Printed 5:00am 31 January 2023 Passport application Approved 10.01am on 30 January 2023 Documents received 11:50am on 24 January 2023 ***THIS IS THE ONLY UPDATE*** Delivered at HH: 18 January Posted Documents: 17 January Application received 11:58am on 16 January 2023 Application submitted 11:57am on 16 January 2023 Moral of the story, sending Documents (like old passports) together does not keep family applications together. Possibly only good for when needing to send 1 single document (needed for 2 separate applications) along with old passports, as this may save time.

Hi Mumof4 Thanks for the update, I already called the helpline and open a complain but nothing happened till now. Just saying they are investigating.

Hi Tito2023, Glad they have said they are “investigating”. When i was chasing my child’s old passport, all I got was “call back” advice (first was “it’s only been 7 days, can’t investigate yet so call back when it’s 8 days”. Called again when on 9th day and was told “give a couple more days- maybe after the weekend, try to call again”). The most frustrating part is knowing they have it because the adult one in the same envelope had already been scanned in on the 7th day. So it didn’t make sense why not the child’s one too. No explanation as to why they do this, only a pre-rehearsed reply of “Call back again”. Drove me up the wall. Funny thing was, when I followed up later in the day on the 9th day, I was told that it said on their system that they have the child’s old passport as received but I told the person on the helpline that I did not get a txt or email to confirm this. She just said maybe it will update in the next couple of days. Low and behold it did the following day as I received a msg to say they have received it. Frustrating and it Doesn’t make sense. Don’t ask!! Anyway, 5 days (3 working days) and counting and I’m just here waiting again for the next update… Satisfied with the adult renewal process so I’m a little hopeful. However, Good luck to all of us is all I can say at this point.