New Passport Upgrade Service!

Just to give some people hope. We applied for my daughters’ passports on 30th March. We got one back in three weeks but there was an issue with the other one that nobody could explain. It appeared to be stuck in processing. We shared the same stress of endless phone calls to the helpline only to be cut off etc. When you do get to speak to someone they are completely useless. They are clearly working from home and have no access to the application. They tell you someone from the progress team will call you within 72 hours. They don’t and the cycle begins again. The gut wrenching feeling of being in limbo and not being able to speak to someone is very stressful. We emailed the Glasgow upgrade team within 2/52 of travel. Got an automated response. Fair enough. Gave it a week and emailed them again on Monday. Got another response from them, looked automated but it did note our travel date which gave us optimism that it had at least been looked at. Got to Wednesday and thinking there were only 2 working days left before travel I emailed my MP. Unbelievably proactive on my behalf! She cc’d in a staff member who visited the Home Office Passport Hub and did whatever they do. This morning I got a phone call to say passport ready at 14:00 at Glasgow office. Big shout out to Lisa Cameron MP ( I’ll let her off being snp today!!). I now have the passport, the MP has chocolates. Good luck to everyone. My advice is definitely seek other routes than the helpline. They are 100% useless and it is unbelievable they are being paid as civil servants. They are half wits trained to fob you off.

No. Mine was apparently processed in Durham but printed in Glasgow, I live in Glasgow btw. The whole thing is a complete shambles.

I would contact your MP again. Mine had a staff member go to the Home Office Passport Hub and deal with it on my behalf. I could not believe how proactive they were. I had my daughter’s passport in my hand 48 hours after emailing my MP. She replied telling me what a shambles the whole set up was. She is SNP though and probably hates the Tories 😂😂. Good thing I didn’t mention how I vote! Email your MP again and tell him/her to get their finger out. They are elected officials there to serve you.

@pclem0003 ⬆️

@lorrainecleveland ⬆️

@lorrainecleveland ⬆️

Could anyone tell me if they’ve had a call from Durham upgrades and travelling this Sunday 29th? I’ve seen on here that ppl travelling after us have had their calls but don’t know which office they had. I’m literally giving up hope now, my mp has chased and was advised it was being looked at yesterday so phoned this morning and was promised a call back today as it was with the examiners but still nothing. Currently been on hold for 1 hr 56 minutes and know I’m going to be cut off in a minute as the progress team finished at 6pm last time I called and cut me off. I’ve been following this thread for the last few weeks and it was the only thing giving me hope but I honestly feel like giving up now. Even if I wait all day at London office tomorrow I need to get my daughter (age 14) a covid vaccine pass which I can’t do without photo ID and then takes 24 hours or a fit to fly test which I can’t do without a passport so it’ll be too late :-(

@LorraineCleveland We just set out the situation and asked them to help, they emailed the general office but got no response. Then with the upgrade team, I cc'd the MP office into my email and they reiterated it. Not sure if it helped or not but it was worth a try.

I have had a day. I arrived at London at. 6.30am to join queue, there were about 7 people in front of me. The lady first in the queue got there at 4am. The doors opened at 8am and I spoke to someone at 9am. She looked up applications, called Durham and said I didn't qualify, there was nothing I could do and my application probably wouldn't be processed in time(Travel 6am Sunday) So holiday was not happening. Felt very upset, but at a loss. Then at 3pm, my husband called me, someone from Durham had called him, promised to help and was absolutely amazing. He found one son and husbands application and said they would be ready to collect from London tomorrow morning. But other sons application was lost. We emailed post office receipts and communication was fab, lots of phone calls and encouragement. Eventually all applications located! we paid upgrade fee and shortly after received an email to say passports could be collected from London tomorrow. such a rollercoaster!

When did you apply please @marylondon? I’m just looking for any ammunition to throw at them tomorrow. There seems to be no order in which they’re working. We applied mid March and still no one’s getting back to us

@eaglel I applied through post office and application was sent to Durham. We are flying at 6am Sunday and didn't get call till late this afternoon. So fingers crossed you hear tomorrow. We were prepared to go to Durham to collect, but they said it was fine and could print in London. (This was the opposite to what the last on the. desk in London told me this morning - They are just trying to get rid of people!) I would recommend emailing Durham again with RESENT in subject line.

Well thankfully it happened while I was at work I got the call from an unknown number, it was a lovely woman from the Durham office and she was phoning me to say that my upgrade has been approved and I can come to collect my passport at the Durham office tomorrow. I am so relieved as I am meant to fly on the 1st of June. Still wishing others have the same luck as me. I know how awful it is to wait for the call.

@eaglel You are right, the order is not fair. I applied later than you. But once you get someone on the case they are very helpful. It's just so stressful as its last minute. I would sy to get to a passport office tomorrow and get there early. You qualify for an upgrade so should be allocated someone to help you.

@tictarry33 When are you travelling?

S

I’m so pleased for you … I stay hopeful for my upgrade I’m due to travel on the 5th , can I ask why was it they said you didn’t qualify when you went to the office ?? x

I am travelling on the 1st of June

I have been waiting for a call back from the Liverpool upgrade team since Monday and we fly Wednesday (1st June) Is it worthwhile travelling to a passport centre and queuing to be seen without an appointment?

Omg! I literally can’t believe it! I’ve just had a call from Durham upgrade team at 8.23pm to say I can collect the passport tomorrow morning from London! I said to him I didn’t expect to hear from them this time of night and he said they were working until 10pm at the moment! I won’t relax 100% until it’s in my hand as he said there’s likely to be a long queue but at least I might sleep tonight. I wouldn’t have known what to do without this thread so thank you all. I will let you know what the outcome is tomorrow:-)

Hello. I managed to get my son's passport today so I will summarize my experience with the hope that this will help someone. A) submit your application asap. B) if you are passed the 6 weeks after you submitted your application and within 2 weeks of travelling call 03001050850 and request an upgrade. They are great. Then do write to the upgrades team of your nearest passport office which would be something like name-of-the-cityupgradesteam@hmpo.gov.uk and have the date of the travel in the subject and in the body of the email, name of applicant, application number, address, dob, and a contact number (and your name if you are applying for a child). C) don't expect much before you reach 3 days prior to your travel. If you don't hear call them again. You can try 01633745709 and request to be passed to the upgrades team. They are super helpful, if you are lucky to go through to them. In any case this will get the ball rolling as each call is logged against your application number. D) if you don't hear two days before you travel, then make sure you go to the passport office that you wrote to the day before you travel. Be there very early. I got to Peterborough at 7:20 and there was a 100-people queue (no kidding!). But people who travel the following day are moved up the queue so it pays off to be there early as you will be seen faster. Ensure you have proof of travel, your id, and if you have a special reason to travel (ill relative, funeral etc) something to prove it. E) be ready to spend a lot of time around. I was there for 7 and got the passport at 3 pm. F) be ready to take a call. Once you have the interview and they send you away, they will give you an indicative pickup time. This will be confirmed at the call. If you don't pickup the phone they might not send the passport for printing (it happened to one guy today who turned up they time they give him at the interview but didn't pick up the phone). G) check your emails. The application will go on fast forward and you will know when it's printed and ready for pickup. H) have in mind that the queues are long. But once you are there you will get it. Best of luck to all. I hope this helps someone.

@Eaglel Congratulations! @paigebates91 I didn't qualify as I haven't been waiting for six weeks! But luckily they did it anyway. Can't relax until we collect the passports today. More stress with news of easyJet cancelling flights. I feel cursed!

How many weeks were you if you don’t mind me asking mine is 6 weeks next Tuesday :( … oh no ! If I manage to get mine we’re also flying with easy jet .. it’s just one thing after another ! It really is.

Quick update on my childrens. My sons went to Glasgow and my daughters to Peterborough. We applied over 6 weeks ago and travel on the 2nd June. I’ve emailed and called numerous times and a few days ago I spoke to a very grumpy man at the progress team who said I wasn’t eligible to upgrade and he hung up on me. I didn’t give up and called and emailed a few more times. This morning I received a phone call from Glasgow and she’s upgraded my sons! She took payment of £80 and is posting it and it will arrive by 1pm on Tuesday. She couldn’t upgrade my daughters as it’s at the Peterborough office so I just need to keep calling and emailing about hers until it’s in hand. I’m so happy but also nervous at the same time.

I went to the London office yesterday got there at 10:30 didn’t get seen till 1:30 and they were not helpful at all, although the First Lady I spoke to had told me she could see my applications for my two children were being worked on from 10am that same day, she sent me upstairs to another lady who was supposed to call the Durham office but she didn’t all she told me was that she had sent the relevant email & all I can do is wait for a phone call, I am supposed to be travelling tomorrow and a few people who are travelling the same day have luckily had their call backs seems like I’m the only unfortunate one, I called up today and the lady said if they don’t call you it’s probably because they haven’t approved the upgrade 🤷🏽‍♀️ My fiancé and step daughter will still be going on the holiday as it’s for a wedding, I will stay behind because I can’t leave my two children for 7 days lol

A miracle actually happened, I got the call to say my daughters passport is ready and I can come and collect from the London office currently on my way now to collect but my son apparently needs my mothers birth certificate to prove his nationality which is strange, my mum is currently looking for her BC and hopefully scan it over to me so I can give to the London office to send to Durham. So in the end the upgrade service did come through for me but my son may not be able to come on the holiday:(