New Passport Upgrade Service!

I absolutely agree with pestering them. I was sending emails to each and every email I had every single day, calling both numbers up to 3 times a day. I have severe anxiety disorder and did explain this when I tell rang. Some we’re absolutely amazing, some were rubbish but nevertheless I got my daughters passport today after upgrading on Wednesday of last week and I fly Saturday. I was ridiculously lucky, like the luckiest human ever but I think my relentlessness helped me out here

Also just to add.. I was nice as pie during every communication! You don’t want them making a note that you’re shouty or angry as it may make them not want to help

Sorry to ask a question that has likely been covered a million times but what are the email addresses to use for upgrades, want to make sure I have the right ones, I’ve heard the can be case sensitive, my son’s seems to be stuck in processing in Durham 🤦🏻‍♂️ I’d hate to waste time using the wrong ones I’m optimistic that albeit right to the wire people are getting sorted Thanks in advance

DurhamUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk that’s the one I’ve used , however have the processing team put through an upgrade as I’ve heard the email doesn’t mean anything without them requesting it there side.

Amazing, thank you

After sending an upgrade request on 6th May and another request on 25th May I finally got a call from the London upgrade team who said I could come tomorrow to pick up my passport but also said they will call tomorrow to confirm so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Due to fly out on 1st June. Thing is I don’t live or work in London. Was going to ask my sister to go on my behalf to collect my documents with a letter from me. Would they accept that or does it have to be me in person?

My anxiety is through the roof, been waiting a call back from the upgrade team for a week. Set off to Peterborough at 02:30 this morning, arrived at 05:30, was seen at 10:30 and was then told that it was in the hands of the upgrade team and I would get a call today or tomorrow. We fly on Wednesday, going to set off early again to try Durham tomorrow. Spoke to a friend who advised that her friend also went to Peterborough today, she had contacted the upgrade team but had not received a call back. She also flies Wednesday and was given her passports :(

DurhamUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk PeterboroughUgpradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk LiverpoolUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk LeedsUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk LondonUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk BelfastUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk I emailed every single one every single time

I have called every day and every single time been told different things. I have an email with the upgrade team apparantly waiting. My passport is At Peterborough they have told me and I live in Devon it will be a 11 hour round trip for me. If I turn up in Newport will they even see me or shall I go Peterborough? If I just turn up This is sending me mental!! I fly on the 8th but with the bank holidays I just don’t know what to do. My passport is currently waiting for examination since the 26th Any tips please help xxx

Flying on 2nd. Call from upgrade team just to say wait for call nothing else can be done. Thinking of travelling to office tomorrow

All I get when I ring is an automated message saying that the application is being processed once I enter the PEX number and applicant's date of birth. Literally reaching breaking point now

I spoke with a lady today at Peterborough who arrived just after me, she was told that her son's was at Liverpool, bot sure what the outcome was though sorry

Starting to lose hope now. Spoke to someone last week to say that I was eligible for an upgrade and that I will get a call in 48 hours. Received a call but missed it, was left a voicemail to say to call back. Nearly 2 hours on hold to be told the information I was given was wrong. As it’s a first adult passport I cannot get an upgrade. The passport it self hasn’t even gone to examination after nearly 8 weeks. The passport is in Durham which is nearly 5 hours from me and I don’t drive. If anyone has any other suggestions on what I can do I would really appreciate it. I fly out on the 3rd. Devastated.

So when you’re ringing press 8 and then 3. No other combo. @Kyzza I would drive to your local office as they can printed at any because they all work from the same system

Starting to lose hope now. Has anyone had a call today…. Ive sent numerous emails to all offices

@kyzza91 @brim13 what number did you call please. Honestly surviving on 4 hours sleep with passport office visits and am at my wits end. Due to fly 1st June and have my passport but really need my husband's to be able to come with me and support me through surgery. Thanks in advance

@kyzza this is the number 0300 222 0000 option 8 then option 3. I think you should qualify for emergency passport or something like that if it’s for a surgery to be honest. I would explain that to them

I’m still waiting for my first adult passport too. What do you mean by ‘gone to examination’? Also when did you put in the application?

Hi all I'm still waiting for my call as I've sent my email off for the upgrade on Thursday. I fly on Friday so is it best for me to sit and wait for a call today then if I don't here anything I'll go to Liverpool tomorrow as they are closed Thursday and Friday.

morning Guys, well I didn't get to speak to anyone last night after 2.5 on hold it cut off :( called again this morning the lady just kept reiterating its only a request not a guarantee, despite being told they had put urgent call back requests in place for me, she mentioned on the phone the last one was on the 19th May too early!!! so all these other so called requests have not been put in place. I said to her what else can I do now then as it doesn't appear that despite people saying they are putting a call back request in place they may not be. She said she has put one in place (not sure whether to believe her)and said they would call anytime minimum of 4 hours to 48 hours...I think my only hope is to drive to Liverpool Saturday morning and say we fly tomorrow. I am really now losing all hope :( sorry not to be the bearer of goods news this morning :(

Quick update on my upgrade request, I sent an email to Liverpool upgrade request email on the 24th May. This morning I had the following reply: " We have received your upgrade request and noted you need your passport by 9 June. Upgrade requests are prioritised by this date - we will be in touch as soon as we can. Please do not email us again or call the Passport Adviceline as we cannot process your application any quicker. Please do not send more emails as this may delay your upgrade request. "

I have just taken a call from my local MP who was super nice on the phone and took all the details and is going to get in touch with HMPO on my behalf, not saying it will work but anything is help at the moment

From my own experience, I would say be persistent, don’t give up and try not to lose your temper - the ball is massively in their court and they have to want to help you!! I fly tomorrow and submitted my original application in March. I hadn’t heard anything and decided to visit the London office yesterday and join the queue as a last resort. There was a lady from HMPO handing out enquiry forms so I mentioned I was within 48hours of travel and she asked for proof and then took me to the front and handed me a ticket and sent me to the first floor. I spoke to the desk there who said they have added a note to my file and someone will call back - I was called back within the hour and have collected my passport this morning. I would say if you’re within 48hours and can get down to your local office and speak to someone in person, it might be worth it! Lots of people in the queue were not within 48hours and were being turned away at the door which makes the whole thing so much longer!! My local MP’s office also called on my behalf which may have also helped my case. This forum has been so helpful and there are so many people in the same position as us and I did see quite a few successful people yesterday. Wishing you all the best of luck!!

Hi! I want to share our passport problem experience that had a happy ending yesterday. Lots of hints and tips that we've picked up in an attempt to get it sorted have been from this forum and want to thank everyone for that. Sorry if it's a bit of a long story!! I applied for my passport renewal on 01.03.2022 and got it back within 3 weeks, no problems. My daughter submitted her adult passport renewal online on 09.03.2022 - her original passport had expired and she'd lost it and she needed a change of surname. All documents were sent to Belfast and online tracking showed that documents had been submitted on 22/03 and then processing on 25/03 - then NOTHING! Found out that her application was now at Durham. We lost out on our city break to Barcelona on 01/05 cos her passport never arrived but then also never got advised that we could do an upgrade despite many phone calls to the passport office before - then I found this forum. She had another holiday booked for 01/06 and found out through here that we could do an upgrade 14 days before. So, she phoned on 18/05 and got told to wait 48 hours for a callback, they called on 20/05 and told her to email DurhamUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk, the subject had to include URGENT UPGRADE and "the date of travel" 01/06/2022 Content to include - Full Name, DOB, Contact Number, Email address, Reference Number, Date of Travel and Proof of Flight (actual PDF not a screenshot). She was told she'd get a callback within 48 hours to take payment and then she'd be able to collect her passport from Liverpoool which is our nearest office - 1.5 hrs away. Sounded so simple and promising but she didn't get a callback. Phoned on 24/05, they tried putting her through to the processing team but no answer - apparently they can't put you through to upgrade team as they have no phone number - got told she was on an urgent callback within 24 hours. More waiting, callback finally happened on 27/05 but then got told that the upgrade hadn't been done properly, the advisor should've sent her an email first to confirm that she's allowed to upgrade otherwise the email that she sent would've just gone into the junk mail folder. She got the email, then she sent another email which included all the details I mentioned before (again). By this time given that there were only 2 working days left until she travelled on the 1st June panic had set in. She sent our MP an email and got a reply on 30/05 saying that he'd contacted the Passport Office and asked them to urgently contact her. However by Sunday 29/05 we'd decided that the only option was to go to Liverpool Passport office and as we'd heard people were queueing from 4am onwards it was going to be an early start. She got there at 5am on 30/05 and there were already about 25 people queueing in front of her, all with similar stories and all consistently given different information by the Passport Office phone lines. She could hear some of them getting phone calls from the upgrade team whilst they were stood in the rain in the queue but she never got one. She waited and got seen at 12pm, got told that all her application documents were correct and that the hold-up was probably because of her change of surname but there was no reason why it shouldn't have been approved as everything was correct. They contacted Durham and Durham agreed to approve it on 30/05 and contact her so that she could collect on 31/05. We didn't hold out much hope for the phone call but Liverpool staff told her that if they didn't phone then she should go back on 31/05, she wouldn't have to queue but to go straight to the door and explain and they'd let her in. Durham phoned her at 1.50pm on 30/05!!!! Told her that her application had been approved and as the cut-off was 2pm he'd do it straight away and she could collect from Liverpool on that day 30/05!! Overjoyed is an understatement but we were still not convinced it would be true until it was in her hand. So back to the Passport Office, didn't have to queue this time because it was a collection so explained this at the door and went straight in. Waited another 1.5 hours and got the actual passport in her hand at 4pm. Big massive thank you goes out to Liverpool Passport Office staff who were so helpful. There were so many there and the ones that were in the queue with her all giving each other moral support were also all there around 3-4pm picking up their passports. I can honestly say that she wouldn't have got the passport without going to Liverpool and queueing. Maybe the upgrade team just pick and choose who they approve, I'm not sure but also don't think that the MP intervention made any difference either. Also, she didn't pay any extra for this service so she's only paid the original online passport renewal fee. She also got advised by the Passport Office phone line not go to her nearest Passport Office in person without an appointment as that would be a health and safety issue - not sure why that would be!!!! Anyway, we're so relieved that she got the passport in the end but it still feels a bit surreal after going through what I can only describe as a very stressful nightmare that's gone on and on without needing to. Hopefully by the time we'll all be renewing next time there will be a better system.

Hi all, Just wanted to give a description of my experience as i have found this forum very helpful and helped manage my stress levels a lot! I applied for a replacement passport on the 28th March, and i am due to fly tomorrow (1/6/22). I have been stuck on processing since the 4th of April and upgraded when within the 14 day window as they advise. Was told to send proof of travel to the durham office and got the standard automated response that they are woeking through in date of travel order. As like most of you, i did not recieve this call and made the decision to do a 400 mile round trip to my nearest passport office in newport. I got to the office for 7.00am yesterday morning and there was a que of around 50 people waiting to be seen. The secuirty then came out and told people to go home if they were not flying within 48 hours. (DONT TRY AND GO BEFORE THIS TIMEFRAME AS THEY WILL TURN YOU AWAY AND YOU WILL HOLD UP THOSE DESPERATE!!!!!) The ladies that were helping were super nice and you could tell they were doing everything they could to get peoples passports ready. long story short at 9.30 am i was seen and details taken, at 12pm i was told it would be ready at 2pm, at 2pm there was a printer malfunction and was told to hang around, at 5pm i secured the passport. Some key pointers below: Please be polite to the staff if you turn up to your local office, it is not their fault and you can tell they are criminally understaffed. Liverpool and Belfast applications are definitely the worst. Followed by Durham but at least Durham would answer the phone to Newport staff. Apparently Liverpool staff wouldnt even pick up the phone to the newport depot! Get there early, it is a long day but the queue was relentless until early afternoon so whatever time you show up youll be queing anyway! DO NOT GO IF YOU ARE FLYING OUTSIDE OF THE 48 HOUR WINDOW, YOU WILL BE TURNED AWAY! Hopefully you guys all get sorted! Peace out x