New Passport Upgrade Service!

@passportplease how long is your passport been waiting I feel I'll get turned away as next week it will be only 5 weeks of I turn up as I fly next Thursday

I was waiting 8 weeks however when I was there people had only been waiting 3-4 weeks and walked away with there’s as long as you can prove your flight is with in 48 hrs

But under 6 weeks you will have to pay the fee

Has anyone NOT got their passport after applying for the upgrade service?

Hi, We are sopposed to be going on our first holiday in 4 years on the 21st and only realised a few weeks that my partners passport needs to be renewed. They immediately submitted the standard application not knowing about waiting times or urgent options. I knew however and we immediately called the helpline trying to correct our mistake and change to a fast track or premium, but we were told that we can’t do that over the phone and that we just will need to cancel the standard application if we manage to secure an urgent service online, as they are very busy. We followed their advice and managed to book a fast track appointment and another adviser confirmed everything would be fine if my partner posted a letter to the passport office asking to cancel the standard application. Needless to say it wasn’t fine at the fast track appointment, because they haven’t processed the cancellation so we were told that the only option is to post the old passport off to be processed as standard. So now we are 2 weeks away from our flight and seemingly no chance of getting the passport in time. In addition to this the helpline is now saying that we need to prioritise letting the passport office know that we don’t want the application to be cancelled anymore, but the “urgent” call back hasn’t come through to either of us. So I have a few questions: If you email the upgrade team are you supposed to get the automated response immediately? I received nothing, is that a bad sign? If the application does get cancelled because of that letter, will they let us know? In case it does get cancelled, if there a point in going to the passport office 48 hours before the flight anyway? They have the old passport and all the information they need and the situation is just absurd, so is there a chance we can still try to plead our case if we bring along all the evidence? Do both London and Peterborough offices have passport printers? And finally, a long shot, but does anyone know the phone number for Peterborough office? Thank you so much in advance!

My mum lost her passport and applied for a new one 3 months ago and still hasnt received it, every time she calls she gets told different information. We are due to fly Saturday and when she called today she has been told to email the Belfast upgrade team, we have already emailed them twice in the last 2 weeks with proof of our travel dates. The customer service team are no help, does anyone have any other advice/phone numbers we could try, she has also emailed all the upgrade teams and hasnt received any reply. So desperate to get this sorted for her as she has worked so much overtime to be able to take us on holiday and now shes the only one currently not able to go

JennieSarah8 her best bet would be to go to the local passport office 48 hours before travel. As long as all the documents requested have been received and scanned in she should get her passport if she takes proof of travel with her.

Wanting3 what if it’s an online application and the passport has been received according to Royal Mail tracking but not yet updated on the application? Also can you come in 48 hours before travel if the application gets wrongly cancelled even after million of requests over phone and enquiry form? Thanks

Hi All, [success] I started posting a few weeks back in regards to 2x Stolen passports. Just wanted to give you a run down of the process. I depart on Thursday Morning (6am) and I collected my passports this afternoon from Peterborough. Application being processed 8:43am on 26 April 2022 Identity details received 9:40am on 17 April 2022 Email sent to person confirming your identity 9:35am on 17 April 2022 Ask someone to confirm your identity 9:32am on 17 April 2022 Application submitted 9:32am on 17 April 2022 Below I have outlined some hints and tips: - Your application MUST be in for six weeks, I have seen stories of people getting theirs prior to this, however at Peterborough today multiple people were rejected due to not being in the process for more than 6 months - People turning up advising of lost passports with no application were getting rejected on the spot and being advised it needs to be 6 weeks. - I arrived at 6am (opening at 8am), there was around 30 people in the queue. We were let in at 7:30 and i got position 25 @ 9pm. I was seen at 12:30pm and was processed around 1:00pm. I waited two hours for my passport to be printed @3:00pm - I was actually contacted by the processing department for my upgrade process during my 1-2-1 with the passport agent in Peterborough. this was @ 12:00pm and I was advised I could pick up my passport from my local office (a little bit late but positive that they do get back to you) - people who were flying the next day or day of were prioritised first, then people who had application in from jan/feb, then people flying in 2 days. Subsequent people were given forms to fill out to identify if they were valid. 1. 2 weeks prior to your departure date attempt to get through to the upgrade time. It takes some persistence and a lot of time, when you call the passport office you only get through to the advisors, you do not want to speak to them. Request to be passed through to the upgrade team and to be put on hold, this is more efficient than waiting for a call back. This is one of two methods to get your passport. ( NOTE: You will be asked for evidence of departure and they will work towards that date with NO guarantee) 2. If you do not get a call back to collect your passports leading up to 48 hours before departure time, head down to your local passport office (preferably the only your passport is being processed at). Peterborough were tremendously helpful and prompt given then situation. Turning up any more than 48 hours prior to your departure resulted in people being turned away.

Hello! Just wondering if anyone has had passport success after having waited longer than four weeks for documents to be logged and scanned? My son’s were signed for at Corby 4 weeks yesterday but no change to his portal. Progress team have now sent two emails with the tracking number to Peterborough Office to chase it up with no success as yet. Has anyone had to report their documents lost after being signed for?!! I feel like I’m the only one with this problem and would do so appreciate some advice!

To echo what others have said, if it gets to 48 hours get to your passport office and they will prioritise you (from what I saw this is the case even if you are within six weeks). A lot of people in the same boat but they get through them. Arrived at 6, but needn’t have bothered, close to 8am would have been exactly the same time seen, with approx 40 people waiting today at Peterborough. I have seen a couple of people mention that theirs had been processed under the standard method and not upgraded and it was awfully close to their departure date. This was the same for myself and Neither the passport office or TnT were saying they had the document. After no initial luck this morning I went back to the office and explained the issue to the entrance staff, who passed my details direct to the processing team upstairs . They contacted me back within an hour and resolved the issue within the day. So if there are still others in a similar position playing the waiting game for TnT, if you don’t have a delivery date or tracking number yet I would get down to your passport office and explain the issue. They were brilliant!

If I fly on a Tuesday, will I be seen at Peterborough if I go on a Saturday? As in, do the Saturday and Monday count as the 48 hours? Or is a literal 48hrs, including the Sunday even though they aren’t open? Just trying to plan ahead so I don’t entirely lose hope and It’s hard not to obsess over details at this point!

Hi We sent a first child application by post on 22 April. We were unable to use the online system as it was for a newborn so eyes were closed in the photo. Passport office did not acknowledge receipt until 13 May (3 weeks later). There was no fast track / upgrade option available when we submitted for a first child passport (apart from an in person appointment of which our nearest was 500 miles away!) We tried twice to get a status update using the online form with no reply so I called them this morning. Things I learned on this call. - processing time is now 10-13 weeks not the 10 weeks they state - the 10 weeks start from when they acknowledge receipt of documents not from when you send them (and this could be any length of time!) - you can only access the upgrade service once the docs have been in the system 6 weeks. This means we cannot access the upgrade service despite sending over 6 weeks ago. We fly 2 weeks tomorrow but because of how long it took them to acknowledge receipt, we won’t hit six weeks until the day after we fly. Is anyone aware of -anything else we can do to speed up the application? Very frustrated as we wouldn’t be in this position if there was an option to submit online and we got the application in when baby was a week old! Thanks!

I have honestly had the most amazing experience with the upgrade team. I fly on Thursday the 16th June and rang to start the upgrade process on the 2nd. I was informed I wouild recieve a callback with more details within 48 hours, got called back within 20mins, had my email sent off with proof of travel and application details 15 mins after that. Got an immediate confirmation email from the Peterborough upgrade team, followed by a 2nd confirmation email later on that day. (This was still on the 2nd) Yesterday (7th) recieved an email stating they had recieved the request and noted date of travel. Today (8th) recieved phone call stating I could pick up from my local passport office tomorrow. Genuinely didn't expect it, delighted!

Hi hoping someone can help me. My daughter is going on holiday on the 15th June, I've applied for the upgrade they emailed me Saturday to say they have noted she needs passport by 15th and not to contact them as this will delay process. They will contact me. I'm just wondering how long will it take for them to contact me. My nearest passport office is Newport and her passport is in Belfast office since April.

I submitted my passport renewal application nearly 12 weeks ago (18th of March). I am due to fly on the 18th of June, however am flying to the USA where you require an ESTA which must be completed at least 3 days before travel. So essentially need the passport in 7 days. After about 20 hours on the phone over the past week I finally have been given the email address of the Liverpool office to send my flight details to and request an upgrade. If they do not get back to me - have people had success turning up to the Liverpool office in person prior to travel? Am I able to go to Peterborough even though my old passport is with Liverpool? Many thanks for any help!

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Has anyone had a call back from 01753204983? Said hello and lady hung up! I got one after I rang for upgrade today.

When I googled apparently some people are getting callbacks from 01753204983.

@sarahtaylor9 100% go to your nearest office I was waiting as long as you and I got mine with in the hour no charge xx

Has anyone not received their passport in time? We fly on Sunday and I went to Peterborough today, but unfortunately they couldn’t help me as my application is with Durham and they wouldn’t/couldn’t send it over to Peterborough because they were currently only dealing with people that travel in 48-24 hours. Very frustrating but staff were really nice. We can’t decide if we should move our holiday or risk it and hope we get a call back in time.

I got mine in time however I went Peterborough 24 hours before

All you guys who are going to the passport office 24-48 before travel... Did/DO you HAVE to put in a "upgrade request" or did you just turn up?

I still haven't heard off the upgrade team so I rung the passport office this morning and he just said bare with us, I dunno wether to email the upgrade team again even though they said not too do this. Could I turn up at the passport office Monday which my nearest one is Newport and they might sort it even though her passport is with the belfast passport office. daughter is flying on the Wednesday and I just feel like I'm running out of options now

Sam, my mum was a similar situation our nearest office is Glasgow and she had been told to email the Belfast upgrades team (she done this twice as was told to do it again on a call) and never received any replies, we are due to fly Saturday so she was going to go to Glasgow today and just wait then Tuesday night around 7 she got a call telling her to come to Glasgow today to collect her passport. The fact the upgrade team don't acknowledge things in any way made us think nothing was happening, mum called the customer line daily. Fingers crossed you get somewhere with them but if not I'd go to your local office 48 hours before