New Passport Upgrade Service!

yes I had a call from the same telephone number it was the passport office call back, left me on hold for 57 mins with the standard.. thank you for your call we are busy :/ stayed on the line anyway and then a different person got on the line asking to help me, the stress this is causing people is unacceptable

If I have a flight on Monday can I go to the passport office on Friday as it’s closed on Sunday. Just want to make sure I’m still in the 48 hour window.

Hello there My application appears to be in the manual processing queue, and has been for 6 weeks. I’ve applied for an upgrade as I’m flying on 21st. I called and requested and was granted permission to apply for an upgrade, and emailed as instructed. I have not received any acknowledgement - is this right? Do I just sit right until they make contact?

@thislittlepix.. i have similar situation i fly on 22nd , applied for sons on 26 MARCH! rang for upgrade and sent email to LiverpoolUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk today (9th) now they are telling me i have sent short birth certificate and i need to send the full one in! i genuinely thought ive sent right one but ive been told by two 'advisors' (i rang in twice to make sure!) that ive sent the wrong one Granted i may have made a mistake but why couldn't they tell me this when they received docs on the 11th April? or when they supposedly 'scanned it' on 26th April after which it went into 'application being processed' im fuming as now i don't know whether to send by post OR shall i wait till 48 hours prior to my flight and just turn up at the office with the full birth certificate hoping they sort it on the day? just worried if i send it by post, it will take few weeks for them to actually look at it! Any advice would be helpful!

First Adult Passport Bootle Application approved 2:32pm on 9 June 2022 Application being processed 10:37am on 20 April 2022 Documents received 9:44am on 25 March 2022 Application received 12:42pm on 10 March 2022 Identity details received 12:41pm on 10 March 2022 Email sent to person confirming your identity 12:20pm on 10 March 2022 Ask someone to confirm your identity 12:13pm on 10 March 2022 Application submitted 12:13pm on 10 March 2022

After experiencing much the same as everyone else near their travel date, I plan to visit Glasgow Office tomorrow. I think its been asked before but cant see any reply ....do you think tomorrow and monday will count as 48hrs sice the office is closed on Sunday and I fly on Monday Many Thanks

So after 12 weeks my passport has been approved On Monday I messaged them via Webchat and I have spoken to Ryan very nice guy. I was informed that my foreign passport have been sent to me, and about some information examiner will give me a ring, so then on Tuesday examiner phoned me and asked me to send marriage certificate to them (Glasgow). I have sent it yesterday Special Delivery and today I got a phone call 2:25pm (because I work until 2pm and I asked Ryan to leave a note that any phone calls I can take after 2pm). Examiner phoned me and told me that my marriage certificate has been delivered and that my passport has been approved and will take up 10 days to receive it Thanks God! If you can guys just go to webchat and have a nice and polite conversation with the Agent and maybe even ask for examiner to give you a call…

I finally got a call from the Durham upgrade team today to say I can pick up my son’s passport tomorrow from Peterborough (we fly on Sunday) 😊😊 I hope this gives everyone else some hope. From everything I have heard they really aren’t looking at applications until 48hr(ish) before travel.

I am hoping the Passport Office can offer us some help tomorrow. Our application wont be 6 weeks until sunday and we have been turned down for any chance of an upgrade. We are due to fly on monday with a £1600 holiday depending on this . Another let down ...so sad the position we are all in

Here is my story it’s a long one but hope this helps someone: First child passport applied 18th March. Stick on processing since 13th April. Date of Travel 10th June. Contacted upgrade team 2 weeks before and application was over 10 weeks.No response at all. Contacted MP who contacted them 12 days before travel. 8 days before travel application has been approved. 7 days before went to London office found out upgrade team is not looking into it and because it’s been approved I lost my chance to have printed at a local office and forced to wait for it to be delivered as on that day they sent it to central print. Went to Peterborough the same day, little friendlier but same message with assurances that it will be delivered on time and given tnt number to chase. 48 hours before flight I go to Peterborough and that morning get tracking but delivery due on 10th which is too late. Lady in office puts in a request to have reissued by Glasgow, pull the one back from tnt and print at Peterborough the same day. 4 hours later told I won’t get it that day as tnt haven’t confirmed they will return it back to HMpo. Contacted tnt they haven’t even collected it. Told to come back 24 hours before flight. That evening tnt changes delivery date to 9th June. Call them and they state delivery will happen after 10th. Gives option to collect on 9th depot. This morning tnt informs me they pulled the passport from tnt. I now make the trek to Peterborough where Glasgow office calls to confirm tnt will return passport and Peterborough will print it today. Just collected it at 4pm today.

@Sunny60 good luck I hope so. Similar situation. But I fly next Thursday and Tuesday will be only 5 weeks for my daughter's lost passport. Please let me know your experience

I emailed the upgrade team last Thursday and have not even had a response confirming that they will upgrade me yet. Is this normal? In the past they used to say they would get back within 48 hours. My flight is next Thursday. If I hear nothing by next week, should I just go to the passport office? Anyone had success this way with the London office?

Had success at Glasgow Office this morning. Turned up first thing this morning without an appointment hoping to fly on Monday. Two days short of 6 week requirement but was delighted to get the passport which was being dealt with at Liverpool. Came home at lunchtime and received call at 3pm to pick up passport. Hope everyone gets sorted out and please go to the passport office even if you have no appoinment. We had numerous refusals for upgrades but turned up anyway. We have to thank all the contributers to forum as we would have lost our holiday without your help. Good Luck to all and many thanks

Any advice appreciated I was allowed to upgrade on the 9th June as our holidays is on the 23rd June but still waiting on extra documents to be scanned that they had requested last week. These were posted on the 6th June It’s took them 6 weeks to ask for these. At a lost end at what to do now they saying the upgrade won’t work till documents have been scanned. I have since emailed the upgrade team and attached a copy of this document even though the call center insisted it had to be posted. So I’ve done both. Anyone else been in this situation This is a child renewal I am so stressed with this and worrying how the little one is gonna feel knowing her extended family of 9 are going on holiday without her and me obviously 😭

Hi, I wanted to reply because I had a very similar situation with a child’s first passport (Bootle office). Here is my timeline: Application history StatusDate Passport printed 2:08pm on 9 June 2022 Application approved 3:58pm on 8 June 2022 Documents received 11:58am on 10 May 2022 Application received 10:12am on 27 April 2022 Identity details received 10:10am on 27 April 2022 Email sent to person confirming your identity 9:53am on 27 April 2022 Ask someone to confirm your identity 9:48am on 27 April 2022 Application submitted 9:48am on 27 April 2022 On 26th of May I was emailed and asked for my own birth certificate. Fortunately I was at home and able to post that day. According to Royal Mail it was received on Friday 27th of May. I heard nothing until it was approved on Wednesday 8th of June and it was in my hand by yesterday lunchtime. Considering there were 2 bank holidays for the jubilee, I think this means you should get your passport in time. Additional documents are fast tracked. They don’t take as long as first time applications to be scanned. I’m therefore certain you will get your passport before your holiday. Good luck.

Hiya @andstillwaiting I’m a similar situation. Have upgraded now want more document and adamant I have to post in to be scanned. Have you got any further with yours. I really at a lost end now

@ennevive Sorry I didn’t realise that message was for me thank you for your reply. I’ve been on web chat every day and still not been scanned although they probably only received on the 9th June, they have told me they have to be posted in which they have but also emailed them to the upgrade team I’ve got to try anything. I have got 11 days till we fly it’s just the stress of waiting for them to be scanned in and that’s if they do within 11 days. It’s took them over 5 weeks to ask for the additional paperwork Ive been ringing them for over 2 weeks and no one said a thing until I got an email requesting them

Hang tight. The document will be scanned next week and as soon as it is, anyone can approve it, I.e your upgrade can be processed. I’ve read on here that people have received their passports 48 hours before their flight. Child renewals are moving a lot faster than first passports. My older son got his renewal within 2 weeks. I’m confident you’ll get your passport. It is unbelievably stressful and quite frankly it’s ridiculous that so many people are being put through this.

Hi all, Can i just suggest that if you are lucky enough to be near any passport office ...and have some time...please turn up without an appoinment ,,,your enquiry will be dealt with ...we were at our wits end yesterday and got ours at 4pm xx

Thanks Ennevive . This gives me hope. I'm flying 22nd. I got confirmation from royal mail on Friday 10th so they do have it. Just hope they open and scan it in time. Or else I will just have to go to office couple days before flight. @lindsay. Let me know if u get any progress on yours.

Got my passport today and thought i'd share some observations from my experience. My scenario was: - Start of April - Applied for renewal via post office check and sign. Told it would take 3-4 weeks. - I'm due to fly next week - 2 weeks ago - Called the passport phone number for update. Told i could call for an upgrade if not received and within 2 weeks of flying. - Monday - Called for upgrade. Had to call multiple times as it was automated service. Finally it asked if i wanted to speak to an operator. Said yes and the lady was very helpful and submitted me for an upgrade. - Monday (still on call to operator) I received an email which i forwarded with my proof of travel to the upgrade email account as per instructions. - Wednesday - i got a reply saying they acknowledged my travel date and not to contact any further. Someone would be in touch. - Thursday, I had already decided to visit the passport office as it was my only day i could spent queuing to ensure there were no issues with my application. I arrived at 9am and was seen by an advisor at 11:30. The advisor was actually going to process my upgrade that day (or day later as it turned out) so i neednt have bothered. - Friday - Was called to take payment - Saturday - This morning i was called to be told my passport was ready for collection. Now, some observations from reading online and time in the queue at the office. I get everyone is stressed by the situation(i have been too) and it's very difficult to find out whats going on with your application. However, i've seen people on here : - advise to call repeatedly even once they have received their update. - Mail MPs - Phone the press - Email ALL the upgrade email addresses. All these suggestions are doing as far as i can see is take resources away from processing folks applications. I dont think that is helpful. In fact, someone on this thread was surprised to be contacted multiple times AFTER they received their passport. They previously stated they had emailed night and day for 3 weeks or something like that. Each time they call they prepare by getting the case details. That time could have been spent helping someone else. DO NOT email ALL upgrade email addresses in particular. The only upgrade team that can help are the ones where you are directed to contact. All you will be doing is having an operator from each of the offices look for an application that isnt with them rather than work on an application they can actually help with. Upgrade Process Eligibility: Need to have applied more than 6 weeks ago Need to be travelling within next 2 weeks Upgrade applications are being dealt with by the travel date. E.g. they will deal with people traveling in the next couple of days as priority. It worked for me and others i've read on here or on twitter so if you are in that situation do not lose hope. It does work and is there to ensure those who are in urgent need of their passport do not miss out on their travel plans. Positive Stories: I've seen someone get a replacement passport printed same day after queuing without an appointment meaning they made their flight that same afternoon. Their passport had been lost in transit. I've seen multiple people visit the passport office within 48hrs of flying, being processed as priority to ensure they got their passport in time of flying. This seems to be the last resort but if in that situation it does seem to be possible. Its unclear if your nearest passport office can do this or not if your application is at a different office but its worth a try. Anyway, this is mostly hearsay but may be helpful for someone. Main thing is to try not to stress. If its getting closer to your travel date then DO visit the passport office and they will do what they can to help. However, please understand that the more you bombard the services, the more it slows things down for everyone. Good luck all.

Although your points are valid, a trip to the passport office isn't easy for everyone. Mine nearest one is 3hours away. I applied for my passport in good time for travelling and 10 weeks later nothing. My only options at the minute is to call. Seems to me some people have been pushed to the back of the que, we have all paid the same amount of money for the same service. Should be offered as a first come first serve basis. Any way glad you got yours sorted and makes me a bit more relaxed knowing that I can go down that route in the next few weeks if I can't get it sorted before then.

Yes, its not a great system and i'm not sure how they are ordering the applications. I've heard from a lot of friends that they applied and received theirs back in 3 or 4 weeks. My earlier post was mainly making the point that since its not the most efficient system, its not robust or clever enough to handle so many repeated calls/emails. I've observed from so many (even those i met in the queue) doing things that would only serve to slow it all down. I totally get why people are doing it as the communication back isnt great. Especially if you didnt apply digitally and have no visibility of what is going on. My point is that its probably counter productive and better to give them a chance to get back to you if they said they will. As your request has been processing for 10 weeks already, then you are likely to get your upgrade for free. I just missed out as there was a long delay between when i did the check and sign and it actually arriving on their system. No idea why that was tho. If you've still not received your passport and are due to travel within 2 weeks, I'd phone for the upgrade and ask the operator if there is any way to expedite it as you have been waiting so long and are less able to travel to the passport office. I think i overheard someone say this might make a difference. e.g if you add how long you've been waiting (over 10 weeks) to the subject. If it helps, remember there are people who are using the fast track process where they have their first meeting to submit their application and are receiving their passport either same day or that week, so even if you reach the upgrade stage, and even if there is an issue with your initial application, you still have a very good chance of getting your passport well in time for your travel. They do a 1 day delivery as well apparently if that helps. I didnt want to trust TNT and am fortunate enough that going to the office wasnt too hard. The collection took 5 minutes from when i arrived. Good luck.

Hi there, I am due to travel on Thursday and have submitted upgrade request but no word back from them so far. I know some folk have posted to say that they did hear but 48 hours prior to departure. I saw that others have gone to the passport office and queued. Can I ask has anyone done that at the Glasgow office and if so did you have an appointment or did you just queue until someone was free? Thanks very much.

Hi Chloe, We were in the same situation for my husbands passport. We too never heard anything until Thursday night and that was a refusal for an upgrade and we are flying tomorrow. Please dont listen to people who have been successful and put you off visiting the passport office. They are organised in such a way that they will see you for an enquiry and help in any way they can. we were lucky enough to recieve ours on the same day as queuing and the staff were immenseley supportive and helpful . Wishing you good luck and get there early x