New Passport Upgrade Service!

Thank you Sunny60. I am glad you both got yours. Aiming to be there early and will wait as long as I have to. Can I check that your husband got his despite being refused the upgrade initially?

Hi Chloe, Yes he did. He was refused an upgrade from liverpool and glasgow because he was 2 days shore of the required 6 week application. Hope you get it sorted x

Mine is over 10 weeks so hopefully that goes in my favour. I appreciate the info and I hope you can relax and enjoy your holiday now.

Dont think you will have any problems Chloe. Probably told to wait for a call and return later in the day or next day when your passport will printed for you. I appreciate your stress , this was me last week xx

What phone number have people been phoning to check the status of an application? Also what you x the e-Mail address for the Upgrades Team?

@andstillwaiting Hi I got an email from the upgrade team this morning, saying..... Good morning, Could you please provide proof of the holiday which is booked and we can get this looked into! They have replied to the second email I sent them with a copy of the letter that is waiting to be scanned in, I received 2 emails worded differently within 10 minutes, the first email I sent had proof of holiday on so they have picked the second email up first. I replied and attached proof an now will wait and see what they come back with. 1st Email Upgrade - proof of holiday - 9th June 2nd Email Upgrade - letter attached - 12th June Have you heard anything? Does anyone know if this service costs £122, I'm sure I have read it somewhere on here

I called the progress team on Saturday on 0300 105 0850 and was on hold for an hour, but the guy on the line was able to be a bit more informative than the drones on the normal advice line who just read off a script. He acknowledged that my application has been over 10 weeks now with no update, so he said I shouldn't have to pay for the upgrade, and they should prioritise it. However all he could do was notify the Peterborough office to respond to me within 24 hours. Still haven't heard from them yet today though, and my flight is on Thursday. I'm travelling up to the Peterborough office tomorrow to hope for the best if I hear nothing today.

@Lindsay i have not had any email correspondence - not even an acknowledgement - i sent an email to upgrade team on the 9th too with proof of travel. i know they have received the extra docs as i have got confirmation from Royal Mail. However i did ring today (13th) in the morning, the Lady asked for my RM Tracking number and said she would link the docs to the application. Also Said she would send the Liverpool office (which is where my app is) an email or something as a matter of urgency to try to get someone to dig the documents out to speed up the process. i must say it has not filled me with much confidence though as she did say that they usually take 3-4 weeks to be seen. i was also told that i would get a call from withheld number and NOT to Miss it

I'm thinking of sending out another email to let them know of my latest communication? or maybe i should wait a day or two , i dont know

Tomorrow I'm going to go too the passport office to try and get my daughters passport she's flying Wednesday. Can anyone tell me what I need too take as her passport is in the Belfast office and I'm going too my nearest one which is Newport. I hope they can help me, feel sick with dread

@andstillwaiting was it customer service team who sent you the email with upgrade request on or did you just email them?, I had an acknowledgement email and the email this morning and not heard anything since. For the past few days I have been using webchat to see if it has been scanned and they have been very helpful and don't know if it was coincidence but he said he would leave a note on file as a matter of course ( whatever that means ) and was emailed by upgrade team twice 10 mins after that, was told to to web chat tomorrow with tracking no and maybe the letter can be found. so will carry on checking all week with them and come Monday if I haven't heard anything I will have to go to the passport office. I am driving from Cornwall on Wednesday as our flights are from Manchester on Thursday dinner so wont have much leeway to be messing about on Wednesday driving to god knows where to collect it, try the webchat it has been quicker than the hour and 20 mins waiting on the phone.

@sam https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/978885/Collecting_passports_and_documents_from_the_counter_.pdf lots of info on there

Brilliant, thanks @lindsay11uk. Am a bit puzzled by the new '6 weeks rule' though. Is it from application or from receipt of documents? My daughter's passport is stuck in Glasgow, in the manual processing hellhole - despite the straightforward renewal being submitted online. I applied on 26th April, documents were received on 2nd May but acknowledged on 6th May. We fly in 9 days. I had no clue foreign official documents (her EU passport) would be confiscated throughout the process, and released only after approval (France doesn't ask for foreign passports when renewing French passports). It has a considerable impact, considering the process can take over 14 weeks, and kids' passports are only valid for 5 years.... I have been told to expect a call from the upgrade team - still waiting. I have also emailed the Glasgow upgrade team but haven't heard back. My MP's team has also asked for my daughter's passport to be released. I am wondering if I should just go to the office on 21st or 22nd. Thoughts? Thanks so much to everyone for their help!!

Been to the London office this morning as my flight is on Thursday. Got there at 7.45 and queued for 2 hours and 40 minutes. Most people in the queue also had no appointment and were in a similar boat. I got to the front of the queue just to be told that my application is in Peterborough and they can't do anything except ask the Peterborough office to give me a call back, and it's not guaranteed. This is 12 weeks since my application now, and with less than two days to my flight. And it's still a "we're sorry this has happened to you but we can't help". I asked what would happen if they try at the Peterborough office and they just said "we don't recommend it but we can't stop you", so I'm on my way there now. It's a full day of train journeys and queueing just to be told "wait for a call" again.

OK thanks. @joesteinberg90 did you call to check where your passport was before going to London? When I first requested an upgrade (14 days before travel) I was advised by Newport that my passport wasn't there anymore. I had to call the passport helpline to find out where it had gone. I read some applications have been transferred through multiple offices. Maybe try to contact Peterborough while on your way back home?

@Lindsay it was customer management team. she requested my upgrade and she told me to send travel details etc to Liverpool upgrade team email.- i didn't/haven't received any email back, no acknowledgement, nothing..She also said i have sent wrong certificate. i spoke to someone else yesterday (13th)- she said she would put a note on the system and request Liverpool office try and find the document from mail room. She took my Royal Mail Tracking number and put it on system apparently. i was on web chat today (14th) he said, "I can confirm that the office is currently taking action regarding upgrading / expediting your application. They have been notified of your date of travel on 22/06/2022. The most recent note from the office is on 13/06/2022 on 8:51. I would advise to allow more time for the office to take further action" "This notes adds a tracking number regarding a sent birth certificate that was received on 10/06/2022" So i guess its just a waiting game now. @Ellienied - truth be told.. nobody really knows 'when' this 6 weeks starts/ends! - i was told by one advisor it is 'when the documents are Received', another advisor said from when 'it goes into Processing' one even told me from when you submit it!

@andstillwaiting How did you manage to get a hold of a web chat advisor? The chat never seems to be available for me.

@ euginia u will have to get on bang on 8 o clock. that's the only time i got a chance on a couple occasions.

Alright well here's a fun conclusion for you. It's been 12 weeks since I made my application. One missed holiday last month when the upgrade team never responded, and another coming up on Thursday. The past two weeks have been constant attempts to get the upgrade, to no avail. Today I've spent three hours queueing at the London office, just to be told my application is in Peterborough, and that they can only request a callback from them. I've then taken the train up to Peterborough, queued again there, was sat in a waiting room with a ticket for about an hour, full of similarly stressed looking people. Then my phone rings, and wouldn't you just know it, it's the upgrade team to tell me my passport is ready. They ask me if I'd like it sent to London, I reply "funnily enough I'm in Peterborough, in fact I'm just downstairs", and now I'm picking it up at 4. The lady at the desk tells me "see? The system does work!" and I swallow the urge to tell her about last month's missed trip.

Yes Yes - Passport has been APPROVED!!!! after 12 weeks!! '...a weight of my shoulder' is an understatement!! i got a call from passport office today (Tuesday 14th) a little while ago around 1:30 i missed it initially but luckily they rang again half hour later, the man asked me to confirm a minor detail related to the spelling of my sons name (on the birth cert his name is separated by a space but on the application i put it down as one word) - he said it has to be same as certificate.. which im not bothered. Anyhow.. he said it will be printed soon and give me option to collect at my nearest office or get it posted by Royal May 1-day delivery! so hopefully i will have my sons passport on Thursday as there isn't enough time for it to be printed and sent out for tomorrow. doesn't bother me as flight is still on 22nd yet. i must say i was expecting a nervy wait down to the ire.. and fully expecting to have to drive down to Liverpool office And i didn't get charged any extra fees either @Lindsay - Have you heard anything further regarding your? @joesteinberg Have u had any luck with yours?

Thank god i found this forum!! People going through same situation as i am. Applied for replacement passport just over 7 weeks ago(damaged 2 months before fly) due to fly on monday morning early! Was told i could fast track however never recievd a call back week went by and finally got a call recieving the info what i need to send now waited 6 days and not even heard anything off fast track people except an email this morning telling me to not contact them again even the helpine or send another email as they will contact me as soon as they can!! As they are shut on sundays im thinking about going down Thursday in person to liverpool if i dont hear anything tomorrow? Ive rang up spoken to so many differnt people who all say something different even the local mp has got involved.

@andstillwaiting Aww well done that's brilliant news now you can look forward to your holiday I am a day after you so hopefully then will call. Was it the upgrade team who rang you? My update spoke to a man at Newport he was back and forwards checking things for me, said he has sent a message to upgrade team and will contact me within 48, if they don't said to ring Newport back, in the meantime my daughter who works in Liverpool called into the Passport office on her way home ( I had sent her all the info PEX No and the letter ) said the letter needed scanning onto the computer urgently for the upgrade team, said the lady looked at the details on the computer and went to check with her Manager, came back took the letter and said she will scan it and to ring tomorrow and it will be there for them to see, I still cant settle though as she didn't say who to ring so will hang on for a bit see if upgrade team ring me. I literally cannot take much more of this.

@Joestienberg - that's great to hear @Lindsay not sure which department, i was told that i may get call form examiner if they needed more details, so could've been him. but he just said 'im calling from passport office' i really hope you get a call soon, it is very stressful. i feel I'm quite lucky to be called a week before the flight - albeit I've waited 12 weeks lol i was actually told by one agent that it went into 'examination on the 10 June! - so don't know what they were doing for the 10 weeks prior to that! like others have said they usually call around 48 hours before travel, worse case u may have to go down to the office. i did resend an email late on 13th (Mon) to let them know I've sent the additional documents and explained the conversation i had with the customer management team in my email. i put the updated info regarding the extra docs in RED lol. dunno if that made a difference but .. way-hay my applications been approved! I hope all of you in similar situations are put out of your stress soon!!

Find it very strange that my ‘application is being processed’ has been taken off the track my passport online… hopefully i will hear something very soon

We managed to speak to someone this morning on the progress team, they really didn’t seem sure why it had stepped back via the tracker from processing to docs received, their best guess was that my son’s renewal had finally been moved out of the digital decline path and was now on the right path to be reviewed by an examiner, not sure how accurate that is though or how long it will take, we’re really close to 10 weeks now so we’ll see 🤷🏻‍♂️