New Passport Upgrade Service!

Does anyone know what the upgrade email address is for the Glasgow office? And what information do I need to include in the email? I have proof of travel in a week Advice line keeps telling me different things so I thought I may have more luck just emailing directly.

There all the name of office and then upgrade team So it would be GlasgowUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk You need to add ref number and proof of flight. I go on the 25th and i sent my upgrade email nearly a week ago now and still not heard back. Good luck

Could I check if everyone gets an acknowledgement after emailing the upgrade teams? I have not received one from the Liverpool office, but I did from the Newport office? Would be interested to know if anyone has been contacted by upgrade without receiving an acknowledgement email?

Hope this helps to anyone who is in the same boat I was in. Child first passport,Sent passport off via royal mail track and trace April 19th. Got the "documents received" message 26th April. Papers went to Durham, I live in Lodnon. Flying on the 19th of April and concern started to set in week of the 6th june, as we had no updates what so ever, i know we had a few bank holidays but knew this was taken to long. Phoning the number and pressing 8 then 3 was great, would only wait 10 minutes to speak to an agent. However i found it pot luck who you spoke to, some would help and some would be very direct. Either way the outcome was always the same, "we only know what you know". We applied for the fast track service when we was 2 weeks from flying, and was told what everyone is told, someone will contact you in 48 hours to take payment can you send an e mail with flight details etc etc. Email sent but days went by with no e mail no phone call. I managed to get a fast track appointment in london this week, only to find out they cant process two passports at the same time. I still went to it tho, hoping for answers as we fly this sunday with only a few days left... Straight from the off It was chaos. must of been 30 people waiting outside and another 15 queuing. Passed through security and waited all in all about 30 minutes to speak to an adviser, who tried to help as much as he could but was still left in the same position. All I was being told was its at Durham and the upgrade team nothing we can do. Downstairs is an enquiries desk, i hung about to talk to the lady and finally got some answers, although it was not what i wanted to hear. She said because we did a track and trace and we didnt submit our application online, the chances of London printing my passport 48hrs before we fly are slim. This was because they had not been looked at yet let alone uploaded digitally. She said I could try coming back friday to London and "try my luck" but nothing is guaranteed. I made the decision to take a train up to Durham 2 days before we fly. I arrived around 10:30 and was about 15 people in the que, took me 2 hours to get inside and speak with someone and was told I can get upgraded and will have the passport later today. I've got to say I know everyone's opinion differ but Durham was great. The staff and the security team are only to happy to help. they know its stressful and never stopped helping. Bottom line, if you are flying within the 48 hours time frame dont be put off by going to a passport office. They will want to help. I'm not sure if I went to London if they could of helped me, but I was very relived i decided to go all the way to the north east as it seemed quite easy once things started to move. Id get there early to give you the best chance of getting it that day, by the time your application is checked and printed can take most the day. Good luck

Hi everyone, how much are they charging for this upgrade. I'm flying in 6 days time and my application is just over 6 weeks so I know I'm eligible. Jet2 who I'm flying with have been very helpful and are willing to amend my holiday for a small admission fee per person so wondering if its cheaper and less stressful moving the holiday compared to trying to upgrade in time Thanks

@flowers. I didn't get any email back but mine was sorted on Wednesday 15th. passport arrived early Thursday morning. I sent email 10th and fly 22nd. I had applied over 10 weeks ago though

My wife got a call last night at 8:30 to confirm that her passport upgrade request has been accepted. Got told we would have to pay additional £101 and that the passport would be ready to collect from our nearest passport office the next day. Honestly thought we wouldn’t manage to get the passport, as that’s been nearly 2 weeks calling, but once I spoke with the progression team (requested a call back and eventually getting a call) they were very helpful and managed to get the ball rolling with the upgrade. Hope anyone else in the same boat as us, is successful with getting there passport back in time. They do leave it last minute, but seems they don’t look at upgrades until 48 hours before flying.

We fly at 7am Monday 27th June, waiting to hear back from the Upgrade team after sending them multiple emails. If we can’t through to the upgrade team, we’re planning on going to the Durham office from London on Saturday. Has anyone travelled to the Durham office on a Saturday and managed to get seen, have their passport approved and printed on the same day? With the office closing early on a Saturday, we’re worried it might be a waste of a journey.

My husbands application went to Durham, they didn’t process his upgrade in time (we go on holiday tomorrow) but he drove to a more local branch for us - Peterborough - today, and they printed it for him. They just contacted Durham and they sent it over to them.

Thanks! This is really useful to know. If we can’t get my husband’s passport in time, we’ll try Peterborough rather than Durham.

I applied for my daughters renewal on March 29th, was still waiting so after calling the advice line and choosing option 8 and waiting to talk to an advisor who told me about the upgrade service which you get put through to 2 weeks before your flight, I sent proof of flights on June 9th to both the Peterborough office where passport was and the expedition team, no contact from the upgrade team until June 16th telling me it couldn’t be posted out in time for flight in 23rd but I could collect it in person from my local office Newport, not my local office but 2 train trips later I went in on the 18th with only ten others waiting and collected it within ten minutes.. as long as you have proof of flight you should be good to go.. good luck everyone

@blondie23 reassuring to know. Hopefully we will hear from them this week before travelling to Peterborough. Our flight is at 7am on Monday. Ideally we’d go to the office on Friday assuming they’ll be out of action on Sunday and closing early on Saturday. If we go on Friday is it unlikely they’ll do anything about it since it’s more than 48 hours before we fly? I’m a bit nervous leaving it until Saturday to sort out.

Hi all, Just after some advice, we’ve hit 14 days to travel after applying in April, we’ve submitted all the details a few hours ago to the upgrade team at DurhamUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk but as yet we’ve not had the auto response, I thought there should be an automated message you receive back over email saying they’ll be in touch, is that right, or have I misunderstood, do they only send that once they have looked at your email?

We've just spoken to the customer service management team again. The person we spoke to this time round was more helpful than the last and even helped us draft the email. Although we have been emailing them since last Tuesday, it was interesting to know the emphasis on the capital D, U and T when sending the email to DurhamUpgradeTeam@hmpo.gov.uk. We also mentioned that we would pick the passport up from the London office, which is local to us. They also escalated this to the Upgrade team. Apparently we should hear back by tomorrow afternoon.

Sounds like the same conversation we had with them Friday and similar help too, so thank you for confirming, gives me some comfort you’ve been told the same thing, will keep my fingers crossed all works out for us both

@brussels83 As far as I'm aware, there is no receipt of confirmation and I was told this doesn't mean they're not looking into it. They also prioritise people flying within 24-72 hours. I think if we don't hear back by Friday, we're going to make our way to the passport office in Peterborough assuming the Peterborough office queue will be smaller than the London one.

Hi all. I sent an email yesterday to the Liverpool upgrade team and received an acknowledgement email today saying my date of travel has been acknowldoged. I’m not hopeful I will receive a call or email from them ahead of my flight on Monday morning at 6am but the email says they will be In touch as soon as they can. I would be grateful for advice to attend the office where I believe my passport application is in Liverpool. My application is a change of name and although I submitted my online application early May, I was told my the progress team that my application has been removed from the digital system. I’m not sure and would appreciate some advice as to when to attend the passport office. Thanks in advance!

Hi folks, I’m heading abroad on Monday (6 days time), I applied for my passport about 9 weeks ago, and last week managed to get through to a human who sent me the instructional email to send to to the Durham upgrade team. That was last Tuesday. It’s been a week and no word from Durham. I understand people are saying they focus on people who are travelling 24-72 hours, but that doesn’t make me feel any better! Especially since they’ll be closed on the Sunday and closing early on the Saturday beforehand… I saw a few people mention that they’re travelling to the passport office - I thought you couldn’t do this without an appointment? Durham is 3 hours away but if it helps me I’d go at a moments notice. I don’t have my old passport, but it was cancelled and I was given a reference number for this. Any hints on how to get through to either the upgrades team directly or the customer service management team? I only got through to a human by ignoring the ‘press 1 for x’ options. Thanks :)

@red5standingby This is the number for Customer Services Management: 0300 1050850 In my experience, very understanding and helpful, and super professional! Call bang on 8am and you shouldn’t have to wait longer than half an hour, usually a lot less. I’m not sure they realise there’s a direct number out here doing the rounds so when they say “we understand you’ve been put through so you may have to repeat yourself” just nod and smile :)

Cheers Rachy - you’re a star ☺️

Just to share our experience of our kids' applications, both were submitted on 02 May 2022, identity was confirmed on 05 May 2022, documents sent and received over next day even though it took over 10 days for the online tracking to update as received, 1. First child passport for our daughter - Passport printed 4:15pm on 7 June 2022 Application approved 1:52pm on 3 June 2022 Documents received 4:54pm on 17 May 2022 2. Child renewal for our son - Passport printed 10:47am on 21 June 2022 Application approved 3:23pm on 20 June 2022 Documents received 10:00am on 16 May 2022 with our sons' renewal, it was stuck in "processing" the day after the documents' been received, but similar to many others, that stage disappeared due to system glitch. We applied for upgrade on 16 June 2022, received email acknowledgement from Belfast on 17 June 2022. Heard nothing over the weekend, then Monday got a call from withheld number (which was the Belfast office) to take payment of £102 plus postage (either £21.50 or £7.50 depending on whether it's 9am or 1pm delivery). Received text to say the passport has been approved on 20 June 2022 and the passport has been received today 22 June 2022 (together with the old passport in the same envelope). Thankfully, we've received all passports before our booked travels but the system is definitely broken and really ought to be sorted asap Good luck to everyone still waiting!!

How did you apply for the upgrade? Phone or email or both!!

@whyarewewaiting If you applied six weeks ago or earlier and you fly within the next two weeks you can call the Customer Services Management team to request an upgrade. They will advise you as to which office to email and how, and which supporting documents to attach to prove your travel date. The number is: 0300 105 0850 Ring bang on 8am and you shouldn’t wait longer than half an hour to speak to someone. Good luck! ✨🤞✨

How far ahead of travel did everyone hear from the upgrade team? I’ve just hit 72hrs and can’t stop checking my phone

Hello, Planning on going to the passport office tomorrow. Has anyone been this week?? Passport processing for 10 weeks now, send the upgrade email 12th June got a email response next day, not heard anything since. We fly on the Sunday 26th June. I’m so stressed !!