New Passport Upgrade Service!

To anyone who landed down at their local passport office for help, can I ask if your application was initially sent to another office? Belfast is handy for me but my daughter's application and old passport that needed renewed was sent to Bootle. And had you made an appointment or just gone down, hoping to be seen? Waiting since 27th April. Thanks!

hey i'm just really overwhelmed and stressed i'm flying on the 3rd Sunday July 1. when did you first contact the upgrades team? (was it 2 weeks before, 3 days before etc) ? please be specific ? 2. when did you first submit a passport application ? 3. other than the upgrades team contacting you to show your passport was approved when else did they contact you? 4. did you receive an automatic reply email when you first sent ur details off ? do you know any way to speed up the process btw i really happy your passport was approved this is so stressful

my upgrade hasn't been approved yet but i live less than 30mins away from london so my closest passport office is victoria PO in london however my upgrade is being processed in the belfast upgrade team which is northern ireland

which upgrade team did you go through? peterborough , belfast, durham etc

guys it's approaching 48hours till i fly i have no choice but to approach the passport office do i go to the london victoria Passport office (closer to me) or the peterborough passport office (less likely to have ppl + queued according to priority order the kick is that my upgrade service is being processed by the belfast team :/ and there is no way i can go to belfast so have to gamble and settle for alternatives such as peterborough and london victoria

@hjiki I've been scouring these threads for weeks now, and getting increasingly anxious. From what I have seen, some people have been successful going to their local or closest passport office. I suppose if your documents are logged as having been received then they're in the system and can be accessed. Im in Belfast, my daughter's forms are in Bootle and there's no way I can travel to Bootle's office so I'd asked similar questions earlier. If they go by expediting after 10 weeks once documents have been received then I have another 10 days or so to wait, application was submitted on 27th April, documents received 4th May. Also waiting here for an Irish passport as we can have dual nationality here - forms and documents sent also on 27th April but documents not officially received until 24th May so I have to wait until they've had them for 8 weeks before they'll consider expediting but there are no guarantees either. I hope you get sorted, keep us posted!

Hey, So I contacted the Liverpool Team exactly 2 weeks before we were due to travel. You need to get through to the progress team as they will send and internal email to the passport office dealing with your application. I’ve been told by them that this is a requirement to upgrade the passport but I can’t comment on that as I haven’t seen on any other thread people mentioning this. I did however receive an email from the progress team confirming that they had submitted the request. You need to email the correct upgrades team (whichever office is dealing with your application.) They will be able to choose your closest office to print your passport at. I would email the belfast upgrade team again & mark it as ‘URGENT - TRAVEL 3RD JULY 2022’. Be sure to include proof of outbound & return flights & accomadation. Alternatively you could make your way to the London office & see if they are able to help. Good luck !!

Hey ! This is on the email from the upgrades team. If you meet the below I would submit your request now! “We can only consider upgrading an application if both of the following criteria are met: · you submitted your application at least 6 weeks ago; and · you have evidence to show you need a passport in the next 2 weeks.”

I'm actually at the London passport office rn i waited over 3hours got seen by someone and they said that since my passport is done by post instead of online, it is harder. (idk what that means) did you apply for your passport online or by post? the London team apparently contacted the Belfast team and is waiting for a response, so they said i have to just wait for a call that may or may not arrive either today or tomorrow I'm just hoping something works out...….

We fly Monday. Applied for upgrade. They have now emailed the Durham team with urgent and compassionate request. Still nothing. Can anyone tell me if Newport print passports on a Saturday? Any advice on if I just turn up to Newport tomorrow? Application is with Durham. Thank you for any help

when did you applu for an upgrade? ideally go to the same place where your passport is being processed in this case durham

Durham is 6 hours away from me. Newport is the closest at 2 hours. X

Hi, I’ve put an upgrade in on Monday however the lady in customer service lied as apparently unless you’ve been given an email address where to send evidence no upgrade would happen. The application was made May 2022. Upgrade and evidence sent on 30/6. Was promised a call 24 hours later for someone to take payment. Which has passed! We travel on 13/7 we’ve qued up at london however still in the que since 9:30. The application is been handled in Bootle so just taking a chance really. Spoke to someone from customer service whilst in the que who said there is a backlog and until the take payment it will just sit in the system.Once payment has been made then they will work on the application however not able to indicate when or how long this will take. Mine was a simple child’s renewal. Can anyone advise is it a good chance if I go to Liverpool 3.5 hours away they can print the passport there.? Do you know if there working on departure dates, there are people in the que that are meant to be flying out within 24 hours with still no passport. This so worrying & very concerning

Our application for a child renewal was also sent to Bootle on 27th April, travelling there isn't an option for me as I live in Belfast. I hope you get sorted @ka8888 - I'm not travelling until 26th July but need passport number to apply for a visa, so I completely understand your concern. Keep us posted.

@ka8888 Did you manage to get it sorted today? I'm planning on heading to Peterborough on Monday if I haven't heard anything more.

@wb1979 They turned us away, they stated that we should come back on 9th July. As we fly on the 13th, I think it cutting it to fine. There were so many people that were turned away, as it’s classified as non-urgent. It appears that those that have appointments are given passports quicker or those that have sooner departure dates. I’m going to attempt and go to Liverpool and see. It’s 3.5 hours away but I’m not comfortable in waiting till the last minute. I still haven’t been given a call back to get payment for the upgrade, they confirmed if no payment has been requested for, nothing will be done with the passport.

@wb1979 when do you fly out? Are your documents held in Peterborough? If so yes I think that’s your best bet. Praying all works out for you!

Thank you. My documents are in Glasgow but that is six hours away so I'm hoping that I'll get somewhere just by going and waiting at Peterborough.

Hi, we’re the same boat as everyone else. Waiting on my son’s renewal. Sent off at the end of April and flying out on the 11th July. Can anyone point me in the right direction for trying to upgrade his application? Not been able to speak to an actual human. Have sent an email and waiting on a response but any advice on how to go about getting an email address to request an upgrade or what I can to do to sort this would be hugely appreciated as I’m starting to panic now.

@kerend25 Do you know what office is dealing with it? You can call the passport advice line and find that out then email them directly. Mine was Glasgow at glasgowupgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk but swap the location depending on where yours is. Include the name, DOB, reference number and attach proof of flight etc. You can also email expeditedservice@hmpo.gov.uk the same details. Don't expect to hear anything immediately but at least then the ball is rolling. Good luck, you still have plenty of time so I'm sure you will be ok.

Thanks so much for your help! I sent his old passport to Belfast so I’ll try and inquire about it there.

Hello, I applied for a passport renewal on May 6th and was kept up to date with the tracking info - which basically said they had received my old passport. I am due to travel on July 5th. I read in this forum about the upgrade service. I contacted the passport office in London on Monday 27th June to find out where my passport was being processed, I was informed it was in Liverpool. I asked for the upgrade service and received an email confirming my request and stating that I should send proof of travel, name, ref no. etc to LiverpoolUpgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk and I would be contacted within 48 hours. I resent the email on 28th June as I had not received an email confirmation and was worried that they had not received it. On 29th & 30th June I received an email from the Liverpool upgrade team trying to contact me for payment. On 30th June I received a no caller ID call from the upgrade team - I made a payment of £101.50 over the phone and was told the passport can be collected today at 1300 in the London passport office. I am please to say that I have it in my possession!!! Thank you for all those who have shared their experiences on this forum. Indeed it has been a stressful process, but I do wish you all the best.

Hi all, I’m new here and looking for some advice/reassurance. I sent 2 passport applications at the end of April and we are due to travel next Saturday, 9th July. I submitted an urgent application last Saturday and still not heard anything. Is there still a chance we will get these in time. I feel sick with worry, this is torture. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Hi we were in same boat - flying this Monday and no word at all from upgrade team until 11.30 this morning- we paid for upgrade and picked up passport 3 hours later from nearest passport office. I really didn’t believe we were going to get it, so don’t give up hope - they seem to only phone at last possible moment!

was in the same boat as you but i'm flying the 3rd Sunday, my urgent application was processing in belfast but i turned up 48hours before my flight (friday,today) without an appointment at the London passport office since i genuinely wasn't going to travel to belfast as it is too far 1. go early to passport office i mean really early passport office openned at 7:45 today ppl started queuing at 6-6:30 ish, i arrived at the area at 7:15 and it took around 4-5 hours to be seen --> therefore being early is crucial as it increases chances of you being seen keep in mind ppl with appointments are given priority (essentially a fastrack in the que) so i can't emphasis enough how being early is important 2. come with valid ID, evidence of travelling everything (lmk if you want me to elaborate) i did my passport application by post so make sure you know your application reference number or alternatively your PEX number if you applied online since they give you a form to fill out once you reach the office they also ask for the reason you are here so write something like: URGENT TRAVEL, travelling in less than 48hours and need passport urgently 3. since i did an application by post they sorted me to the ground floor instead of above (idk how this is relevant but the lady told me since i am a person who applied by post is harder to upgrade than online application 4. the lady doesn't do much (my convo with her was less than 7MINS) but she basically send a small email from london HMPO to belfast HMPO since i am with the belfast upgrade team this email according to me is crucial (so if someone sends something that in itself boosts your chances) as it kind of brings you up the belfast upgrade team radar 5. she then tells me to wait for a call either today or tommorow but she also told me if they don't call within ur travelling time frame it's not gonna happen 6. i had a gut intuition that i had to constantly keep my phone on me making sure i had service and was ready to pick up any call especially a no caller ID call 7. after like 3hours i was loosing hope when i got a call from the upgrades team regarding your case; first mistake you should have gone today, this is because you would have been classed as 48hours since sunday the HMPO is closed so you only get friday and sat meaning you would of been given priority but we can't change the past so let's focus on solving the problem tommrow is your last shot, you have to go early to the nearest HMPO (ideally if you are like me upgrade team in belfast i would go to belfast office but if you can't do that go to your nearest HMPO EARLY -- trust me it makes a difference keep in mind it's saturday so a bigger rush some people are estimated to be queuing extremely early saturday HMPO also opens later but also closes earlier --. meaning tommorow earliness is KEY rather be early and at the front of the queue than sorry i can provide more details if you want and answer any queries let me know ASAP also lmk ; did you apply by post or online? what time are you travelling on monday? .