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Due to fly to Greece on the 11th May
Passport has been lost so applied for a replacement passport on the 29th March (advised it would be a quicker process as it was a replacement passport) currently being processed since 7th April ….
I guess I’m looking for some positive stories what are the odds of the passport being approved and printed/delivered before the 11th March
All done online if that makes any difference to time scale!
My poor dad paid for a family holiday, grandkids included and now unsure of wether he will be able to go due all of the delaysI’m also waiting on a lost replacement of my passport. Submitted 17th May, still processing. Best off calling and upgrading to premium
Okay Team, I’ve been avidly reading this forum and have now joined to comment and discuss.
History: Dear husband realised he was unable to find his passport on the 25th March after much searching by us both. Subsequently cancelled it on the 25th March and received a cancellation reference confirmation via email. He then applied for a replacement passport mere moments later. An email was sent to someone to confirm his identity shortly afterwards and all identity details were received on the 26th March. DH was moved to “Application being processed” exactly one week later and nothing has changed with his application since 01 April.
At the time of application submission, official advice from the passport office was “to allow 4-5 weeks for your application” which recently changed to 10 weeks, moving the goalposts for applications already submitted, including ours. When submitting the application, we decided not to fast track when others needed this service more but our decision (which was based on government guidance at the time) has meant the goal post move may jeopardize our holiday.
I have many questions!! (Sorry!). What does “Application being processed” actually mean? Is the application actually being processed when this message shows or are they just gathering at the bottom of an abyss, waiting to be looked at? Have these applications been switched to manual checking? How many stages are there for this process? Is it more complicated than a “normal” renewal? How long are applications staying on the “Application being processed” stage for? Is there anybody out there who has experienced the “Application being processed” stage and can comment with an application timeline to provide some hope?
We too are due to travel soon so to say I am a nervous wreck is an understatement – I cannot sleep and am forever refreshing the application status hoping for an update! (I think I may be driving my DH crazy with my panic / stress / unable to sleep demeanour as one moment the passport was there when booking our holiday, the next it was gone!). We have until the end of this week to move our once in a lifetime holiday, paying an eye watering price difference to change to new dates or take a risk and hold out in the hope that the passport is approved, sent and arrives in time for travel but if it doesn’t, we lose everything! (The upgrade application seems quite hit and miss which scares me!).
Fingers and toes crossed for all of us!
@NervousWreck ok I’ve responded to your post 3 times and this forum for some reason doesnt want to show it – even though it lists it as posted – just daft.
But I would like to help you…here is the link a post I created on a FB group, based upon other’s experiences here and elsewhere as well as my own conclusions from dealing with HMPO, I hope it helps. Best of Luck!
Hello @Dukee,
Thank you for your kind words and help, it really is most appreciated. (Especially for your posting persistence!).
I am not actually a Facebook member (shock horror!) and I am struggling to join your group however I may finally cave as navigational advice is most certainly required for such a soul destroying process. (I am still in shock that we are paying for this privilege!).
May luck be kind to all of us!
hi all…I’m going to post a comment I made in the Facebook group “Passport Chaos 2022” that is essentially a summary of other people’s posts + what I’ve learned personally…I hope it helps
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hello everyone…I’ve spent wayyy too much time reading this page, hence I’m gonna try to provide a summary here of what I’ve learned/my impressions from other’s experiences-but IT IS JUST THAT, a summary of what other’s have learned/done sprinkled with MY OWN take on things; I dont work for HMPO, have no special insight, and even my own First Adult Passport app is in “Processing” purgatory for 6 weeks now. But to save some reading, here goes:
———————————————————————— –ALL TIMELINES are measured from the date that HMPO ACKNOWLEDGES receiving your documents – not the date Royal Mail/Courier Co. says theyre signed for…HMPO will advise that there may be a lapse of up to TWO WEEKS between when they arrive at the mail room vs. when they get scanned it as “Received”
–HMPO HAS POSTED SINCE APRIL 2021 “ALLOW FOR 10 WEEKS TO RECEIVE YOUR PASSPORT”…This is NOT new; the fact that they were advertising “average” processing times of 5-6 weeks recently, only to fall back on “Allow up to 10 Weeks sir, I cant help you until then” is sheer rubbish and absolutely misleading, but 10 Weeks HAS been the posted advice for a year now. –“APPLICATION BEING PROCESSED” SHOULD be called “APPLICATON BEING MANUALLY EXAMINED”…It means an application has been marked for/is being PHYSICALLY EXAMINED, as opposed to digitally verified. Imagine it as a “we have reason to question something about your application”. ALL First Adult Passport applicants I’ve seen post here are “being processed”, same for Lost, Damaged, etc,, whereas many/most Renewals can be DIGITALLY verified (I mean, you sent them your current Passport to scan for verification, right?) Needless to say, Passports getting digitally processed (i.e. they never show as “being processed” on your tracker”) come through sooner –VAST MAJORITY of Renewals I’ve seen posted here/on other forums take 3 weeks-ish from “Received” to “Approved”; majority of First Adult Passports take 5-6 weeks. –LONG STORY SHORT: If your First Adult Passport app has status “Being Processed” for longer than 6 weeks since Received, YOU SHOULD CALL HMPO…If your Renewal goes to “Being Processed”, you should call (because YES, it can be “Approved” without ever showing “Being Processed”)
–CALLING HMPO: Put the coffee on, charge your phone fully, and get comfortable…there are 2 different phone #s pinned at the top of the group’s FB page – main HMPO # 300 222 0000 and a “back door” one that seems to bypass the main switchboard (I havent tried this one myself)
–Once connected, at the automated menu’s first prompt, select “8” (“for anything else”), then at the next prompt select “3” (“for anything else”). DO NOT choose “3” at the FIRST PROMPT )”to check on the status of an application”) because UNLESS YOUR APP IS OVER 10 WEEKS OLD, it’s just a tech savvy way of telling you to sod off…Now, if your app IS over 10 Weeks old, do use this option
–HOT TIP: It has been said here that if you select “8” then “3” and ask to be connected to the “Progress Team”, they’re the people who hold the keys to the castle…My advice is thus: LIE…tell the operator that you were TOLD to call back and be connected to the Progress Team, make it sound official
–WEBCHAT: https://www.gov.uk/…/contact/hm-passport-office-webchat You’re waiting for the little box to turn blue meaning an advisor is online –SHOWING UP IN PERSON: There have been some terrific success stories posted here about people who have shown up, without appt., after unreasonable delays and have gotten their passport given to them on the spot! (after waiting around the office for a while) This of course presumes that you KNOW which office is handling your application! If so, as the one poster said/did (link included below) BE FIRM, but BE POLITE AND KIND -TO A FAULT…Remember, they have something you want-you need to make them WANT to help you; maybe that’s unfair after what you’ve been through, but that’s the way it is…show up screaming and insisting, and you deserve what you get. https://www.facebook.com/groups/483628376480720/search/?q=lyle%20connolly –UPGRADE/FAST TRACK: A complete riddle still from what I’ve heard. You need to be 1) Travelling within 2 weeks (and can provide proof) 2) Applying for a Renewal only – FIRST ADULT PASSPORTS are not eligible for this service…If you DO go this route after already having submitted a regular application, expect it to be a few days (at least) before you hear back from the “Upgrade Team”, and then a message about 48 hrs before your flight telling you that you can pick up your passport tomorrow (assuming no hiccups with your app) Yes, it will be that last-minute it appears.
–PASSPORT APPROVED…the magic words…but it will still take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks to get to you, and tracking #s/updates are not always timely in getting to you –RETURN OF DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED: 1-4 weeks, usually arriving AFTER your new passport i.e. if you currently hold another passport that is still valid that you need to submit with your application, AND were planning on traveling in, say, the next 2-3 months? APPLY WHEN YOU GET BACK, not now ————————————————————————–Boy, I’ve wasted alot of time here the last few days 🙂 I would like to close with 2 points: –“THAT’S NOT TRUE!…Ive been waiting 9 weeks for…” Absolutely possible, I dont doubt it – all I’m trying to do is summarize a bunch of posts so people dont have to devote a weekend trying to find 1 “typically…” answer. –HMPO SERVICE LEVELS: I personally have alot of sympathy for the front-line staffers there: Imagine that you’re used to having your widowed Auntie over for dinner every Sunday, alone, when this week you open the door and she’s got a football team behind her and oh you dont mind if they stay the night do you? I get the impression that, right now, if you work for HMPO, you show up at 9am, grab a stack of papers, and – head down – work your way through them until 5pm. No, it doesnt excuse the rude bastards, and has highlighted who the truly useless ones are, yes – but like any workplace, there ARE a collection of people there genuinely doing their best in a situation that is MANAGEMENT’S FAULT. Because, some people are paid to design processes and maintain performance when everything goes to shit, and clearly they’ve failed. Good Luck ALL! —Hello everyone…I’ve spent wayyy too much time reading this page, hence I’m gonna try to provide a summary here of what I’ve learned/my impressions from other’s experiences-but IT IS JUST THAT, a summary of what other’s have learned/done sprinkled with MY OWN take on things; I dont work for HMPO, have no special insight, and even my own First Adult Passport app is in “Processing” purgatory for 6 weeks now. But to save some reading, here goes:
———————————————————————— –ALL TIMELINES are measured from the date that HMPO ACKNOWLEDGES receiving your documents – not the date Royal Mail/Courier Co. says theyre signed for…HMPO will advise that there may be a lapse of up to TWO WEEKS between when they arrive at the mail room vs. when they get scanned it as “Received”
–HMPO HAS POSTED SINCE APRIL 2021 “ALLOW FOR 10 WEEKS TO RECEIVE YOUR PASSPORT”…This is NOT new; the fact that they were advertising “average” processing times of 5-6 weeks recently, only to fall back on “Allow up to 10 Weeks sir, I cant help you until then” is sheer rubbish and absolutely misleading, but 10 Weeks HAS been the posted advice for a year now. –“APPLICATION BEING PROCESSED” SHOULD be called “APPLICATON BEING MANUALLY EXAMINED”…It means an application has been marked for/is being PHYSICALLY EXAMINED, as opposed to digitally verified. Imagine it as a “we have reason to question something about your application”. ALL First Adult Passport applicants I’ve seen post here are “being processed”, same for Lost, Damaged, etc,, whereas many/most Renewals can be DIGITALLY verified (I mean, you sent them your current Passport to scan for verification, right?) Needless to say, Passports getting digitally processed (i.e. they never show as “being processed” on your tracker”) come through sooner –VAST MAJORITY of Renewals I’ve seen posted here/on other forums take 3 weeks-ish from “Received” to “Approved”; majority of First Adult Passports take 5-6 weeks. –LONG STORY SHORT: If your First Adult Passport app has status “Being Processed” for longer than 6 weeks since Received, YOU SHOULD CALL HMPO…If your Renewal goes to “Being Processed”, you should call (because YES, it can be “Approved” without ever showing “Being Processed”)
–CALLING HMPO: Put the coffee on, charge your phone fully, and get comfortable…there are 2 different phone #s pinned at the top of the group’s FB page – main HMPO # 300 222 0000 and a “back door” one that seems to bypass the main switchboard (I havent tried this one myself)
–Once connected, at the automated menu’s first prompt, select “8” (“for anything else”), then at the next prompt select “3” (“for anything else”). DO NOT choose “3” at the FIRST PROMPT )”to check on the status of an application”) because UNLESS YOUR APP IS OVER 10 WEEKS OLD, it’s just a tech savvy way of telling you to sod off…Now, if your app IS over 10 Weeks old, do use this option
–HOT TIP: It has been said here that if you select “8” then “3” and ask to be connected to the “Progress Team”, they’re the people who hold the keys to the castle…My advice is thus: LIE…tell the operator that you were TOLD to call back and be connected to the Progress Team, make it sound official
–WEBCHAT: https://www.gov.uk/…/contact/hm-passport-office-webchat You’re waiting for the little box to turn blue meaning an advisor is online –SHOWING UP IN PERSON: There have been some terrific success stories posted here about people who have shown up, without appt., after unreasonable delays and have gotten their passport given to them on the spot! (after waiting around the office for a while) This of course presumes that you KNOW which office is handling your application! If so, as the one poster said/did (link included below) BE FIRM, but BE POLITE AND KIND -TO A FAULT…Remember, they have something you want-you need to make them WANT to help you; maybe that’s unfair after what you’ve been through, but that’s the way it is…show up screaming and insisting, and you deserve what you get. https://www.facebook.com/groups/483628376480720/search/?q=lyle%20connolly –UPGRADE/FAST TRACK: A complete riddle still from what I’ve heard. You need to be 1) Travelling within 2 weeks (and can provide proof) 2) Applying for a Renewal only – FIRST ADULT PASSPORTS are not eligible for this service…If you DO go this route after already having submitted a regular application, expect it to be a few days (at least) before you hear back from the “Upgrade Team”, and then a message about 48 hrs before your flight telling you that you can pick up your passport tomorrow (assuming no hiccups with your app) Yes, it will be that last-minute it appears.
–PASSPORT APPROVED…the magic words…but it will still take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks to get to you, and tracking #s/updates are not always timely in getting to you –RETURN OF DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED: 1-4 weeks, usually arriving AFTER your new passport i.e. if you currently hold another passport that is still valid that you need to submit with your application, AND were planning on traveling in, say, the next 2-3 months? APPLY WHEN YOU GET BACK, not now ————————————————————————–Boy, I’ve wasted alot of time here the last few days 🙂 I would like to close with 2 points: –“THAT’S NOT TRUE!…Ive been waiting 9 weeks for…” Absolutely possible, I dont doubt it – all I’m trying to do is summarize a bunch of posts so people dont have to devote a weekend trying to find 1 “typically…” answer. –HMPO SERVICE LEVELS: I personally have alot of sympathy for the front-line staffers there: Imagine that you’re used to having your widowed Auntie over for dinner every Sunday, alone, when this week you open the door and she’s got a football team behind her and oh you dont mind if they stay the night do you? I get the impression that, right now, if you work for HMPO, you show up at 9am, grab a stack of papers, and – head down – work your way through them until 5pm. No, it doesnt excuse the rude bastards, and has highlighted who the truly useless ones are, yes – but like any workplace, there ARE a collection of people there genuinely doing their best in a situation that is MANAGEMENT’S FAULT. Because, some people are paid to design processes and maintain performance when everything goes to shit, and clearly they’ve failed. Good Luck ALL!Part 2
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________–CALLING HMPO: Put the coffee on, charge your phone fully, and get comfortable…there are 2 different phone #s pinned at the top of the group’s FB page – main HMPO # 300 222 0000 and a “back door” one that seems to bypass the main switchboard (I havent tried this one myself)
–Once connected, at the automated menu’s first prompt, select “8” (“for anything else”), then at the next prompt select “3” (“for anything else”). DO NOT choose “3” at the FIRST PROMPT )”to check on the status of an application”) because UNLESS YOUR APP IS OVER 10 WEEKS OLD, it’s just a tech savvy way of telling you to sod off…Now, if your app IS over 10 Weeks old, do use this option
–HOT TIP: It has been said here that if you select “8” then “3” and ask to be connected to the “Progress Team”, they’re the people who hold the keys to the castle…My advice is thus: LIE…tell the operator that you were TOLD to call back and be connected to the Progress Team, make it sound official
–WEBCHAT: https://www.gov.uk/…/contact/hm-passport-office-webchat You’re waiting for the little box to turn blue meaning an advisor is online –SHOWING UP IN PERSON: There have been some terrific success stories posted here about people who have shown up, without appt., after unreasonable delays and have gotten their passport given to them on the spot! (after waiting around the office for a while) This of course presumes that you KNOW which office is handling your application! If so, as the one poster said/did (link included below) BE FIRM, but BE POLITE AND KIND -TO A FAULT…Remember, they have something you want-you need to make them WANT to help you; maybe that’s unfair after what you’ve been through, but that’s the way it is…show up screaming and insisting, and you deserve what you get. https://www.facebook.com/groups/483628376480720/search/?q=lyle%20connolly
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