[hjiki]

wait before u sent the email would u mind me asking when are u guys travelling? like the exact date

in regards to previous question yes they are correct only qualify for an upgrade if both criteria is met, yes they only count the dates from when they received the passport (5 1/2 weeks) not when u sent it (8weeks ago)

[hjiki]

3. alternatively you can call the passport team phone number and ask for the customer service management team or the progress team to tell u where ur passport is being upgraded and to give the email

usually the email would be:
(the place)upgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk

the place = liverpool , durham, belfast ,peterborough etc –> basically substitute it for where u upgrade application is

PS:please call the upgrades team or progress team because they need to do something from their side for the upgrades thing to be actually considered + u have to draft the email in a certain way, i only wrote the email in case ur approved for an upgrade and lost the email

usually after email sent u are meant to get an automatic reply 5hours after confirming that upgrades team got it

[hjiki]

hello

1. you need to make sure your passports are upgraded in durham or liverpool as if you send a email to the wrong upgrade team it would confuse the whole system and might delay u actually getting the passport

2. to be on the upgrade team you must have evidence for travelling in less than 2 weeks + have a passport application in the system for a minimum of 6 weeks

give me one sec for me to find the email

[hjiki]

i’m extremely happy for you 🙂

ik usually the upgrades team will call only once and if we don’t pick up it becomes our loss so i’m happy they called you again

going forward make sure you go to collect your passport early on tuesday if they didn’t give you a specific time this allow for worst case scenario if there’s any problems etc they can fix it since you will receive it 24hours before travel

did the upgrades team take any payment?
i hope whatever i said helped you

once again i’m truly happy for you the process was so stressful

[hjiki]

@mr_cr9 ps; if upgrade team call you to say passport approved ready to print, if they need payment they most likely will ask for bank details over the phone (within the same phone call)

so for me the belfast team called me passport ready to print, took my bank details over the phone etc

[hjiki]

@mr_cr9 ps; if upgrade team call you to say passport approved ready to print, if they need payment they most likely will ask for bank details over the phone (within the same phone call)

so for me the belfast team called me passport ready to print, took my bank details over the phone etc

[hjiki]

@mr_cr9 i’m travelling on the 17/7 so friday (yesterday) i hit the 48hour deadline so i was already at my nearest HMPO
my mother (who i listed as an alternative contact cuz this application was to do with my baby brother) got a call from the upgrades team whilst i was at the HMPO conveniently at around 11 ish they told her passport approved and ready to print and i could collect it later today

– takes a little while to print around 1-2hours since i was already there i took a break went to my nearest shop, ate and came back at around 3 ish to print

in short
roughly 11am –> call from upgrades team passport approved + ready to print
roughly 2-3am –> collected my passport

you have to wait a lil while after upgrades team call you to collect passport because the HMPO still needs to print + put passport together

good luck 🙂

[hjiki]

@forgotteninnit make sure you call them and ask them
1. where your application is (like what upgrade team you will be on durham,belfast,liverpool etc
2. what your application reference number is

when you talk to the progress team or customer service management team today stay on call whilst they send you an email like make sure you receive an upgrade email then only cut the call cuz sometimes they send it to the wrong email address

[hjiki]

just want to say i’m so grateful for this forum helped me get passports for 2 of my family members my self included

without this ik it would be highly unlikely that i would have got a passport so i’m so thankful, i was so stressed and sympathise with everyone

that’s why even though i don’t have any personal need for this forum anymore i will still check this forum to answer questions
EVERYONE FEEL FREE TO ASK ME ANY DOUBTS AT ALL OR ANYTHING YOU NEED CLARITY ON (i’ll answer to the best of my ability) ask as many questions as you guys like

i want to give back to everyone this forum was truly a lifesaver

PS: good luck everyone rooting for you to get the passport that you need

PS: good luck everyone

[hjiki]

@mr_cr9 i have good news today that can reassure you even more

we are going to travel on 17/7 a family trip my lil brother didn’t receive his first child british passport so this is what i did

wednesday 13/7 –> sent an upgrade email
friday 15/7 today (48hours before) –> received a call ,passport was then printed and collected from victoria

going to travel sunday 17/7

PS: i did go to my nearest HMPO today because i was in the 48hour mark

overall they did it in 2days so this success story proves that it is possible to get within 2 1/2 days i hope this eases your worry

lmk if you need anything else

[hjiki]

@forgotteninnit if it helps from experience it is possible to put yourself in an upgrades list and get a passport within 4days

i got my little brothers today
put on upgrades list ; wednesday 13/7
passport collected and printed ; friday 15/7
travelling : sunday 17/7
so it was done within 2 days so don’t be overly stressed

i can tell you step by step what you need to do to help you if you want me to just lmk

also when are you flying and at what time
also which HMPO is closest to you (durham?)

[hjiki]

in regards to the first part idk if you should physically go on thursday because a lady that i met queuing at HMPO was travelling on the same day as me (sunday) and she went on thursday and after waiting for 5hours they just told her to come back tommorow (friday) when she hits the 48hour mark

so you can go but i wouldn’t recommend it as they might turn you away

2. yes to the email part (based on my knowledge)
i think my flight was at 3;35pm from luton airport on sunday
on my email subject line: i wrote this ‘ 02/07/2022 + my application reference number’

i did this even though i was travelling on the 3rd however in my actual email i wrote a short thing to explain why i put the 2nd in the subject line this is exactly what i wrote (this is not the whole email just the part relevant to what you asked) :
‘ Travelling on the 03/07/2022 but need the passport by 02/07/2022 at the latest since on the 3rd I’ll have to be at the airport, thus in the subject line I have written the 2nd’

i made it specific because i didn’t want it to seem like i was lying since the flight evidence states i’m travelling on the 3rd (so if i was you i would write something like that)

i tried to be as specific as possible don’t hesistate to ask any other questions
when time are you travelling?

[hjiki]

sazzle
1. you can queue up in peterborough if you are on the liverpool upgrades team
(to reassure you i was in the belfast upgrades team queued up in victoria london HMPO where i later go my passport printed + collected from so it is very much possible)

2. you are travelling on the friday 22/07/2022 here is the steps you should take if you haven’t heard anything back 48hours before travel (don’t go earlier as they will likely send you back since they are swamped with work)

– wednesday 20/07/22 (this is 48hours before travel) morning —> go early to your nearest HMPO office with all flight evidence etc
– they will make you fill a form the will either print your passport that day or ask you to collect on thursday which is the next day

– thursday 21/07/22 if it wasn’t printed on wednesday they will ask you to collect today

– friday 22/07 — you travel

ik it seems like a close call since you receive passport 1 day before travel and that’s stressful but that’s how i did it

[hjiki]

yes my i was on the belfast upgrade team but my passport was printed and collected in victoria so yes it is possible

[hjiki]

to provide some reassurance I applied to the upgrades system late purely because I didn’t know an upgrade system existed
application was hiting 7weeks
date of travel : sunday 3/07/2022

applied to upgrade system (sent the email) on : wednesday 29/06/2022 around 2pm
– received an automatic response email 3hours later from belfast team

– thursday 30/06 –> heard no response or call

– friday 01/07 (48hours before my travel) –> went to my nearest HMPO early at around 6:45
they said to wait for a call back from the belfast team
waited anxiously for 3-4hours then they called me on no caller ID and took payment

– saturday 02/07 (1 day before travel)–> passport was printed and i collected it

– sunday 03/07 –> went on travel

all in all it was possible but i think me going in person to my HMPO early 48hours before travel was what allowed me to get my passport

lmk if you have more questions

[Author]

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