[samholls11]

I now have my child renewal back from Durham:

Application submitted 05/09/2021
Documents received 11/09/2021
Approved 01/10/2021
Delivered 06/10/2021

Thing I have learnt from obsessive Twitter stalking which might help:
1. Passports are approved roughly in order of when the tracker says your docs are received (not necessarily when actually received)
2. If you call and ask they will note your travel date on the application, then the examiner might be kind enough to speed it through to the printing stage. Use these phone numbers to cut out the recorded messages and not be put in the queue for a call back 01633 285422 / 0300 123 1973.
3. Often the tracker goes straight from docs received to approved with no in between stage, these are generally processed on the new system and is currently averaging 21 day from docs received to approved
4. If you have an extra step on the tracker ‘application processing’ these seem to take about a week longer to approve and apparently are on the old system.
5. If you are really cutting it fine you can rearrange the TNT delivery once it appears on the tracker to a day earlier, I didn’t need to do this but have seen others doing this successfully.
6. I found this website and also the twitter account for passport waiting and HMPO really useful as in the comments you can guage which date of documents received the different offices are up to. I was able to predict the day mine would be approved and was correct!

Good luck everyone 🙂

[samholls11]

I asked about cancelling an application at the weekend and was told: To cancel you need to apply in writing, wait up to 10 days for that letter to be added to the system, then wait up to a further two weeks for old passport to be returned. They are probably providing worse case time scales but I would imagine your current application approval would beat the old passport being returned. According to Twitter approvals are currently being received for docs received around 7th/8th September.

It’s stressful isn’t it, I am still waiting for my son’s renewal, struggling to think about anything else!

[samholls11]

Thanks for the reassurance, this thread is really useful, I will definitely update when it is eventually approved this week!! (that’s my positive thinking!!)

[samholls11]

Hi all,

Really interesting and promising thread! I am desperately waiting for my sons child renewal, I have googled and actioned everything to try and nudge this along (emails, calls to various numbers, Twitter etc) and have had our travel date added but as of today still hasn’t gone to an examiner. Dates as follows:

Application submitted 5th September
Documents received 11th September

No ID check required as he is 12. We fly on 20th October but Emirates have said we can move with no fees latest of Monday. So we REALLY need to at least know if it approved this week. Judging by the other dates on this thread it could be possible, more positive here than Twitter which is depressing!! Hoping Durham are one of the more organised offices. It does seem people who received the ‘application processing’ update end up with a longer wait? Doesn’t seem as much of that on this thread so fingers crossed. Would love to hear recent posters updates!

Thanks Sam

PS with 6.5 weeks to go I wish I had have just done a fast track application but I remembered the last renewal only took one week and they usually say 3. RIP the glorious Pre Covid days!!

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