1st Adult Passport
Type of Application:
First UK Adult Passport
Submission Date:
2022-05-30
Date Received:
2022-07-18
Overall Experience:
4 Star – Easy
Comments:
Passport delivered 18 July 2022
Passport printed 15 July 2022
Application approved 14 July 2022
Documents received 16 June 2022
Identity details received 4 June 2022
Application submitted 30 May 2022
Adult Renewal Passport
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-07-09
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
I applied using the online renewal service and digital photo, found it super quick and easy. Got email updates of where my passport was in the process the whole time.
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-05-10
Date Received:
2022-08-10
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
Still not received my adult renewal after 10 weeks. Have contacted today to have it expedited – I don’t know how long it will be until I receive it now. We travel in just 3 weeks.
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-04-17
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
2 Star – Stressful
Comments:
Took so much work, and constant calls to the upgrade team but did eventually get it sorted 1 day before flying!
very stressful, but once i actually got to the front of the queue MOST people were very helpful
Application – 17th april
Documents received – 4th may
(silence for months, no clue what happened here)
requested upgrade : 11th July approx ( i forget what exact day it has been so stressful, it was a week to the flight tho)
Passport approved : 18th July
passport printed : 18th July
passport collected : 9am 19th July
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-07-11
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
The updates were received by text and email and my new passport arrived within 8 days. Excellent service.
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-07-13
Date Received:
2022-07-14
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Status Date
Passport printed 9:38pm on 18 July 2022 (Mon)
Application approved 11:09am on 15 July 2022 (Friday)
Documents received 1:35pm on 14 July 2022 (Thurs)
Application received 10:14am on 13 July 2022 (Wed)
Application submitted 10:13am on 13 July 2022 (Wed)
Astounded! It says up to a 10 week wait on the website. Applied online Wednesday 13th July. Posted my old passport same day for next day delivery. Approved and printed very quickly. New passport arrived posted to my Tue 19th July before 9.30am! Basically a 7 day turn around. Didn’t even use fast track!
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-06-19
Date Received:
2022-07-05
Overall Experience:
4 Star – Easy
Comments:
Had to override the photo, even though it was professionally taken! Otherwise all very smooth.
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-07-07
Date Received:
2022-07-15
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Submitted online renewal application on Fri 7th July, sent my old passport on Mon 10th and my new passport was delivered on Fri 15th! Really impressed.
I made sure I’d filled in everything correctly and submitted an updated photo for the new passport (by following the instructions carefully) so as not to cause any hold up from my side.
I tracked everything online which was really easy and luckily for me, had no issues. New passport delivered much, much quicker than I expected.
Lost or Stolen Passport Application
Type of Application:
Lost/Stolen Passport
Submission Date:
2022-05-08
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
I still don’t have my passport after 10 weeks and unable to reach them through the phone or chat even though I called at 8am. The chat was already busy at 8:02am and the phone line hung up on me and advised me “we’re looking at your application”. No idea when it’s going to come through.
Type of Application:
Lost/Stolen Passport
Submission Date:
2022-05-21
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
3 Star – Average
Comments:
Wasn’t given a lost passport reference when I initially reported passport as lost so wasn’t on the application. Decided this might speed things up, requested it from the lost/stolen team and then phoned the advice line for it to be added – passport was approved the next day.
Type of Application:
Lost/Stolen Passport
Submission Date:
2022-05-22
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
Inconsistent and unbearable!
Type of Application:
Lost/Stolen Passport
Submission Date:
2022-04-29
Date Received:
2022-07-13
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
Awful!y 2 childrens passports were lost and they were due to fly on 17/07. I spent at least 2 hours on the phone 3 times, plus various other calls, emails, complaints, MP letters. Inconsistent advice. This is a paid service! Shambolic
Child Renewal
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-07-09
Date Received:
2022-07-18
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Very straightforward, came through quickly.
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-07-11
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Passport application processed extremely quickly. Submitted on 11th July, supporting documents arrived at Liverpool on 14th, application approved on 16th, printed on 18th and arrived today.
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-07-11
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
All done online for the renewal. Very simple and good comms from HM Passport.
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-04-27
Date Received:
2022-07-18
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
No help to escalate even though flight was within one week of 10 week deadline – my son and I couldn’t go on holiday on schedules but my wife and daughter could – we’re joining them 2 days late – I flew to Belfast to pick up passport.
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-07-12
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
4 Star – Easy
Comments:
StatusDate
Passport printed 10:46pm on 18 July 2022
Application approved 12:14pm on 17 July 2022
Documents received 6:25pm on 13 July 2022
Application received 12:15pm on 12 July 2022
Application submitted 12:14pm on 12 July 2022
Received 19 July 10:30
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Submission Date:
2022-05-06
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
The process is a shambles and seems to be a lottery. Ours hadn’t moved and was just stuck in a black hole since the beginning of May. Two weeks before our holiday I asked for an upgrade and then 5 days before travel I got an e mail saying we are aware of your travel dates and we will be in touch. 48 hours before travel they called and it was all sorted out very quickly from there and I collected it in person today at Peterborough and fly tomorrow.
Overseas Passport Application
Type of Application:
First UK Passport (Overseas Application)
Submission Date:
2022-02-22
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
Very stressful process.
Timeline as follows:
Passport delivered 19 July 2022
Passport printed 12 July 2022
Application approved 11 July 2022
Documents received 13 April 2022
Application received 24 February 2022
Identity details received 24 February 2022
Email sent to person confirming your identity 22 February 2022
Ask someone to confirm your identity 22 February 2022
Application submitted 22 February 2022
Type of Application:
First UK Passport (Overseas Application)
Submission Date:
2022-02-18
Date Received:
2022-07-19
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
Terrible experience – 151 days! Documents sat in the mailroom at Durham for four weeks before being officially “received” and then there were further hold ups when an examiner requested information that had not been listed as necessary at the time of application. Upon receiving the additional information it sat there for another 6 weeks until I emailed the expedited service and they clearly took one look and got things moving – the passport was approved, printed and despatched before lunchtime the following business day. Delivery time from UK to Australia was just under a week. Contact with HMPO was difficult and stressful – demands for physical letters and failure to process mail in a timely manner added weeks the the application process, and when telephoning we got different information every time as it seemed nobody really knew what was going on. On top of that we twice received messages threatening to cancel the application without refund due to documents allegedly not being sent/requests for information ignored when we knew from mail tracking that the documents were sitting in their mail room. The HMPO process is not very transparent and seems very inconsistent, with many applications being processed very quickly while others languish for no discernible reason. Very appreciative of the efforts of the Expedited Service Team for finally getting our applications moving.
We are also very grateful for this site and the help of everyone on here, I would never have known how to contact the expedited service if not for members of the forums on this site and would probably still be waiting!
Here is our timeline:
Passport delivered: 19 July 2022
Passport printed 3:18am on 12 July 2022
Application approved 12:02pm on 11 July 2022
Documents received 12:21pm on 13 April 2022
Application received 5:45am on 24 February 2022
Identity details received 5:44am on 24 February 2022
Email sent to person confirming your identity 7:25am on 22 February 2022
Ask someone to confirm your identity 6:59am on 18 February 2022
Application submitted 6:59am on 18 February 2022
