Recent UK Passport Applicant Timelines

Passport printed 3:27pm on 30 March 2026 Application approved 12:16pm on 27 March 2026 Documents received 7:19pm on 19 March 2026 Application received 3:18pm on 18 March 2026 Application submitted 3:17pm on 18 March 2026

Mar 17 - am citizenship ceremony; pm, applied for passport online, mailed documents, identity confirmation requested and completed Mar 18 - Royal Mail tracker says documents delivered Mar 22 - Passport Office says documents delivered Mar 30 - Additional documents requested by Passport Office; HMRC and Council Tax letter mailed Mar 31 - Royal Mail tracker says documents delivered Apr 1 - Passport application approved Apr 2 - Passport printed and dispatched Apr 3 - Passport delivered (yes, on a bank holiday)

It took the document handling unit at Corby 3 weeks to scan and link documents to application. I had to make many calls to keep chasing the process.

Very happy with the speed at which my new passport was issued. One week, for an ordinary application (not fast tracked).

No problems at all.

I posted my old passports on the 9th March, the day after submitting my application, using Next Day 1pm Special Delivery. They arrived at the Corby centre on the 10th March according to tracking, but were not acknowledged as having arrived by the passport office until the 14th. My application was approved on the 23rd, and my new passport was printed on the 25th. I received it in the post on the 27th. Overall, it took 3 weeks like the official guidance stated.

02/03 Application Submitted Online 03/03 Documents Sent 12/03 Documents Received according to Tracking 16/03 Documents Received Status 27/03 Application Approved 30/03 Passport Printed 02/04 DHL notification 03/04 Passport Received

Was requested to send birth certificate and marriage certificate plus translations for non-British grandparents. Didn't submit. Sent new birth certificates and marriage certificate for British grandparents as requested. Later received a request for a letter with grandparents' details including date of marriage and passport numbers. Submitted scan of letter by email, it was processed and approved within 30 mins.

First documents took 3 weeks to arrive, second document took 1 week. Passport printing to receiving 13 days.Sending precious documents overseas very stressful.

No hassle at all. Very straight forward. No issues with the process. Everything went through quicker than i thought

Passport received: 02 April 2026 Passport printed 1:33pm on 31 March 2026 Application approved 9:45am on 30 March 2026 Documents received 1:25pm on 22 March 2026 Application received 9:06pm on 13 March 2026 Identity details received 9:06pm on 13 March 2026 Email sent to person confirming your identity 8:02pm on 13 March 2026 Ask someone to confirm your identity 6:13pm on 13 March 2026 Application submitted 6:13pm on 13 March 2026

28 February - application submitted online and documents sent via PostNL registered (next time I would send via DHL as they took ages to arrive) 9 March - documents signed for/marked delivered on Royal Mail 14 March - documents marked received on application 25 March - application approved 26 March - passport printed 1 April - passport received via DHL courier (received a WhatsApp notification on 31 March) Currently still waiting for documents to be returned but only had to send old passport and colour copy of every page of other passport (dual national). I did go on webchat 24 March to chase the applications....not sure if it helped or just a coincidence it was approved within 24 hours?

28 February - submitted application and sent all documents via PostNL. Next time I would send via DHL as it took 10 days to arrive. 10 March - documents arrived at Corby 14 March - application marked as documents received. 26 March - passport approved 27 March - passport printed 1 April - passport arrived via courier For passport delivery I got an app from DHL on 31 March. I spent 2 weeks gathering my documents before applying (new copy of my birth certificate from GRO, copies of child birth certificate plus certified translation, arranging an EU ID card as back up ID as their EU passports were also required). Sent documents for 3 applications (2 children, one adult renewal) in one envelope. Did have to call/go on web chat to link as one of the child applications was marked not received. Once I contacted them it was updated within 24 hours as documents received. Still waiting for supporting documents to be returned. I chased up application 24 March - might be a coincidence but all 3 were approved within 24 Hours of contacting them. A very expensive and stressful process as everything moves so slowly. However, passport staff as helpful as they could be.

28 February - submitted application and sent all documents via PostNL. Next time I would send via DHL as it took 10 days to arrive. 10 March - documents arrived at Corby 14 March - application marked as documents received. 26 March - passport approved 27 March - passport printed 1 April - passport arrived via courier For passport delivery I got an app from DHL on 31 March. I spent 2 weeks gathering my documents before applying (new copy of my birth certificate from GRO, copies of child birth certificate plus certified translation, arranging an EU ID card as back up ID as their EU passports were also required). Sent documents for 3 applications (2 children, one adult renewal) in one envelope. Did have to call/go on web chat to link as this child applications was marked not received. Once I contacted them it was updated within 24 hours as documents received. Still waiting for supporting documents to be returned. I chased up application 24 March - might be a coincidence but all 3 were approved within 24 Hours of contacting them. A very expensive and stressful process as everything moves so slowly. However, passport staff as helpful as they could be.

Horrific process applied 15 Jan , documents received 5 Feb advised I had not sent my birth certificate - which I had turns out they lost it on arrival . After trying to get them to find and many brick walls I had to get a new birth certificate from UK took 3 weeks plus they determined my Deed Poll certificate was not original! It was but got a replacement - got these documents to Corby 13 March spent hours emailing and phoning my passport tracker still only stated 5 Feb never updated the latest documents were received I only knew as they rejected mu new original Deed Poll certificate as being photocopy . Filed a complaint and sent proof it had come from the DIA here in NZ …. Been waiting since then for a update - finally this morning 3 April my application has been approved. 12 weeks of hell!!!! All I can say is keep calling, file a complaint don’t give up and push back. This is a very expensive exercise aside from the passport the extra cost of new documents and post $250 NZD

🔹 Processing office: Corby 🔹 Documents sent: 2 March (tracked, received on 3 March) 🔹 Additional documents requested: 20 March (sent the same day, received on 23 March) 🔹 Interview invitation: 27 March 🔹 Interview booked & completed: Called the same day and had the interview on 30 March 🔹 Application approved: 30 March 🔹 Passport printed: 31 March 🔹 Passport dispatched: 1 April 🔹 Passport & original documents received: 2 April 🎉

The dates on the tracking information are not accurate - it take 5 days from documents being 'received' to them reaching the assessor, enquiry responses are highly variable in usefulness and tone - from respectful to dismissive. The documents that are requested with your application are not all the documents needed to assess it - you get asked for more and, in my case, irrelevant documents which for me doubled the cost of sending documents. My application was treated as a first time application despite me having held UK passports previously and supplying my last UK passport in my initial documents.

Sent old passport special delivery, it took 4 days to be registered as ‘documents received’ on passport website. Otherwise process was quick, with updates at each stage; passport was approved on a Saturday and printed early hours of the morning.