Recent UK Passport Applicant Timelines

When I applied initially in early January I did not send my Canadian Passport as requested along with my expired UK passport. I was taking a trip from Canada so sent my Canadian passport on Feb 2nd by registered mail. UK Passport arrived Feb 20th. I was very impressed with the time frame!

Frustration point is sending additional info that could be sent initially.

Identify verified 9/02/26 Supporting received 12/02 Photocopy in colour cover to cover of the foreign passport submitted along with cover letter Original passport used not available therefore called the passport office and they added a note in my file

It was very much easier than I thought. I thought they would request more documents as my child's father lives in Africa, but they didn't. Got the passport in 2 weeks from submitting very impressed.

Sent paper form via post office check and send, standard.

Application submitted: 29 Jan 2026 Identity confirmed: 29 Jan 2026 Documents received: 2 Feb 2026 ( had to send dual nationality passport and Citizenship certificate of UK). Virtual Interview: 12 Feb 2026 (earliest date avail) Application approved: 12 Feb 2026 Passport printed: 12 Feb 2026 Passport and documents received( separately) : 14 Feb 2026

My application was for a renewal of an expired passport with a name change and was sent from regional Australia. Online application submitted - 11 Jan Requested docs sent via registered international post - 12 Jan Docs received at passport office - 20 Jan Application approved - 22 Jan Passport printed and sent - 23 Jan Passport received - 31 Jan Original docs received - 3 Feb

Renewal of passport which expired more than ten years ago. Luckily had my original UK birth certificate. Had to send original plus expired UK passport plus copies of current Australian passport. During application process, when I entered the email address of the person who was to confirm my identity, there must have been a glitch where it didn’t register, even though I entered it. So there was a lag of a few days before I received an email from HMPO to provide someone to confirm my identity. I had quite a lot of trouble finding someone with a current UK passport who also was in the list of accepted persons. Later on I found out that they didn’t need to be a UK passport holder, however the information on the HMPO application did not say this.

Process was easy once I understood that I needed to get a British passport to enter the UK. The initial information regarding whether I could enter UK on an ETA as a dual citizen was written in plain English but was confusing. Having to send my original birth certificate was scary as I was concerned that I would not get it back. Certified copies should be sufficient.

The tracking information was amazing and very much appreciated

6th feb submitted 10th passport received 16th approved 17th printed 18th arrived

Had problems with the spelling of my middle name. Took 2 phone calls and a letter explaining why it had to be corrected but all pretty quick in the end.

Took a long time to arrive in the unknown from Nz especially as I had paid for express post

Application submitted 3:51pm on 8 February 2026 Application received 3:52pm on 8 February 2026 Posted documents 24h signed for on 9 Feb, confirmed delivery on 10 Feb by Royal Mail Documents received 3:30pm on 11 February 2026 Application approved 9:09am on 18 February 2026 Passport printed 1:44pm on 18 February 2026 Passport delivered 20 Feb

A bit stressful having seen all the complicated applications