Recent UK Passport Applicant Timelines

Definitely quicker than I was expecting. The part that took the longest was transit of the documents from Australia to the UK (7 days)- that was using Australia Post International Express. Also sent a child renewal at the same time and received back on the same day.

Delivered 09:55am on 20 February 2026 Royal mail notification for next day delivery 13:17pm on 19 February 2026 Passport printed 5:34am on 19 February 2026 Application approved 12:13am on 19 February 2026 Documents received 12:30pm on 18 February 2026 Application received 4:14pm on 17 February 2026 Application submitted 4:14pm on 17 February 2026

Application Timeline (Overseas Application from Egypt): Application received: September 30, 2025 Additional documents requested: November 18, 2025 Identity interview: December 30, 2025 Application approved: January 8, 2026 Passport printed: January 9, 2026 Ready for collection: February 16, 2026 Passport collected: February 18, 2026 Additional Comments: The total process took exactly 141 calendar days from the day HM Passport Office received the application until the day of collection. This was an overseas first adult passport application submitted from Egypt.

Application submitted 12/01/2026 Ask someone to confirm you identity 12/01/2026 Email sent to person confirming identity 13/01/2026 Identity details received 13/01/2026 Application received 13/01/2026 Documents couriered to UK 14/02/2026 Documents received 20/01/2026 Passport on hold requiring additional information 04/02/2026 Person not eligible 04/02/2026 Email sent to person confirming your identity 04/02/2026 Identity details received 5.27pm 04/02/2026 Additional documents couriered to UK 05/02/2026 Application approved 11/02/2026 Passport printed 12/02/2026

Jan 28 - Applied Feb 2 - First set of documents received Feb 6 - Request for more documents Feb 9 - Second set of documents received Feb 14 - Passport Approved Feb 16 - Passport couriered out by DHL Feb 19 - Passport received We are flying out Mar 9 so this was very stressful and had to be done ASAP. Thankfully it was received on time.

Whole experience has been very stressful. I travel in 3 weeks time so time has been a factor. The photos we had, despite just being used for Australian passports were not accepted, the Australian documents/certificates were not accepted so had to apply for new copies, and the person I was able to finally find to validate my and my sons ID was approved for my sons, and was initially approved for mine, however a few weeks later was declined. The whole process has been a money wasting debacle, there are many reasons I left the UK over 25 years ago, and this has just reiterated some.

Application and photo easy. List of evidence was generic and therefore confusing.

Really fast - around 4 days to process and less than a week to get back to nz. My timeline looks longer as I was waiting on some docs so sent application 2.5 weeks after the application was submitted and it took a week to arrive via courier.

Started off really smooth. Had to supply additional documents. Queried why I was not applying for a passport in my country of birth, a bit strange as I was born in UK and they had a copy of my Australian Passport. Overall it was a reasonably good experience.

I had all documents on hand. Easy to apply. Had someone able to verify my identity. Sent all docs by Australia Post from Adelaide. Got receipt. GOt email and SMS all the way advising progress. Documents returned 1 week after passport was received.

It was all very easy and would have been quicker if I had my ID person lined up ahead of time.

I submitted the application on the 5th February, sent documents the next day. 10th February documents received 17th February application approved 19th February passport and suppporting documents received. Very straightforward process.

Slight stressful, as birth certificate was consular. Refused at first. Called up to tell them that’s all I got. Also got the geo from the mod involved.

Still waiting for information. Several web chats and response always the same, “documents waiting to be verified by examiner”

Applied on Saturday evening, so posting old passport was delayed until monday morning (signed for/tracked 1st class).

Passport application submitted on 4th but passport not received by passport office until 9th (due to weekend). After 9th, didn’t hear anything until 16th when approved and then delivered on 18th. Fast service but have had it faster in the past and those 6 days without an update led to worries of it having been lost.

Did not expect to have to have identification verified, added time