Recent UK Passport Applicant Timelines

It went very smoothly.

Took HMPO a week from signing for the birth certificate and old passport at their Corby office to them acknowledging it on their system - I had to chase via live chat and email with the Royal Mail special delivery tracking reference to get them to investigate as it says that documents will be acknowledged as delivered 2 working days after they receive them - this didn't happen. Passport delivered to my home 21 February 2026 Passport printed 10:55am on 20 February 2026 Application approved 9:01am on 20 February 2026 Documents finally acknowledged as received 11:01am on 13 February 2026 Documents delivered to Corby and signed for by HMPO 6 February 2026 Documents send by Royal Mail Special Delivery 5 February 2006 Application received 6:53pm on 4 February 2026 Application submitted 6:53pm on 4 February 2026

Application submitted 19/01/26 Documents received 12/02/26 Application approved 19/02/26 Passport printed 19/02/26 Received 21/02/26

Applied for 3 children's first UK passport by descent. Passport printed 1:40am on 18 February 2026 Application approved 3:48pm on 17 February 2026 Documents received 2:40pm on 3 February 2026 Application received 6:38am on 24 January 2026 Identity details received 6:38am on 24 January 2026 Email sent to person confirming your identity 6:07am on 24 January 2026 Email sent to person confirming your identity 6:06am on 24 January 2026 Ask someone to confirm your identity 4:53am on 24 January 2026 Application submitted 4:53am on 24 January 2026 The most frustrating thing was that each application requested different information. The other frustrating thing was that I spent $100 getting a document notorised plus another $100 to express ship second lot of documents but all three applications were approved with information sent for another application meaning the notorised document and express shipping was not required!!

Excellent service, can't fault it: Application submitted - 11 Feb 2026 Application received - 11 Feb 2026 Documents received (old passport) - 16 Feb 2026 Application approved - 16 Feb 2026 Passport printed - 17 Feb 2026 Passport delivered - 18 Feb 2026

Still not received after 7 week Won't get it before the deadline so can't travel to UK for sick parent Rang and they said they will note that . Been another 2 weeks and nothing

Application approved 11:45am on 13 February 2026 Documents received 2:18am on 7 February 2026 Application received 10:42am on 27 January 2026 Identity details received 10:42am on 27 January 2026 Email sent to person confirming your identity 9:21am on 27 January 2026 Ask someone to confirm your identity 9:18am on 27 January 2026 Application submitted 9:18am on 27 January 2026

Application 10 February Old passport received 13 February Approved and printed 20 February Delivered 21 February

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.