Recent UK Passport Applicant Timelines

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

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.