uk2us93

Dean i would like to thank you for taking the time to addr the treatment i recieved and want you to know that the information you have provided is greatly appreciated ....Its just a shame that the other consulates throughout the country dont take the same interest as in reading various threads i get the feeling that it is becoming the norm for British Citenzens to be treated poorly .So thanks for restoring some faith lol.... I will defenetly be making my the treatment i rceived known about .... In regards to the Careline the gentlemen i spoke to was very friendly and the information he gave me let me know what to expect. I have a feeling i will have to spend much more of my hard earned money ,to have this taken care of and i do still have enough faith it will betaken care of before i have to leave .

uk2us93

I firstly want to thank Dean for his quick response to the treatment that i had experienced. It does seem that Dean's attitude is not what we can find typical of the Embassy's/Consulates around the country , from reading other threads the same sort of treatment is being dished out , so again thankyou.
I will definitely follow the steps provided . Unfortunately nothing will come from any correspondence in regards to my impending trip and lack of passport...
I am almost positive will have to spend just a li'l bit more of my hard earned $$ to contact the carleline to have escalated even further... but i do believe that i will receive my passport before i leave ..

Jhutchnz

After calling Careline last night, I was told that my name was not even in the system. My money order has yet to be cashed.
The first lady I spoke to couldnt really tell me much but cost me $$.
I logged back in and I had received some advice from the Consul.
I called Careline back with the Consuls words of advice and they couldnt esculate my passport because it has yet to pass through passport examiners. I did press the guy on the phone, who DID take my number, info and even flight number and said that I should get a call by Monday.
SIGH!!
However, this same guy adviced me to call my local consulate. I did this morning and I have an appointment 2 days before Departure for an Emergency Document.. I cant really complain..

My only concern is that the ED will be in my maiden name and my flight is in my Married name. Ill see what can be done.. but I believe the worst is over.
Hopefully, by the time I get back, my passport will be here.

Lesson learnt: will apply from London next time!!!

Good luck everyone

uk2us93

i am so sorry to hear that your information isn't even in their system as yet, that makes it twice as bad . someone should launch an inquiry as to the reason for the poor handling. i cant understand why in the UK you can have your passport back in 10 days, when they are dealing with larger #'s thank god its going back to the UK.... good luck hopefully the ED wont be needed....all fingers crossed

Bob

A copy of your marriage certificate should be good for getting on the plane.

Jhutchnz

I hope I can find a copy. The original is in Washington amongst the laundry load of passports.
Thank you for the heads up...

note to self: Copy of marriage cert, copy of extention of permanent residency (while I wait for my permanant residency card to come back).. I may as well travel with a file!! lol

steevun

Just posting my timeline here for a first time passport:

Application received on March 17
Payment taken on April 7
Passport issued and in the mail April 27, received next day

So everything was done within the stated 6 weeks..

nsdale

Just to join in on the time line group fortunately I don't need my passport for until the end of June (it would be nice if it were sooner for purposes of comfort )

Posted Apr 4th
Signed for Apr 6th

Payment not yet taken.

uk2us93

They seem to be able to get the one done that requires the most time .processed on time go figga ...

fathermike

Another waiting for passports here too.

My wife and I have have the same timeline,

Received in DC on March 17th

Credit Card Charged on April 12th

So we are right on 7 weeks today since they were received in DC, no sign of them yet. We travel on June 9th so should be fine.

uk2us93

::regular_smi le:
thumbsup:
My advice is call the careline and get it escalated called careline May 3rd ...as i am reading the last post MR UPS pulls up with guess what....My passport date issued May 4th ....My prayers are with all on this thread complain your ass's off and please forget your British act like your American LMAO

DCErin

I've been reading this thread for some time; first time poster.

First time passport application; travel on May 16th. Silly me, I thought that submitting in mid-Feb for May travel would leave me PLENTY of time! 6-week turnaround, right?


Application received at the embassy Feb. 11th
Card charged: March 11th.

April 24th [Sunday eve.], called Careline. Application is "being examined", the nice man tells me. "We'll call you back in 24 hours". No call.

April 26th [Tuesday], called Careline again. Still "being examined". "You are listed for a callback; you should hear something by Thursday [the 28th]" They assign me a case number but I never receive a call.

April 19th, watched Royal Wedding with Mum, then called Careline again. "Didn't you get a call back?" --Nope. But my passport is now in "final processing" and they tell me I should receive it "sometime next week".

May 5th - Passport received! Passport is dated May 3rd. Shipped via next day air, but I live in the DC region so I received it same day. Fine print on the envelope is marked "Red Team" and "P[riority?]: Red", so my case must have been escalated.
[receipt story - I am getting undressed for a shower. I see a garbage truck out the window. Dog starts barking. Dog does not usually bark for garbage trucks. I decide that in case it's UPS, I should check this out. Leave the bathroom in a state of semi-undress and see the UPS truck. Woo hoo! Rush back to the bathroom to put some pants on so I can answer the door. Thanks, Rufus!]

Total time since receipt of application: almost 12 weeks. Time from charging card until receipt of passport: about 8 weeks.

-----

Lessons learned:

- Read British Expats forum threads thoroughly and take notes before sending application. I didn't know that I didn't have to send my US passport with my application, that a copy of the photo page would have been fine; if I'd had my US passport in hand all this time, I wouldn't have been so worried. The passport office isn't very straightforward with passport instructions in cases where your previous passport is foreign. It sounds very gloom and doom, "you must include your passport or explain why it was lost/stolen", etc.

- Read British Expats forum threads a second time after you think you read them thoroughly. I didn't know I could include a prepaid envelope to have my US passport sent back to me when they were done with it, though this still might not have given me back the US passport much earlier.

- Apply early. I knew from these forums that passports were dicey on time but due to work reasons, I did not feel comfortable applying earlier than I did. But I could have spared myself the worry by sending a photocopy instead of my actual US passport

I did know from the forums that Careline was the only way to get my case escalated, that the first call to Careline was likely to accomplish next to nothing, but that it would be necessary to get the expedite process rolling. It's a shame that it takes a call to a pay telephone number to get a passport in a timely manner.

Interestingly - this is a really arcane note - I read online that a new passport design came into use last fall, but my new passport is the "bird" design that has been used since the UK went biometric. I read that the new design would be phased in (must be using up old stock), but I thought that process would be done by now. This is NOT a complaint; obviously I my passport, thanks, IPS! Also, I sent my proof of citizenship in the form of a registered copy of my citizenship document; they didn't give that back to me. No big deal, I have another registered copy, but it seemed weird that they kept it, and made me strangely glad I didn't send them the original, although I assume they would have returned that one.

pTeronaut

First the good news (for me):

I&PS Washington D.C attempt payment from my credit card.

Now the bad news (for me):

My stupid bank, put a hold on the card.

Well, my wife spoke to the bank and they removed the hold and approved the payment.

uk2us93

I did send an email to the IPS and express my extreme displeasure I did this on Tuesday.... not even twenty minutes after receiving my passport I received an email in response . The email was from Susan Mc Kerron, Regional passport processing centre manager and consul her email address is ukinusa.fro.gov.UK try giving her a quick email it might help.....

ian-mstm

I'm pretty sure that's not her email address!

Ian