misterchievous

Hi All,
Any help would be much appreciated.
I spoke with the UKPO yesterday regarding my sons application for his first passport. They informed me that they are awaiting a response form my countersignature and that they mailed a letter the 2nd of May. I was wondering if anyone had had any experience with this, and if they are aware of what postal class they used, first class surface, first class airmail, etc, and how long i could expect to wait before my countersignature receives the letter. I'm based in Canada on the west coast. In addition what could they be sending and asking in the letter?

Many thanks,

James

zuluswede

In my case they wanted the passport information from my countersignatory (a US citizen). I'd noted on the application the countersignatory declined to provide the passport details (passport number and photocopy of the bio page). They sent a letter requesting the information via first class international mail and provided a prepaid return envelope. I don't know what prepaid service was used but I'm guessing regular mail.

misterchievous

Thanks for the swift response zuluswede, good to know.
Many thanks!

zuluswede

You're very welcome.

In case it helps... when I contacted them, at the "6 week" mark, they said my application had been received on March 2nd and was assigned to a person on the March 18th. My countersignatory received the request packet on April 24th.

misterchievous

Zuluswede, how long did it take to receive your passport after the passport office received your countersignatures response?

In terms of timelines for me they acknowledged receipt of forms on the 13th of march. I called at the 6 week mark, and was told it was with an examiner but no further info was available and 6 weeks was the minimum it would take. The examiners office advised to call in 2 weeks time. a fortnight later I called again, and was told a letter had been sent to my countersignature, which arrived pretty fast. It was dated the 2nd of April received the on the 6th. and my counter signature sent it back on the 12th. The passport office did say it was the final step, and I should be all good once the info is received. And I can honestly say that unlike previous experience with the Passport office, all the staff have been extremely helpful and courteous.

zuluswede

I'm still waiting for my son's passport misterchievous. I called them again last week (14th May). The customer service person could not confirm whether they had received the "additional info" from my countersignatory. She asked me if I wanted to lodge a complaint so I did. She was VERY helpful. She put in a request that I be contacted by phone... a week later a nada! Its now 12 weeks since I sent the declaration and 9 weeks since they started processing it.

misterchievous

From the amount of times Ive called already , Not sure if you've tried this or experienced the same. However, I found that there is effectively two-tiers of service rep you can speak with. The first is the general folk who answer the phone. The second called the Inspection team or examiners office or something to that effect. They have a lot more insight into your application. I found this out as my application became effectively invisible after the 6 week minimum to the front line staff, even with my application number and details provided they are unable to pull anything up. If you can, try calling again, give all the info to the first line of agents, and then say that the last time you called you were transferred to speak with the examiners office or inspection team (be ambiguous) who advised you call after a fortnight to see where things stand. Those are they people that can tell you exactly where things lie. In calling today the stated that they had not received my countersignatures response and had posted another request sometime last week. I believe they may be based out of N.Ireland as each and every-time i speak with someone from that team, they have lovely Irish accents.

zuluswede

I finally received my son's passport today at 4pm (EST) via DHL. I checked the website yesterday and it was showing the same status it had been since the application was received. Today it says "dispatched". I know the thing says "Beta" but that's really "Extracting the Michael". Anyhoo, don't lose hope, I think the "complaint" probably did some good. Best wishes for your son's passport arrival soon.

misterchievous

Good stuff Zuluswede! Mine too has been switched to dispatched. however no sign of it just yet. If possible do you remember which courier and service level was used to deliver yours? Hopefully I can use that to understand when I should expect mine. The fellows at HMPO are apparently unable to provide details pertaining to tracking numbers and couriers used

zuluswede

Sorry for the delay in replying... hopefully you have your son's passport now. DHL (express I think) delivered my passport... still waiting for the supporting docs!! Again, not holding my breath! All the best.