Go Back  British Expats > Living & Moving Abroad > USA
Reload this Page >

Passport Delays

Passport Delays

Old Jan 5th 2010, 4:18 pm
  #421  
 
meauxna's Avatar
 
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
meauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Passport Delays

geoffreybrooks: I offered you this thread for actualy help getting your passport tracked down, not for some off topic rant about border runs and a political statement. Please stay on the topic and read the thread to see if you can get some help in solving the passport problem.
The world's problems will have to be discussed elsewhere.
meauxna is offline  
Old Jan 6th 2010, 5:28 am
  #422  
Just Joined
 
Joined: Dec 2009
Location: Kingston, Ontario Canada
Posts: 11
jewels391234 is just really nicejewels391234 is just really nicejewels391234 is just really nicejewels391234 is just really nicejewels391234 is just really nicejewels391234 is just really nicejewels391234 is just really nicejewels391234 is just really nice
Default Re: Passport Delays

Originally Posted by Boodles
Hi there,

Just a shout out to the British Embassy in Washington, I received my passport today, it took 4 weeks...for a renewal application sent from Vancouver, BC. Canada. I thought, in the spirit of fair play, after so many complaints and negative comments I would like to say, job well done, considering it was over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Wish I got mine that fast and I live closer to Washington then you. Its been 14 weeks for me and nothing. I cant understand why some have got their passport and some and put on the back burner. What if one of my family dies and I have to go back to England. Just because you havent booked travel shouldnt hinder the process.
I am happy for you that you got your passport so fast. Just I think the fustration of all of us is the random way in which they process applications
jewels391234 is offline  
Old Jan 6th 2010, 11:53 am
  #423  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 59
geoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nice
Default Re: Passport Delays

Meauxna

There is no way to "track it down". See previous posting. Fourteen weeks!
geoffreybrooks is offline  
Old Jan 6th 2010, 12:23 pm
  #424  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Location: Hamilton, Canada
Posts: 73
Wooglin is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: Passport Delays

Call Careline and ask them to escalate your application. I did this twice. Careline also sent a message for someone to contact me from the Passport Office, and they did. There are ways to track the application down, but it takes a bit of persistence.
Wooglin is offline  
Old Jan 6th 2010, 4:44 pm
  #425  
 
meauxna's Avatar
 
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
meauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond reputemeauxna has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Passport Delays

Originally Posted by geoffreybrooks
Meauxna

There is no way to "track it down". See previous posting. Fourteen weeks!
You clearly can't be bother to "see entire thread" as recommended to you before. Must be more fun to be right than have a solution.
meauxna is offline  
Old Jan 6th 2010, 5:49 pm
  #426  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 59
geoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nice
Default Re: Passport Delays

Meauxne

If you enter my name in Wikipedia, you will see the genre of research in which I have specialized in my career, particularly during the validity of my expiring passport.

Because of a serious incident with a "friendly Secret Service" involving the last-mentioned book, in which I had to delete two chapters or die, and the intervention of the British authorities to prevent publication of a similar manuscript in September this year based on even better evidence, it is my attorney's opinion that the problem for national security is a fact I know from more than 65 years ago, and which may have a bearing on the present terrorist climate.

The passport delay in my case will probably be directly linked to the foregoing, since this is my first passport renewal (1999-2009) since it all began. On attorney's advice at this stage I have to make an almost immediate decision. Though I am grateful to those who suggested lines I should follow, regrettably Careline, or a four week wait for Washington to reply, fall outside the time frame, and thus the decision makes itself.
geoffreybrooks is offline  
Old Jan 6th 2010, 6:04 pm
  #427  
Homebody
 
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: HOME
Posts: 23,174
Elvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Passport Delays

Originally Posted by meauxna
geoffreybrooks: I offered you this thread for actualy help getting your passport tracked down, not for some off topic rant about border runs and a political statement. Please stay on the topic and read the thread to see if you can get some help in solving the passport problem.
The world's problems will have to be discussed elsewhere.
WTF ???

"some off topic rant about border runs and a political statement" - you are way out of order!!

The poster made a very legitimate complaint about how an expats' life in South America is jeopardised due to the inefficiency of the UK passport service for expats served by the embassy in the US.

Having to wait more than 3 months for a passport renewal is unacceptable, whichever way you look at it.
Elvira is offline  
Old Jan 7th 2010, 3:25 pm
  #428  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 59
geoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nice
Default Re: Passport Delays

My mother, 89, who had been ill for some time, passed away yesterday afternoon. My wife here in Argentina pointed out ruefully that if I wanted to travel to England for the funeral I could not do so since I have no passport, and I also have no money for the flight, since I have no passport to change my pension cheques.

It is not quite correct to say I cannot go to England: the local Embassy in Buenos Aires "will be able to arrange an emergency passport for you" the brochure says. This is a travel document and not an identity document. Once in Britain there is no guarantee that I would ever be able to leave without having the current passport under consideration in Washington in my physical possession.

Armed with knowledge for my earlier careers in Britain in law enforcement, I have a theory about the delays. I do hope this theory will not be misinterpreted as a political statement, which it is not meant to be.

What was the purpose of moving the UK passport issuing process in the Americas to Washington DC? It was not "to improve customer service" but to coordinate the anti-terror organisations of Britain and the United States. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office wants to know what British people are in the Americas, and whether they present a risk to the United States while there.

It seems to me highly likely that when the passport renewal application arrives at the British Embassy, it goes immediately to the US/UK intelligence centre, wherever that happens to be in Washington. The UK Special Branch list will be consulted for the applicant's name. If the name appears, the file will be sent for or raised and the person investigated. Depending on the problem, the investigation might last a day or months.

There may be a Special Branch file with your name on it because of some minor event earlier in your life: you signed a petition, you appeared on a demonstration, you wrote complaining to a newspaper, your outspoken views on this or that subject were heard and reported, or in my own case as an author, a clandestine Waffen-SS archive in Czechoslovakia sent me some unsolicited papers to include in a book and this I attempted to do with the result that a mountain was made out of a molehill. Or you may be within a genuinely undesirable circle.

If your name does not appear, or once the security investigation terminates, your application will enter the production stream, the credit card will be debited and you can expect to receive the passport renewal within a few weeks. This explains the point made earlier in the thread that this debiting process indicates when a start is made to process the application.

This seems to me to be the most likely explanation for the unwarranted delays, but if I have it twisted, or somebody has a better idea I should be glad to read it.

Last edited by geoffreybrooks; Jan 7th 2010 at 3:40 pm. Reason: omitted a paragraph
geoffreybrooks is offline  
Old Jan 7th 2010, 3:30 pm
  #429  
Homebody
 
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: HOME
Posts: 23,174
Elvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond reputeElvira has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Passport Delays

Originally Posted by geoffreybrooks
My mother, 89, who had been ill for some time, passed away yesterday afternoon.
Very sorry for your loss.
Elvira is offline  
Old Jan 7th 2010, 3:46 pm
  #430  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 59
geoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nicegeoffreybrooks is just really nice
Default Re: Passport Delays

Dear Elvira
Thank you for your kind message of sympathy. Geoffrey Brooks
geoffreybrooks is offline  
Old Jan 12th 2010, 2:42 pm
  #431  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 40
sykes has a brilliant futuresykes has a brilliant futuresykes has a brilliant futuresykes has a brilliant futuresykes has a brilliant futuresykes has a brilliant future
Default Re: Passport Delays

Originally Posted by sykes
Hi all,

I sent in my passport on Dec 7th for a renewal. My CC was charged on the 21st.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, some business has just come up which forces me to travel to FL for work till about Jan 13th. Do you think my PP would be ready and delivered while I'm away? If this happens no one will be at home to sign for the PP. Should I call careline to have my PP sent to the address in FL where I will be working or ask them to delay mailing my PP until I return home?

thanks
just an update for everyone.

I am still in FL working. Today I received a call from UPS informing me that I had a nextday sig required package being delivered. I am returning home tomorrow and will be available for the third delivery attempt on Thursday. I did have the options to either delay delivery or change the delivery address both for a charge of $6.00. Fortunately I don't need to use either.

On the positive side I'm happy the PP office gave UPS my number so they could call me. Also the turn around time for my PP was around 5 weeks, not bad considering it was over Christmas.
sykes is offline  
Old Jan 12th 2010, 4:22 pm
  #432  
All or Nuffin'
 
Archibald_Leach's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Longview WA
Posts: 47
Archibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of lightArchibald_Leach is a glorious beacon of light
Default Re: Passport Delays

My experience

Sent off old passport + money order 11th December
Contacted Dean end of last week as I wanted to travel end of Jan
UPS delivered my new one this morning.

Huge thanks to Dean, exactly a month from start to finish, take a week out for xmas and new year. Time to start looking at flights!
Archibald_Leach is offline  
Old Jan 22nd 2010, 12:57 am
  #433  
Just Joined
 
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 3
riggbeck is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: Passport Delays

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, and tearing my hair out with Careline. I have the passport renewal ready to go except for a simple question about the passport photos. But Careline's number, 208-082-4721 (per the Passport website) just goes to this message, "Inactive laser voice mail account." Putting a 1 before the number doesn't help. Oh, I live in Seattle, if that makes a difference.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Calling the Embassy in DC is no use because you can't speak to a real person.

Any thoughts? And thanks in advance.
riggbeck is offline  
Old Jan 22nd 2010, 2:22 am
  #434  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Jun 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 102
Sharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to allSharron_ is a name known to all
Default Re: Passport Delays

Originally Posted by riggbeck
Hello,

I'm new to this forum, and tearing my hair out with Careline. I have the passport renewal ready to go except for a simple question about the passport photos. But Careline's number, 208-082-4721 (per the Passport website) just goes to this message, "Inactive laser voice mail account." Putting a 1 before the number doesn't help. Oh, I live in Seattle, if that makes a difference.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Calling the Embassy in DC is no use because you can't speak to a real person.

Any thoughts? And thanks in advance.
What's the question about the photo's. Someone here will probably be able to answer that for you.
Sharron_ is offline  
Old Jan 22nd 2010, 2:37 am
  #435  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Location: Hamilton, Canada
Posts: 73
Wooglin is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: Passport Delays

Originally Posted by riggbeck
Hello,

I'm new to this forum, and tearing my hair out with Careline. I have the passport renewal ready to go except for a simple question about the passport photos. But Careline's number, 208-082-4721 (per the Passport website) just goes to this message, "Inactive laser voice mail account." Putting a 1 before the number doesn't help. Oh, I live in Seattle, if that makes a difference.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Calling the Embassy in DC is no use because you can't speak to a real person.

Any thoughts? And thanks in advance.
Not to insult your intelligence, but are you dialing all the international numbers? 011 44 208 082 4721
I would try the number for Canadians as well. It couldn't hurt:

011 44 208 082 4722

Good Luck!!
Wooglin is offline  

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.