renu5idhu

lol yes, a gold star!!!

cheryl56

So glad to hear that passports are arriving for people...was starting to feel bad that I actually had mine. Only 3 more days before I get to taste good ole fish and chips and proper sausages again washed down with a proper cuppa tea

aml1982

I'm not going to lie, I hate you just a little bit right now

Hotscot

My card was charged on 17th June.

1. Do you think there's any chance I may receive the passport by 14th July? It's a renewal.

2. I know it's slim but I'm not sure...does calling Careline help expedite things in any manner?

LP9

1. Highly unlikely since they are still quoting 10 weeks from payment.

2. Juries still out to whether this actually helps or not.

aml1982

It seems unlikely, especially given the 4th July won't speed things up.

Regarding the careline, I don't know, I haven't reached that stage just yet. Lots of people report that the Careline promise to escalate their case, but whether or not they actually do, and whether or not them escalating it actually has an effect, still seem to be unanswered questions.

LP9

Definitely another spanner in the works.

I'm still waiting on a callback from the consulate team.

Anyone had a call returned on a weekend to date?

aml1982

No, although my wife just had a missed call from an unlisted number - we were wondering (hoping) if it was the payment team in DC calling for alternative payment details from us, after the card we originally authorised for our payment had to be cancelled. Been around three weeks since the application arrived in Washington, and from most accounts 3-4 weeks seems to be the time frame for the payment to be taken.

Edit - not sure about consulates, they tend to be Mon-Fri, 9-5 local time type places (which I imagine is the same for the passport processors, likely ruling out my above hopes). The careline is closed from roughly midnight on Friday until 7pm on Sunday, EST, so they won't be calling anyone.

Jerseygirl

Don't be daft.

I think Dean posted the working hours somewhere.

LP9

Well I thought maybe they might have a special team that works outside of normal hours for special cases. I suppose I should know better.

Hotscot

Are there any businessmen affected by this? What if you have to do regular travel back and forth...?

LP9

I would think the majority would do it in person or express in the UK if they are frequent travelers.

lansbury

They do, which Dean has also posted about on here in the past.

LP9

Well thats very cool.....makes me feel a little bit better about it.

pTeronaut

I don't know why I&PS D.C. don't work out how many they can process (by averaging out the best & worst case times) in three weeks and start sending a weeks worth of applications back to the UK for processing.

If the UK is nowhere near as stressed as the US regional office, surely it can stand to help pick up some of the US' slack.