Train Set

Unfortunately no such luck. It's still sitting with no work having been done on it. On the plus side I did call Careline and it has been escalated today, although I'm not sure if escalation has any sort of impact on the processing time.

EmmPeez

So sorry to hear of all the folks with delays thru the DC passport office.

Can I ask whether it is possible to apply direct to the UK passport office when living in Canada and whether that is quicker in anyones experience?

Also is there a problem in travelling with a passport that expires a few days after you return home? I have a trip planned 5-18 Oct and my passport expires Oct 23rd. I am so reluctant to send in for a new one and risk it not coming back in time. Oct 5th sounds a long way off, but its only 12 weeks and that seems to be the average delay at the moment.

What are your thought folks??

Jerseygirl

You could fly to the UK and apply in person for a same day person whilst you're there. There are posts about this in this thread...they'll give you a good idea on the procedure.

Do you have a Canadian PP you could use?

sachminu

Well at least you were intelligent enough to visit this forum before submitting your passport. If I had known before about the delays I would not have submitted my passport which expires in Jan 2012. I just ruined my summer travel plans. I could have submitted in late Oct, after coming back from my trip.
Anyway, yes it is cutting it quite close to your trip. Though I think you do need a 6 month valid passport before you travel anywhere...but I maybe wrong and not sure if they check at the airport anyway.

EmmPeez

Unfortunately no Canadian PP yet

Well maybe I'll visit my family in September in the UK and get it renewed there. Could save some stress.

Jerseygirl

Sorry I assumed you were going to the UK during your October trip.

I don't think you will have a problem going back into Canada with only a few days left until your UK PP expires...especially if you have a Canadian visa. BTW I would take a copy of your visa (if it's detachable as my daughter's is I would remove it) and the photo page of your UK PP before you send it for renewal.

EmmPeez

No problem and thanks. The October trip is to France and Italy, so as they are European Union maybe not a problem with an about to expire UK PP ...

As long as they let me back into Canada with only a few days left on the UKPP, I'll be good. I have Canadian perm residence.

Still some lingering doubts as I hear it is the airline that insists on the 6 months thing - something about them being fined by the immigration authorities ... any news on whether DC are increasing staffing to reduce the backlog?

BellaE

Hi everyone,
I wish I had found this forum earlier...
I just missed a trip (Youth Group pilgrimage to Iona) that we had been planning for nearly two years. I had a beautiful valid passport with 5 years left on it -- and a very cute new dog. On April 27th, the dog ate my passport! Well, he chewed the important page, with my picture. As my trip was planned for June 17th, I decided it was better to be safe than sorry (the website said 4 weeks for processing!) and sent the passport in to be renewed. Needless to say, I didn't go to Iona -- and had erroneous info on the ETD, so I didn't apply for one, thinking it was only for death-in-family types of emergencies and only for one-way travel. Also had heard that Careline was no help at all.
My cc was charged June 3rd -- and I have changed my ticket for a trip to Scotland on August 11. Do you think I should try calling Careline? I really don't need to pay that airline change fee a second time!

SuzyPhillips

Oh no, you poor thing, that sucks. (My dog ate my husband's birth certificate once before- right before he needed it to get his passport!) I think you should call Careline. It seems to depend on who you get as to whether they will actually do anything but I do think it's worth calling. What a shame about the info on the ETD
Good luck, I do think that you'll get your passport by your trip.

brax

Thanks to this forum I found out about the delays.

Here is our success timeline:

May 2 - Sent 1 renewal and 3 first time applications
May 3 - Arrived in DC
May 30 - Booked flight to UK for July 11.
June 7 - Payment taken
June 18 - No sign of passports - Found forum
June 20 - Called careline - told to call again in a week
June 24 - Sent letter by Fedex to passport office - asking for remewal to be given priority.
June 27 - Letter arrived
June 27 - Called careline - "R" added to reference number
July 5 - First delivery attempt (we were out)
July 6 - Four passports arrived.

Incidentally the processing of the passports was done on June 28 according to the UPS tracking info.

It does look like things have sped up. I can't tell if my letter or calls to careline had an effect. Just happy to have the passports.

Thanks to Liverpool's number 9 and all the others who have made a fuss. Thanks to the staff to the passport office for getting our passports to us.

If you think you need an ETD then make an appointment. I just cancelled my wife's.

Good luck.

Simon

eanne06

I love the new video on the ukinusa wesbite. It totally justifies their incompetence.

http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/help-fo...als/passports/

EmmPeez

Hey there

Good to hear that things speeded up, for you at least! Be good to hear from others who submitted in May/June what their timelines are.

I just submitted mine for renewal with a travel date of October 5th - 12 weeks and 2 days to go ... eek!! Worst case and its a trip to Ottawa for an ETD!

sachminu

Yes just looked at the video...no wonder they are having delays.

BellaE

it's all about saving money -- not a word about customer service.

aml1982

Yeah, I've seen that video. It's the reason I don't accept that they are having delays because of "unprecedented demand" like they claim. This move was planned, and they knew they were going to be handling the applications from all over North and South America. They should have been aware of the approximate number of expats residing in the Americas, and they should have been able to estimate based on previous years the number of applications that went into the embassies/consulates over here. It was just poorly executed, and they have clearly been understaffed and under-prepared.