British Expats - Passport Delays

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Re: Passport Delays

Congratulations to those who have received your passports!

Here is my timeline for a 'simple' renewal of a NON expired passport (travel dates/flights set for July 2011)......

*Received at the British Embassy in Washington DC on April 26th, 2011.
*CC charged on June 1st, 2011 (5+ weeks after receipt)
*Several calls and $ to Careline:thumbdown:
*No passport as of today:(

Reading other posts it does not appear that the passports are being processed in the order they are received?? I submitted my application when the website indicated a 4 week turnaround, no mention at that time of 'from the time cc is charged'. Had the British Consul been responsible and updated their information when it became obvious that there was a backlog, I would not have sent my application as my passport had not expired!

Hope everyone gets there passports soon:fingerscrossed:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simosa88 (Post 9466328)

OK, here we go...

Fortunately, I got my passport today, one day before travel date. Application arrived on May 2nd, cc charged June 5th - so that is just under 8 weeks to get a lost passport replaced. I consider myself extremely lucky, having read some horror stories on here and my sympathy goes out to everyone who is biting their nails off.

This is what I believe will give you the best chance of getting your passport back in time.

1. Write a letter to Washington passport centre explaining your situation and how desperate you are.

2. Call careline every few days (depending on how desperate you are). The key here is speaking to the right people and calling at the right time. I don't know why different employees are able to expedite/put a rush on your application and others are not. It is pretty ridiculous and unprofessional.
Example - One woman told me there was 'no chance' of getting my passport back in time, 'No rush could be put on it until atleast 6 weeks after payment' and 'there was nothing she could do because I was on their system' and this was 2 weeks ago. Then, this guy Peter I got the 2 days after that was the complete opposite saying ' you are still not on the system but I am going to get this sorted for you sir, I will escalate to washington right away'.

That is just one example. Even before 2 weeks ago, I spoke to Peter a few times and he has always kept me calm and said he would help but the woman always seems to say 'sorry sir no chance'

Honestly, if you get Peter, Ian or Scott you are sorted - they are amazing and I wish I could send them some greygoose. If it is a scottish woman, hang up the phone straight away.

3. If you have NOT sent off you passport application, then DO NOT DO IT. Send it to someone in the UK and they can get it back within 1 week for you. There is nothing that says you can't get a third party to get it for you and even if it was against the rules, how could they prove this?

GOOD LUCK PEOPLE.

Re: Passport Delays

A strange thing happened....after a 9 1/2 week wait, and just a few hours after joining this forum .... my passport arrived!:rofl:

I have had many conversations over the past 9 1/2 weeks with Careline to no avail. However, the last conversation I had with them was 3 days ago, I was told that they would put a note on my account to 'escalate' - I have read tons of posts with very similar stories and still no passport-so I was not particulary hopeful. Perhaps this was just a coincidence or maybe the 'escalation' did work as my passort arrived 3 days later?

Good luck to those still waiting.

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by usres (Post 9467033)

Congratulations!! there is still hope for the rest of us :)

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by usres (Post 9467033)

CONGRATULATIONS!!! That's fantastic news!! :thumbsup:

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by usres (Post 9467033)

A strange thing happened....after a 9 1/2 week wait, and just a few hours after joining this forum .... my passport arrived!:rofl:

Congrats, and I hope you will stick around BE now that you have found us :)

Re: Passport Delays

Yay for your passport, congrats! :)

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sue (Post 9467052)

Congrats, and I hope you will stick around BE now that you have found us :)

I got mine yesterday, after all the fuss I have kicked up. I'll be sticking around, and I am still sending emails and making phone calls trying to get answers and trying to speed things up.

Good luck all!

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by LP9 (Post 9467077)

OMG THAT'S AWESOME!!! SOOOO happy for you! I just got international calling capabilities put on my home phone line so I'll be calling the "dontcare" line today. Wish me luck!

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by LP9 (Post 9467077)

That's great stuff! Well deserved considering all the work you've put in.

What was your start-to-finish timeline?

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by LP9 (Post 9467077)

Congrats. :) Must be a big relief for you and glad you are sticking around :)

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by LP9 (Post 9467077)

Great news.... with all the work you've done you really deserve this one.:thumbup:

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by aml1982 (Post 9467134)

That's great stuff! Well deserved considering all the work you've put in.

What was your start-to-finish timeline?

5 weeks, 2 days total.

Mailed May 21st
Arrived May 24th
Charged Jun 27th
Passport received Jun 29th

But I had some extenuating circumstances, and caused a huge amount of fuss to get it.

Now I just need a cheap flight.... thinking I will fly to Canada and leave from there.

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by LP9 (Post 9467177)

Well done on getting your passport and for the website. It's crazy the only way to get your passport back is to make a fuss. We are leaving tomorrow, ETD is in process.

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by LP9 (Post 9467177)

Still gives me some hope for my son's application, and I am more than capable of making fuss if need be :) (I've been tweeting and e-mailing folk left, right and centre about this). We still have 8 weeks until we travel, so I don't need to worry too much yet, but I won't leave it long until I start pestering the careline. It's not like we can stay in Canada and wait for our boy's passport to arrive when our visas her expire and we have jobs to go to in the UK.

Re: your flights, I don't know how cheap it will be to come up to Canada and head across from here. The only cheap airline (out of Toronto, at least) is Air Transat, and I'm not sure if it is cheap enough to offset a flight from Florida up to here. Maybe keep an eye on Orbitz and other websites for some last minute deals?

Congrats again, you've done a great job spreading awareness of what is going on in DC.

Re: Passport Delays

Quote:

Originally Posted by LP9 (Post 9467177)

Check webjet.com. They have some seriously cheap flights to london and I think they have a sale that ends tonight. Last I saw they had one way flights to London from NYC on Virgin (non stop) for $370 incl. alll taxes and fees for September. We paid $500+ one way for our flights in August. Same tickets would have cost us $1400+ if we'd booked with Virgin directly.