Shazban

OMG!!!!!!

UPS JUST arrived. We got our passport!!!

I can hardly breath!

oh my giddy auntie. Jeebus. What a freaking relief!!

Here's my timeline:

Mailed application - May 17th
Application recvd in DC - May 19th
CC Charged - June 22nd
1st call to Careline for escalation - July 1st
2nd call to Careline to check up on escalation - July 8th
Passport delivered - July 13th


There's hope people, there's hope. Here's wishing you all get your passports on time to travel.

BellaE

Congratulations! As for me I'm getting ready to call Careline a second time (my CC was charged on June 3).

loobylou1967

OMG - just got the passport from UPS - cannot believe it!!!!!

debby66

hey..good morning..
well done and congrats to you guys who got their passports today.
im so happy for you.
IM RINGING CARELINE TODAY....
maybe they might have some update for me.

Train Set

10 May – Passport received by embassy (web site quoted a 4 – 6 week processing time)
13 June – Payment taken from my credit card
27 June – Called help line and was told that my application hadn’t even started processing
6 July – Again called help line as was told that the application still wasn’t at processing stage and a message was sent to the embassy asking them to contact me with a possible date of receipt
13 July – Passport arrives

Hurahhhh!!!!!

Shazban

Congratulations to everyone who received their passports today. This is such exciting news! Looks like 'something' shifted in DC!

debby66

Ok quick update...
Got through to careline really quick.spoke to a really lovely girl called Gemma,she was so helpful,better than the previous girlwho sounded like she was reading from a script.
Gemma has escalated my kids renewals and we should have them back within 2 weeks,so fingers crossed that they arrive before the 10th august.
she said if we havent got them back by 29th july,call careline again,but she said washington will only contact me if theres any problems.
I triple checked the renewal forms before sending them so im hoping they are all ok.
timeline-sent 8th june
arrived-9th june
payment taken-1st july
Now we wait.........
Thanks for all the useful advice from you guys on here...it relieves the stress levels a bit...

sselbie

Ok, I am reading the above with a little hope as our dates are the same xoxo

I have not worked in over 2 months as I need my passport and I have been so stressed, loosing sleep lately as money has run out and I can't pay my bills....it's just been a nightmare they have no idea how they are screwing up folks lives and of course nothing can be done about it.

I sent mine in
MAY 17th
June 20th money taken

I now just pray as I cannot afford to call Careline again and both previous times they were no help

aml1982

sselbie, I remember you saying that you need a passport for work - contact your MP in the UK, explain how desperate your situation is, and ask them if they can intervene. If you're not sure who it is, it will be the MP for the last address you lived at, or otherwise you could maybe contact the one for the area in which your family in the UK live.

sselbie

Can I do that if I don't live in the UK anymore?

aml1982

Yes. You're still British, so you're still entitled to help from our government. I sent an email to the MP for the constituency I grew up in (and where my parents still reside) letting him know of the trouble people were having, and of my family's situation. He was pretty shocked to hear what was going on in DC, and he sent a letter to the relevant minister, and to the ambassador in DC, to see if our case could get escalated. The next time I rang the careline, I got instant help (still not sure if it was just luck that I got a helpful agent, or whether the letter did it's job and our case had been flagged on their system).

Put simply, it can't hurt to have an MP in your corner pleading your case. I was told that I should contact the one for the constituency I lived in immediately before moving out here, but my Dad had forwarded an email I sent him to his MP, and given the time constraints of our situation (we're moving back to the UK in a little over a month and my baby son still doesn't have a British passport) and the fact that I grew up in that constituency, he agreed to help us.

sselbie

Thanks so much for the advice I shall go and look into it now....My pal just let me use their phone and they said they would send my case to the Examiner?...well let's see what happens

Sloegin

Gosh...I'm not the only one having a nightmare with this!
I sent my son's non-expired passport off for renewal in early May as the IRS refused to accept my (first US) tax filing because his passport had 5 not 6 months left to run. I'm now being hounded by the company doing my filing who are being hounded by the IRS but my hands are tied because of this ridiculous passport delay.

sselbie

So, I Found my MP and shot them an e-mail so lets see what comes of that...Thanks again for your advice xoxox

br1tch1ck

Hi everyone! I finally received my passport in the mail today!!

First time poster, but I've been lurking for a few weeks. I just wanted to share my experience with you all

First of all I'd like to say what a great forum you have here. I came across it as I was searching for information regarding my passport application some time ago. The information provided by everyone here has been a great help and comfort to me while awaiting my passport renewal. I will definitely continue reading through all the interesting stuff on the website now I've found you.

So here is my timeline for a name change passport renewal:

April 11 - Mailed application overnight via USPS
April 12 - Received in DC
May 11 - Cashed money order
July 13 - Passport arrives

- Total of 13 weeks

I did not call careline once. After reading all the other accounts of most people having a bad experience with this and how much it cost them, I decided to just wait it out and see what happens. I did say to myself though that I would maybe try and call this week if I didn't hear any news. I'm glad I waited on that though. Who knows, maybe if I had called them my passport would have arrived sooner. Or maybe not, but I hated the thought of them getting any more money out of me.

The sad thing was, I lost out on my first vacation home to England in over 5 years because of this delay, and I lost the money spent on the flight tickets too. I, unfortunately like many people here waited to renew my passport until it was absolutely necessary because of financial reasons, and I still couldn't afford it at the time I applied. Looking back now I wish I had applied months ago, but since it stated clearly on the website it would take up to 4 weeks to receive my passport I thought I would have enough time. I guess not lol. I was just unlucky to apply at a time when they were clearly unable to cope with the demand.

After all is said & done, I am just happy to receive my passport finally. I just sat down and cried tears of joy after I opened the package. It's just such a relief and I'm so happy. Now I can relax and think about booking another vacation to see my family and friends as soon as I can find a good deal. I wish everybody else the best of luck in getting their passports and for those of you who have recently received theirs, congrats!