swingingvolley

Apologies for all of these itty bitty posts,,,can anyone direct me to the enquiry page on the passport website, apparently you fill it in to enquire about the status of you passport processing...hope I haven't got the wrong end of the stick!
Thanks again

jamestravis

This is the user Dean that you've seen mentioned. http://britishexpats.com/forum/member.php?u=93085

British Consul

The enquiry form was on the website when the Passport Centre had a normal than usual backlog. We decided to take it down because it was being abused with bogus enquiries that were diverting our staff from their jobs.

You can call our passport information helpline and they will tell you whether your passport is in the system. Things to note: the recent snow in Washington DC has meant that mail deliveries were delayed and, as a result, there is a backlog of passport applications that haven't been enetered into the system. They will be entered soon, and you should receive your passport within 4 weeks of it being received at the Passport Centre.

Dean

British Consul

Customers were getting confused by the 10 day processing time. Nothing has changed but we're attempting to manage expectations. The Passport Centre has 10 days to process a routine application from the time payment is taken (this doesn't include first time applications) but some customers thought that they would receive a passport within 10 days of sending in their application. If you send a properly completed application, with the correct fee, you should expect to receive it back within 4 weeks (i.e. allowing for the time it takes to get to the Passport Centre by mail, 10 days processing, and the time it takes to get back to you by mail).

Hope this helps.

Dean

swingingvolley

Thank you to everyone that responded in such a speedy manner. I thought I was going crazy looking for that enquiry form on the embassy website. My application went in second week of Jan so we are at the 5 WEEK mark now. Fingers crossed we'll get it soon!

Santo El

Hi, I was searching around the web and found this thread and I thought I would post to see if I can get some insight.

My mother in law sent her passport application from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico on December 15 2009 together with authorization to take payment from a credit card, the application was returned with a letter on January 11 2010 which stated that the passport office was unable to take payment. The application was resubmitted with a money order to the value of 278 dollars and sent by UPS (again from Guadalajara) on January 18 2010 using overnight delivery.

Well, we just found out that the credit card was in fact charged the full amount the first time (the credit card statement appears as January 26), basically my mother in law has been charged twice already for her passport, that wouldn’t be so bad if she had the passport by now. She was supposed to travel more than 2 weeks ago to visit her daughter (my wife) and our new born twin daughters, she already missed their birthday and I’ve had to reschedule her trip twice.

The worst thing is, we’ve already called the helpline several times and they always say the same thing, that my mother in law’s application is not yet in the system and that I should call later, I already escalated the issue last Monday but haven’t had any news, called back on Friday and they said the same thing that they don’t have any info yet.

This is really frustrating, we have no passport, we’ve spent more than $1000 dollars between flight changes, passport fees and calls and we don’t even know if the passport is in the queue. It has been more than two months since the first application was sent and one month since the second one, I'm not sure what else we can do.

ian-mstm

What citizenship is your MIL? What is her status in Mexico? Which country's passport is she trying to get? Where did she send it?


She can dispute the charge with the credit card company - especially if she has proof that payment was initially refused.



It would have been prudent to not make travel plans prior to her actually having her passport in her hands. But... it's water under the bridge now.

Ian

Santo El

She has both Mexican and British citizenships; she is trying to get her British passport and she sent the application to the British embassy in Washington DC.

Yes, that is what we’ll probably do but I thought it may be prudent to wait until we get her passport.

I agree, I guess I was too optimistic but as you said it is water under the bridge now.

Alan

JAJ

Where is she looking to travel to? Can she use her Mexican passport?

Santo El

Seattle, USA. She can't use her Mexican passport, she never applied for a visa since it’s easier to travel using her British passport.

Jerseygirl

Why would she need a visa if she has both UK and Mexican citizenships?

Santo El

Correct, she doesn't need one since she can travel using her British passport (through the visa waiver program) but she doesn't have a British passport because she is still waiting for the embassy to issue her a new one (please see my original post) that is the whole problem.

ian-mstm

I was unaware that Mexican citizens needed a visa to enter the US. Wow... I've learned something new today.

Ian

JAJ

Mexican passport holders need a visa for the USA, Canada, Australia and Brazil. But other than that, the Mexican passport offers fairly good visa free travel, including the UK, Ireland, the Schengen zone of Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and most of South America.

(unofficial)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_re...xican_citizens

Brit78

Hello All,

New to the site here and have a passport question for the experts (Dean). I have read all about the delays and am just curious as to what my expectations should be. The turnaround time is stated to be 4 weeks. My dilema is that my passport will have been received by the embassy 3 weeks ago tomorrow and my credit card has still not been charged. I keep reading that the 4 weeks begins when the card is charged, but going on 3 weeks now with no charge. This seems a bit ridiculous to me. Let me know and thank you for your help.

Tim