Re: Passport Delays
 

Thanks...and one final question Dean, if my (or anyone else's for that matter) passport application isn't showing up on the careline electronic system but my card was charged, what does that mean? does it take time to show up on the system? Thank you so much for helping us stress heads out... this is torture

Re: Passport Delays
 

Dean
If your app was rejected because of incorrect filling and is sent back for adjustments do you have to pay the full fee again when you send it back with the corrections?

Re: Passport Delays
 

starting to freak out. careline keeps saying they are escalating and making "urgent" my application, but it is stuck at data entered. application received march 21st, card charged april 13th, but nothing since. I am due to travel in a week. Am I SOL?

Re: Passport Delays
 

> starting to freak out. careline keeps saying they are escalating and making
> "urgent" my application, but it is stuck at data entered. application received
> march 21st, card charged april 13th, but nothing since. I am due to travel in
> a week. Am I SOL?

We are in the same boat - my wife is flying out 6/20 - applied Mar 22, started processing Apr 15. The escalating and red flagging careline does appears to be absolute BS from our experience (they did the escalating on June 1, upgrading to 'RED' June 8th with absolutely ZERO effect - no calls back that were promised etc - eventually on Fri 6/10 we got the 'tough shit' answer from them - 'it takes a week to print, and yours isn't printed'. Call the British consulate and ask for an appointment for an ETD (emergency travel document). Most likely (if Washington DC especially) you will have to leave a message and they will/should call you back. Download the application form (pdf) for an ETD from the ukinusa website, and get your stuff together - you will need 2 passport photos (we had spares from our original passport application) and ID etc (green card, birth cert? etc), plus the form filled out (or in!).

My wife's appt is in a couple of days.

Good luck!!

Re: Passport Delays
 

Sorry, forgot to say - the fee for the ETD is $157 on top of what you already paid for your passport, and in addition to whatever you had to pay careline ($2.50 per minute). Had I known, we probably could have paid for the ETD with the $$$ we wasted on hold to careline...

Re: Passport Delays
 

For anyone who has dual nationality/2 passports - Get a visa for the spare passport. That's my plan for getting to the US, as I have a Malaysian passport as well although I am worried that they will be a lot stricter with letting me in. Why oh why do we have to go through this passport hell? I have given up on the UK one for now. Careline have already robbed 40 pounds from my account.

Re: Passport Delays
 

Does anyone know what happens if you have to travel/move before they have finished processing the passport? Can you contact the processing centre and get them to send the passport to a different address?

We are moving back to the UK at the end of August, my wife already has a concrete start date for her new job, her and my Canadian visas end at that time, and our lease will be up, so we aren't in a situation where we can wait travel. If push comes to shove we can use my son's Canadian passport for travel, but would the Washington passport centre send his UK passport (and return our documents) to our new UK address?

(We are applying for our son's first UK passport, both of our own UK passports are current and valid).

Re: Passport Delays
 

I am trying to make an appointment at the Chicago consulate for ETD's. I travel in the next week or so and I have left a message with the automated system - does anyone know how long it may take for them to get back to me? Or if it is worth going down to the consulate and just standing in line with all the required documents.

Re: Passport Delays
 

Have just stumbled across this thread and like most of the posters am greatly concerned by what I'm reading!

We live in Miami. My wife and son are ready to go back to UK for the summer. I haven't bought them air tickets yet as am still waiting for my son's passport.

It needed renewing. I sent it to Washington at the start of April.
I got a call on April 20th from a lady in the embassy who said I couldn't pay with a cheque (my fault). I gave her a credit card and they processed the payment April 20th.

Still on passport. I've called Careline twice, and they told me on Friday June 10th that the embassy would call me back. Not heard anything from the embassy yet.

I could take them to the British consulate in Orlando but that would involve extra expense, time off work etc.

Please can somebody advise how best to resolve?

Re: Passport Delays
 

TimeLine:
Passport docs for renewal delivered May 12th
Called Careline June 12th - nothing in the system.
June 14th found this web community and some hope. Cheers!

Re: Passport Delays
 

This situation is unbelievably ridiculous...months to renew a passport?
And stating 4-6 weeks on the website?

And Careline is next to useless. If someone should call back why aren't they doing it?
Is there no accountability at all?

Someone should be fired over this incompetency.

Re: Passport Delays
 

Does anyone know how long it takes once the passport is ready. We are on week 10 of waiting for my daughters?

Re: Passport Delays
 

Actually I only need a photo copy of it so I can send for my visa? Do you think they'd send me a copy of it?

Re: Passport Delays
 

UNDERSTATEMENT!!

Re: Passport Delays
 

They called us back same day from DC. They say appointment REQUIRED so not sure if just showing up would work(?)