hungryhorace

Your UK passport was stamped when entering the UK? That's not at all common. What's to stop you simply travelling to Britain on your US passport (that you still have in your possession)?

g1ant

My application was received on May 13th. This morning it shows as Dispatched.

So, it took a week in the mail to Durham, two weeks to process and print and however long it takes DHL to ship it over.

I'm not complaining about that.

g1ant

Final time line: simple renewal, no foreign passport sent, new pictures look like the old ones except I've aged 20 years in the last 10.

Online application: April 30th
Old passport and declaration mailed: May 2nd
Documents received at Durham: May 9th
Application being processed: May 12th
Date of issue (from inside passport): May 24th
Dispatched: May 27th
Passport arrived in Texas via DHL: May 29th.

So the actual time from Durham receiving my old passport until the new one was shipped was only 18 days.

There has been some major pulling out of fingers in the passport office this month is seems.

The Horticulturalist

I see there is an email address at the end for a reporter from the Daily Mail:

Have you had to cancel a holiday because of passport office delays? Tell us. Email [email protected]

There seems to be no acknowledgement in the article by the powers that be that increased applications may also be due to the repatriation of passport services back to the UK.

I hope you will all email them your horror stories! the 35% passport cost savings have likely been lost for those who have had to pay for constant phone calls and expensive courier services.

thirtytoes

I hope those fingers really are pulled! :-D

Did Durham update your online status application to reflect the timeline you posted above? Prior to sending the declaration off, estimated processing time was 4wks and changed to 6wks by the time they received my docs. I phoned in and was told I definitely won't receive pp before six wks of the pp office receiving the docs -- which is cutting it really close for me. Poor planning on my part but I'm hoping I'll be one of the lucky ones. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out when/if I should go about getting an emergency travel document from my local consulate office and forfeit the application As an aside, I was told if I do not hear anything within two weeks of receiving docs, it's a good thing in that it was an indication of having no query with my application.

Online application May 20th
Declaration Mailed May 27th
Documents Received May 28th (per fedex tracking)
Application being process May 29th (online status)

travel date July 6th :-( So, yes -- cutting it really close....

g1ant

Not a lot of indication. Mine went from Awaiting information from the applicant to Processing to Dispatched.

Given my timeline, I think you should be OK if its a straightforward renewal.

expat81

The only way to expedite things is to call/pester a human being not a drone in the useless call centre.

Customer Service 01913707135

Also 01913707141

Fax the overseas team on 01913707122

thirtytoes

Thank you! Good to have the phone numbers :-D

thirtytoes

Rang the helpline.... I was told my application passed initial inspection (whatever that means) and, "most likely" would have been flagged already if there was a problem with the documents or photos. It is now sitting in a pending file for the exam team. After it has been approved, it can take 7-10 days to be printed and sent out but usually sooner than that.

I was told that an emergency travel passport would not jeopardize or cause me to forfeit my application which is good news. Other than that, I do not know anything more than what I did before I called. I tried the other phone numbers posted (thank you again) but they just keep ringing and I don't get through to anyone. Will be calling again in a week.

thirtytoes

The Telegraph reports of delays too....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/exp...eadaches.html:

g1ant

To be fair, they have only had your declaration a week. and it looks like you wasted a week between applying online and mailing your declaration.

If I was a betting man, which I am, its 1/10 on that you will get your passport in plenty of time.

thirtytoes

I agree. Getting my passport before my travel dates is not looking likely and do not arguing with your point. I accept that I left this late but I was not in a position to apply earlier, like many other ex-pats, and I was not aware of the delays before applying. At the time of my application the gov. web said at least 4 weeks. When I rang the helpline I was told by 4 weeks even after I questioned the agent from all angles. When I last renewed my passport from the U.S., in peak season it took less than 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I had no reason to believe people were experiencing delays until I came here and saw all the threads in the various forums.

A week passed because I had a great deal of trouble getting appropriate photos. Oh boy, that was a frustrating experience :-( Air travel was booked after I spoke to a person on the help line and after I had checked the estimated processing time. I had no idea that there had been so many complaints. Lesson learned. Now, I have taken the step to make an appointment for an emergency travel document with my local consulate office. Fingers crossed that will come through without any problem.

So that there is no misunderstanding about the intent of my posts, I am sharing my experience so that others can learn from it and be informed consumers. The bottom line is, applying for a passport outside the U.K. has become a much convoluted process and it makes travel plans near impossible, and a huge problem for those who have to travel for business, family and health emergencies.

I will update my application process within my original post so others can make better decisions with their own applications.

thirtytoes

Here's a link for a pdf file of how to apply for an emergency doc.
https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...ETD_web_13.pdf

Here's a link on how to contact your nearest consulate office for an emergency travel document.
https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations

I booked my appointment for emergency document online and received confirmation the same day via email.

g1ant

NO!!! I'm betting that you WILL get your passport in time.
I'm on your side mate.

We are going to Athens in July and my missus didn't send her renewal off until May 30th. Her declaration got to Durham on Monday at its still in the Processing stage. Bearing in mind that mine went from Application being processed to Delivered in 17 days I think we will get it, and I think you will too. Your was already being processed before she even sent hers.

Her US passport was running out in October just one day short of three months from when we will be leaving Greece, so that is getting renewed now just in case. That was applied for last week and printed yesterday, so we are covered either way.

You are going to be fine. Keep us posted.

thirtytoes

That's encouraging. Lets all keep our fingers and toes crossed I guess I like better odds than 1/10 in getting my passport in time ;-) I will keep my post current and let you all know how my process goes.