Where's my passport ?
 

First of all .. hi guys .. been lurking for a while, thought i should jump in with both feet and actually create an account so that i can join in. Couple of things.

1. My passport was due to expire at the end of October. Like a good boy that i am, i went to the relevant website, got all of the correct details, filled out all of the correct paperwork, figured out how much the next installment of my US adventure was going to cost me - and saw the part on the site that said ...

1. How long will it take to process my passport application?

The Summer and the Winter holidays are the busiest periods of the year for issuing passports. We aim to process straightforward applications in 10 working days. First time applications, and those which do not contain all the supporting documents or the correct fee, will inevitably take longer. If you have a date by which you need the passport to travel, please enter this on page 1 of the passport form. The overall time taken to process a passport can be reduced by sending your application through an express mail company.

ten days i thought - no problem - I'll get this sent off now and have it back in no time. So i sent it overnight delivery confirmation on the 16th October. 10 working days - i should have it back by the end of the month. Right ?

days turn into weeks - and eventually - resisting the urge to dial the (no doubt very nice people) @ $2+ per minute who will tell me it is being processed and i should wait patiently .. i notice that my bank account is debited on the 7th November ...

Great - that means everything is ok and i will have my passport sometime soon right ? .... right ?

36 days after applying - and two weeks after they took the money out of my account I'm still waiting patiently ... do i crack and call the number so that they will seal the envelope and give it to FedEx ... or do i continue my game of "chicken" and hope they crack before i do ?

anyone else had to renew recently ? How long did you wait ? did you call the number and give them more $$'s or did you wait it out ?


ok - 2. I saw a few people had ordered bacon from
http://www.britishbacon.com/
But had noticed that nobody ever came back and left feedback about how good it tasted .. did they all just forget - or does the bacon render you unable to type once you have tasted the meaty goodness ? Anyone actually tasted and got an opinion ? Is it worth filling my freezer ?


and finally (sorry for the length of this first post) I noticed a few of you were familiar with uknova - if anyone ever needs any help/assistance over there just let me know. I am a mod over at UKNova so i should be able to get you an answer if i can't help immediately. ;)

There now - i wasn't that bad was I ?

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Welcome ;)
So, you're a uknova mod, eh? Any chance of making a space available coincidentally at the same time I try to join -nudge, nudge, wink, wink?! :D

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Ditto

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Hey jokeworm...welcome.

We did a passport renewal for my son about 2 months ago and it did only take about 10 days from start to finish. Maybe it was quicker because it was a child passport renewal but I think you're going to have to dig deep and call them.

Will bear you in mind when I have some uknova questions :)

Cheers

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

If you keep hitting refresh you should get lucky quite quickly .. we free up 300 new accounts each day by deleting inactive users. You tend to find the best time to hit one is between 4-8am uk time. If you really struggle and can't get in after a couple of days let me know and i'll see what i can do for ya :)

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

i hate to say it - but its not late yet, it normally takes 2 - 3 weeks to process, the first action they do is to debit your payment (of course) and if it was only taken on Nov 7th, i would give it another week or so before calling the 900 line

Ant

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Absolutely, call them - yours is taking longer than normal.

When we - family of 5 - applied for renewal, we got them back within a week.

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Ah, you're a star, mate - thanks ;) I'll start trying at 10 tonight....

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Got mine back in two days.

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Got my passport back from Washington DC within 10 days.

My son had to have his renewed recently and that took 12 days. Incidentally his place of issue does not state 'USA' as mine did. It states 'FCO' (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office). :(

My student daughter is coming over from London for Christmas and as she had finally decided what dates to come over (fitting us in as she has parties to go to and wants to see her boyfriend LOL!) we wanted to book her flights yesterday. She needed to exchange her her non-machine readable passport (issued in Delhi) for a machine readable one to enter the USA as her L2 visa has expired and no longer valid and she'll need a visa waiver. I suggested to her that she might choose to pay 7 pounds for the 'check and send' service at a main Post Office - you can scan the receipt to check the progress of the application.

Yesterday we asked her if her passport was still at the passport office and she told us that she had already received her new one (but they didn't return her old one with stamps and visas which she's rather cross about). She got her passport back in 5 days! :)

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Thanks for the feedback so far guys.
Its not that i'm desperate for it ... I think i'll leave it till weds/Thursday this week and then take out a second mortgage to call 'em.

I wonder if they have a "christmas rush" for people renewing passports to go home for the holidays .. I knew i should have put a travel date on the application .. even though i hadnt planned a trip .. ahh well - i'll know better next time.

...now about this bacon ... :D

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Well it is the holiday season right now, so that might be a reason for delays, people taking time off for thanks giving and all that, give it till Monday I'd think before wasting money and ringing...

Welcome to the forums btw...and for offering nova help, sure you'll get swamped now...least someone else can now answer the torrent questions :D

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Glad she got it back so quickly!

But she might want to insist that they return her old PP. If ever she wants to live abroad, she may need it at some point as.

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

Good idea.....never thought about that. She's a well travelled young lady and has been to more countries than her mum.....she would ideally like to live in India and I can't see her staying in the UK for good (although she loves London and city life....oddly enough she's never taken to NYC).

Re: Where's my passport ?
 

I think it varies on how long it takes. I renewed my passport about 5 months or so ago and it took about 8 weeks for me to get it back. I, too, was getting to the point when I thought about calling because it was taking so long, especially as my daughters' passports came back within the week.