Applications whilst locked down

[kaystar89]

Hi, I heard back today from Durham office, seems my mum sent a shortened birth certificate which they wouldn’t accept and they requested a marriage certificate despite my parents divorcing many years ago. It seems so excessive in this day and age to request originals from the grandparents, when they are all in the system for their own passports,hmrc, dvla etc etc with the difficulties of applying overseas as it it. Frustrated. Clutching at straws but they didn’t mention the babies photo so I’m hoping that met their standards.

[rob]

Hi,

Below an update to my timeline. It’s a standard adult renewal sent to Liverpool – I live in Germany.

Interestingly yesterday evening I received a second email from DHL with another shipment number, so I didn’t know which passport was supposed to be arriving today. Turns out it was the old one but with the second tracking number I got, I can already see that the new passport is well on its way. It’ll arrive tomorrow or Monday, I guess.

@Kaystar89: the forms changed during my application, too. They didn’t contact me saying I needed to redo anything but I don’t know if that delayed the application internally somehow.

Old passport received on 15 May 2020.
Passport printed and sent 2:47pm on 13 May 2020
Application approved 11:57am on 12 May 2020
Application being processed 8:31am on 18 March 2020
Documents received 3:45pm on 17 March 2020
Application received 1:01pm on 11 March 2020
Application submitted 1:01pm on 11 March 2020

Will notify when it arrives.

Best,
Robert

[kc2000]

Daughters renewal sent to Peterborough

Application being processed 30 March 2020

Documents received 30 March 2020

Application received 22 March 2020

Identity details received 22 March 2020

Email sent to person confirming your identity 21 March 2020

Ask someone to confirm your identity
21 March 2020

Application submitted 12:48pm on 21 March 2020

[Bb1212]

@kaystar89 I understand the application is for the first passport as a person claiming to be British citizen based on the nationality of their ancestor(s).

Short birth certificate doesn’t show parents names so it was rightly rejected.

Grandparents are on the system for their own passports, right, but no one usually submit their marriage certificate for their own passport so the HMPO was again right to ask for proof of marriage of the ancestors as an identity doc for a citizen of a country is being issued for the first time. The applicant obviously must prove their entitlement to the passport. This, however, won’t happen again for renewals. Hmrc etc also do not have a copy of marriage certificate.

Accept my apologies if this forum wasn’t intended to be about things other than applications during lockdown.

[lukek21]

Simple question really I’m due to fly out to Greece on the 6th July , first adult passport been processing since 3rd April has anyone received a first adult passport whilst being in lockdown

[Grantham Traveller]

Lukek21: It’s a simple answer too. The UK Passport office website says with regard to first adult passports that:

‘Passport interview services are temporarily unavailable because of coronavirus (COVID-19). If you need an interview, your application will be put on hold. If you need a passport urgently, for compassionate reasons (for example if a family member has died) or for government business, phone the Passport Adviceline.’
https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-adult-passport/after-you-apply

It also only says you ‘may’ be asked to attend an interview, but I think that it’s normal to be called in for a first adult passport. If they intend to ask you for an interview then your application will have been suspended until interview services are restored – whenever that is – unless they decide to bypass the interview requirement if it’s possible to verify identity another way.

What this means is that on the whole the only passport applications that can be processed currently are those that do not require interviews, or which do not require more complex checking. In practice therefore only standard renewals are going to be easily processed by reduced staff in the passport offices.

It’s worth bearing mind that only a few people are posting on this forum. Reading through the posts it’s clear that almost all the applications discussed here are of different types sent to different passport offices. There must be thousands, of other passport applications in the system at the moment about which we know nothing. Therefore there are few general conclusions that can be drawn about what is actually going on in the various passport offices. What we can say is that most applications are taking longer for one reason or another and some will have been suspended. We can also say that since passports cannot be processed by passport office staff working at home this is a service that will fall into the category of job where staff need to return to work. One can only hope that that is starting to happen. However, interview services will require more complex arrangements in order to meet government guidelines about workplace practices. There must also be something of a backlog now involving uncompleted applications from before the lockdown and others submitted since.

[Bb1212]

@lukek21 you are likely to receive your passport in 14 days (based on the timeframe that the applications for first passports I submitted since 16th of March – when the process started to slow down).

If your application is for the first passport after naturalisation, you are very very unlikely to be called for an interview. None of the dozens applications I submitted since early 2019 needed an interview.

[BlackpoolNurse]

Hi all, I applied for my standard adult renewal and the kids first passports on March 18th from within the U.K. Below is the timeline…

18/3 – application submitted

21/3 – I.D confirmed

25/3 – Doc’s and application received

27/3 – application being processed

Since then nothing, still the same. I called HMPO and was told they couldn’t tell
Me anything other than I needed to be patient. My passport and one of the child’s ones has gone to Peterborough and the other 2 are with Durham.

We have a trip booked to visit my in-laws in Turkey for June, and although I know it’s highly likely it will be cancelled should anything change and the trip go ahead I’m worried we won’t be able to go. Jet2 said the only thing I would be able to do in that circumstance is to pay the amendment fee and change the dates as I’d not be entitled to any money back as the HMPO delay is apparently not due to the covid-19 FCO ban.

I have since been sent an email and a text from HMPO asking me not to contact them again to enquire about the delay.

[rob]

Hi,

Below my final timeline. It was a standard adult renewal sent to Liverpool – I live in Germany.

New passport received on 18 May 2020.
Old passport received on 15 May 2020.
Passport printed and sent on 13 May 2020
Application approved on 12 May 2020
Application being processed on 18 March 2020
Documents received on 17 March 2020
Application received on 11 March 2020
Application submitted on 11 March 2020

The bad news is that it’s taken a very long time. The good news is that, once the magic “application approved” message is received, both new and old passports were back within a week.

All the best and hope you all receive some good news soon.

[clazsmiff]

I am UK based British applicant and I applied for an adult renewal on the 28th of March following getting married at the end of February and needing to get a new passport in my new married name.

Documents were confirmed as received on the 6th of April

I am still awaiting an update and the status is still ‘Your application is being processed’.

I am waiting to start a new job but cannot until I receive the passport as I need a photo ID. I also cannot apply for an alternative photo ID (such as driving licence) as the passport office still have my marriage certificate.

Only comms I have received is the texts and emails asking me not to contact the passport office so I am just stuck, unable to start my new job on complete clearance.

I appreciate the current situation is unprecedented and I know everyone is doing all they can – but I would really appreciate any suggestions on how I can find a way forward.

Many thanks

[Grantham Traveller]

Clazsmiff: to which Passport Office did you mail your application?

There’s nothing to stop you ringing the Passport Adviceline (0300 000 2222). You will be put through to a human being and then you can explain your problem. They may not be able to offer much assistance but on the other hand you may get a hint of whether there are any signs of normality beginning to resume.

rob’s application (above) took about 35 working days from the day his application entered the processing queue (taking into account the various bank holidays that have happened). On that basis you might hope yours would reach the same point on 29 May. But who knows?

I have learned from some newspaper articles that some passport staff were reallocated to processing universal credit applications in April. I have no idea whether that is still happening and/or whether those involve staff who are working from home.

[clazsmiff]

Hi, it was Peterborough I sent my documents to.

I did call the helpline, they couldn’t tell me anything or offer any advice or estimated wait times. Good to see some applications are getting approved from mid March submission, hopefully mine might not be too much longer.

I will be sure to update the forum if I see any change in status.

Thanks

[Grantham Traveller]

Mine was sent to Peterborough too and I’m about three weeks behind you with dates of documents being received, except that there was then an 8 working-day lag between my passport being received (29 Aoril) and it entering the processing queue (12 May). It is just possible that since yours involves a name change there may be a need for some sort of additional verification during the processing; but you’d have thought the marriage certificate would be sufficient.

I sympathize with your frustration. It is a black hole about which none of us can do anything. I am pretty sure they do have a better idea of processing times at present but have been instructed to give a blanket answer to anyone calling or contacting them in order to prevent any applicant trying to place pressure on their staff. It’s worth bearing in mind that the person you speak to can be attached to any one of the UK passport offices and won’t have any local knowledge about the office your application is at.

[rjo]

It’s worth noting that a friend of mine applied on the 4th May for a standard renewal and he RECEIVED it the following Friday (8th May). There doesn’t really seem to be any discernible system so one person’s experience isn’t comparable to another’s.

[Grantham Traveller]

rjo: I couldn’t agree more and this forum has really exposed that imbalance. Do you know which passport office that was?

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