Durham

[JamesJ1992]

As promised I have come back when my process is finalised.

My passport was submitted on April 4th. Approved on April 22nd. Passport was printed on April 26th and Delivered this morning.

I know I’m a lucky one but I can’t fault the Durham Office for my process it was quick and easy.

I wish you all the best in you application – being kind to the call handlers from what I’ve seen on Facebook goes such a long way.

[MaxNRG]

Thanks for the update @JamesJ1992, you are indeed lucky. My documents were signed for two days after yours but no approval yet. All the best!

[passmyport]

I have been following this thread for months, trying to seek comfort in knowing that I am not alone. I want to post my timeline on here for anyone that may have applied from France.

Passport printed – 28 April 2022
Application approved – 27 April 2022
Application being processed – 6 April 2022
Documents received – 1 March 2022
Application received – 9 February 2022
Application submitted – 9 February 2022

This service has been one the worst I have ever used, mind you, I have been living in France for 7 years.

The lack of reactivity is dreadful, they said they received my passport on 1 March but according to French/UK tracking, they received it on the 12 February.

My process was slowed down by them requesting a letter explaining “damage” to the passport’s . I sent a first letter, which somehow got lost in their offices, so I had to send a second. This is both expensive and time consuming. And honestly, I think is just another ploy to slow the process down even more and buy themselves more time.

It has truly been a stressful 2 months and a half. This service has cost me 500€ in changed flights, expensive calls to their “customer service” line, and just a whole lot of stress not having any ID living abroad.

The only thing that has kept me going has been this thread, and seeing other peoples’ timelines, I even stopped calling after a while because it only led to frustration and tears.
It has also been reassuring seeing that the process was relatively quick from the moment they received my second letter.

I am now waiting for my passport to be delivered. In true style, they have not sent me a tracking number, so I was wondering if anyone knew what delivery service is used for international applications, TNT or DHL?

Thanks for taking the time to read my diary entry lol.

[staffstraveller]

Submitted 16th: old passport signed for j Barrat 19th

Tracking still says send passport 🙁

[staffstraveller]

14 days now still says send passport, which is at Durham signed for.

[Lauramaria23]

Is there anyway to email the Durham office without going to upgrade department? I travel in 4 weeks but really cannot cope with being stressed out for another month. Don’t want to end up chasing a passport last minute. My only saving grace is fact I fly on a Tues afternoon and my hubby is off on the Monday so I might end up at my local passport office demanding my children’s passports

[cooky987]

Mines an online application being processed since the 16th of March I’ve heard noting I have tried calling countless times but I can’t even wait on hold ss I keep getting cut off I’ve wrote a letter with no response I am hopefully going abroad on the 25th of May. But with my luck I won’t get it back.

[Stp]

@cooky987 seen a few getting approved from mid March so yours shouldn’t be far behind I wouldn’t think.

I’m about 2 weeks behind if they are doing them chronologically. Been waiting 8 1/2 weeks total but they only marked it as processing on the 1st of April.

Not sure if it will help with not getting cut off but the number I call is 03001231973
Don’t have to push any buttons just wait on hold. I think it’s direct to the Liverpool office and they seem a lot more knowledgeable and helpful than the number on the website.

[Passnos]

Two quick questions as I just called in:

1. Can agents check the specific documents (birth cert / supporting letter) you send in? agents I just spoke to couldn’t see any of documents i sent it, but the previous one could see the birth cert…

2. Do they only put your application in the examiner queue if all the required documents are present? Can you still be rejected at this stage? I’m worried they might be missing a document as it was taped on…

3. Is the 10-12 week processing time from date of application or date of processing?

[hfrost]

I hope this helps anyone that is worrying about passport waiting times. I applied for a child’s renewal online when the current wait time was 5 weeks, the day after submitting the application it moved to 10 weeks. I left 9 weeks between applying for the passport and our holiday therefore I was rather worried and have been monitoring this thread closely for updates however I can honestly say that the wait time has been far better than I expected.
Application approved 7:52pm on 28 April 2022
Documents received 12:18pm on 27 April 2022
Application received 8:11am on 8 April 2022
Identity details received 8:10am on 8 April 2022
Email sent to person confirming your identity 5:01pm on 7 April 2022
Ask someone to confirm your identity 4:58pm on 7 April 2022
Application submitted 4:58pm on 7 April 2022

The biggest wait was for the Durham office to confirm that they have received the old passport however once this was done the process was extremely quick and today I received the new passport. The tracker had not been updated to let me know the passport was on its way. This morning I received a text from DHL confirming delivery between 9 and 10am.

My neighbour applied for an adult renewal the day after and their passport is arriving tomorrow.
In total it has taken 4 weeks exactly for the new passports to arrive.

Hope this provides a little hope for those still waiting. From what I have read the biggest wait with Durham is the acknowledgement of the old passport arriving however they are still quicker than the 10 weeks suggested.

[staffstraveller]

Submitted renewal 16 April and old passport arrived on 20 April tracking still says send passport. Was hoping to go away next month beginning to look unlikely 🙁

I thought renewals submitted online would not take so long.

[nt123]

Finally received my passport today after 3 months (12 weeks and 1 day) waiting. Here is my timeline (first adult passport after naturalisation)

Application submitted 8 February 2022
Use paper form to confirm identity 14 February 2022
Documents delivered by Royal Mail 28 February 2022
Documents marked as received 15 March 2022
Application being processed 15 March 2022
Application approved 28 April 2022
Passport printed 29 April 2022
Passport delivered 04 May 2022

Feeling relieved that this is over and I won’t need to deal with HMPO for the next 10 years.. what a miserable service 🙁 I hope others will have more luck with their passports.

[medgemoo]

Hi. I’ve been watching these closely and this is my time line. Passport is now out for delivery today so all in it’s took 3 weeks and 3 days to arrive.
I think a lot of the time it’s the paper applications that are taking so long as well as people taking their own pictures, that then get rejected.
I was panicking as I travel in 9 days.
Hope everyone has luck getting theirs.

Passport printed 2:56pm on 3 May 2022
Application approved 5:25pm on 29 April 2022
Identity details received 11:19am on 29 April 2022
Email sent to person confirming your identity 11:11am on 29 April 2022
Ask someone to confirm your identity 10:59am on 29 April 2022
Documents received 3:59pm on 27 April 2022
Application received 7:24pm on 11 April 2022
Identity details received 7:23pm on 11 April 2022
Email sent to person confirming your identity 2:28pm on 11 April 2022
Ask someone to confirm your identity 11:12am on 11 April 2022
Application submitted 11:12am on 11 April 2022

[barbnu]

I renewed four passports but so far, Durham is fairing least well since I’m still waiting 8 weeks later

Application being processed 27 April 2022
Documents received 29 March 2022
Application received 14 March 2022
Identity details received 14 March 2022
Email sent to person confirming your identity 13 March 2022
Email sent to person confirming your identity 12 March 2022
Ask someone to confirm your identity 12 March 2022
Application submitted 12 March 2022

Still a couple of weeks until the 10wks and then another until we’re meant to travel. Infuriating, since it’s one of the kids. If it was an adults we were waiting for, at the one of us could still take the kids away. But now it’s all or nothing. Really frustrating since kids have had a really raw deal the past few years.

[passportnohope]

Good luck. Durham passport office has been useless from start to finish. Submitted an adult renewal on the 5th of March. It is still processing. Missed our family holiday. Absolute disgrace. They didn’t upgrade and the phone cuts out every time.

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