I applied for my child’s first passport at the start of May (and they took the money for it fast enough) but our tracking didn’t show ‘documents received’ until May 24th (three weeks after I sent them). It’s been stuck there ever since.
Meanwhile, sister in law applied for first passport for her child FOUR WEEKS after we did, yet theirs has already been processed and received.
Ridiculous. So it seems that it doesn’t matter when you apply, it’s luck of the draw?