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After sending an upgrade request on 6th May and another request on 25th May I finally got a call from the London upgrade team who said I could come tomorrow to pick up my passport but also said they will call tomorrow to confirm so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Due to fly out on 1st June.
Thing is I don’t live or work in London. Was going to ask my sister to go on my behalf to collect my documents with a letter from me. Would they accept that or does it have to be me in person?
I just found out about this forum and wish I had earlier. My case is a bit more complicated so please bear with me and I would greatly appreciate any advice.
I submitted my passport application for my 1st British Passport (naturalisation) on 31st March. Initial waiting time was 6 weeks. Documents received on system 19th April, Application being processed 13th May.
I upgraded my application on 6th May because I needed to travel to a funeral on 18th May. Heard nothing until 17th May, but missed the call as coincidentally I was on the phone to the passport office advice line. requested a call back. Nothing. So desperately rang the General advice line several times on 18th May and after getting through to a few people who couldn’t care less, and simply asked me to wait for my call back, I finally spoke to a sensible bloke who advised I applied for an emergency passport. He emailed me a link for an application form and advised to send evidence by way of funeral arrangements and death certificate which I did. (I was not informed I needed to send these when I initially requested the upgrade so only sent my flight booking). Missed another call the following day (poor signal whilst driving) and so requested another call back.
I cannot even begin to explain the emotional turmoil I have been through these past few days given that I have now missed the burial. I am still desperate to travel to be with my family. I rebooked my flight for 1st June and reapplied for another upgrade.
On Monday I received a call back which essentially advised me to wait for the London upgrade/emergency team to contact me. I also emailed both teams and got a call back today from the (generic) processing team asking me to withdraw my initial application since I cannot have two active applications. They promised to contact the upgrade team to inform them of the changes and was told to expect another call today which never came through.
I am at a loss for where to go from here. Although my flight is over 48 hrs away, I am thinking of going to the London Passport office tomorrow as I cannot get any time off work next week before I fly. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
