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Pavilion89 – the new time for a renewal is 5 weeks. When I applied on 9th Feb the turn around time was 3 weeks and that hasn’t been close to what I’ve had so I don’t think it’s necessarily about when you applied. I was always told that returned documents took 3 weeks so I’d ring and check again. And I really would consider declaring it lost if your turnaround time is a month.
I called them again today to see if my passport was being printed and sent today and they couldn’t tell me. All they said was it takes 24 hours to be printed after it’s approved. But if your passport is approved at a strange hour (mine was 9pm) it most likely is the day after – so for me that’s tomorrow not today. And then they advise 48 hours for delivery which means most likely mine will turn up Saturday.
I don’t think calling them helps really – they just tell you what stage it’s at. I spoke with complaints and management today after waiting 10 days for them to call and they basically said once it’s in the system they lose sight of it and unless it’s an emergency they won’t speed it up. Depressing but sadly I think most people on here who’ve moved faster have done so by coincidence.
My timeline so far Sana:
Application submitted: 7th Feb
Application received: 7th Feb
Documents received: 18th Feb
Application being processed: 21st Feb
Application approved:9pm 8th MarchI have called everyday and I’m not sure it made any difference. The man yesterday said it was more like 6 weeks and there was no specific order so it is just luck of the draw.
8 days for documents to be uploaded
14-21 days for processing
5 days awaiting examination (still shows as in process)
2-5 days in examination (still shows as in process)
3 days print and sendSo I’ve missed my flight probably by 2/3 days.
I also noticed they’ve changed the webpage to say 5 weeks this morning. Maybe some of our complaining has gone through!
My application was finally approved that 9am – one day before my holiday. So it’s clearly not going to arrive in time!
I got an email and text to say it had been done. Not sure whether to chase the printing and sending so I can potentially fly Saturday. Totally out of faith they have any idea what’s going on.
That sounds about right warrennorton21 – I think I read somebody doing something similar quite a while back. Hopefully they can sort that for you today.
Meganmc23 – You really should get your passport on time but I think it’s unlikely you’re actually at the printing stage as your application would have updated with approved before that. I was also told that my passport was at printing stage by an agent at one point. Turned out not to be true but it had entered the examination stage which was what confused them. If it’s in examination you should be about a week from an approval. You applied about 10 days after me and I am in examination and should receive my passport next week. I think for you it depends on whether you want the stress.
Jms – the longest period of time for most people is now processing which is taking between 2-3 weeks. If you skip that step you’re the lucky one.
If your passport is actually lost I don’t think it should be too much of a problem. It’s only a problem if you want the old passport back to do an in day service.
I’d simply call and explain your mistake, tell them you’re flying soon, ask how to cancel the application and then apply for the week long service. The basic agents should be able to help you do that. The only reason I didn’t do that was because they continually assured me there was no particular hold up. I believe you will have to send a letter to formally cancel but could be wrong.You will have to pay again for the new service and won’t be refunded your initial £75.
It has just been trial and error for lots of us I think! A total nightmare.
To be blunt Warrennorton21 the basic agents don’t care and can’t tell you a lot more than what you see online. The processing team can give you a little more detail but not a lot really – the callback wait for them is apparently about 4/5 days but I waited 7. They should be able to tell you whether you’re awaiting examination or in examination (timescales for that in my post above).
If you can bear waiting on the phone for 40 minutes you can try Liverpool directly.
At the moment I’d say your application is really tight as processing seems to be a bit like purgatory. Some people get out quickly but others are stuck there weeks and there is no rhyme or reason to that.
I’d try and find out if you’re just processing, awaiting examination or in examination. But really your best bet may be to declare the passport lost and book a week slot. You will have to pay twice.
It is only Liverpool suffering currently – something has clearly gone wrong in the last couple of weeks. But what that is they’re unwilling to say.
As somebody who has chased everyday since 22nd Feb and submitted their application on 7th Feb here is what I’ve learnt.
The system goes – documents received (normally takes 8 days), documents processing (can take 2/3 weeks), awaiting examination (currently adding 1 week), in examination (5-10 days), more info/approved (quick), sent (2-3 days).It’s more like a 6 week process right now.
If your flight time fits in that you should be fine. But if not you’re better taking the risk of recalling documents and trying to get an in-day process if you have under 4 weeks.
There are exceptions to this – some people just get lucky and go application received, documents received, application approved. It depends what pile you’re in and I was told this is random. They don’t work through in date order or any other order they were willing to tell me.
I’d advise you all to fill in the survey and give them the feedback that it’s unhelpful to have an IVR saying ‘average is 4 weeks’ when it isn’t. And that the agents don’t seem to know anything and just get frustrated (which I can understand)but either have agents who can help and prioritise or get rid of the tracking system. The two things are clearly incompatible.
The complaint lady told me I’d likely have my passport late next week. There’s no compensation as they have the 10 week loophole so weigh up whether it’s better to pay twice for an application or lose the holiday.
And when I say delays apparently it’s taking 10 days for applications to be processed and then another 5 days to go through examination in Liverpool. Other offices are moving faster.
I don’t think that’s achievable – somebody finally admitted to me this morning there are delays. But it is luck of the draw, some people do make it.
If you want certainty and no stress try to get a fast track appointment. I’ve called every day and nothing.
I’m not sure – I think you have to cancel your application and ask for them to be sent to you. I would call tomorrow and ask. They say that can take up to 3 weeks but given that it’s taken them 2 weeks to process my application (and counting), plus 8 days to upload documents and the new one isn’t in the post yet it’s a close run thing. With hindsight I wish I’d called it lost and done the week long process.
As I’m sure you can see I’ve called most days – I’ve been promised callbacks that never happened. I sent details of my flights that went missing/ignored.
You will lose money but you will save on stress if you can find a way to do the week long appointment.If you leave them in the system you may be lucky! But if you’re not there’s literally nothing you can do.
Pavilion89 – I wouldn’t risk it. Personally I’d recall the documents and book a week or in-day slot.
I phoned again today and they refused to put me through to processing despite my lack of callback. I called Bootle directly and a nice man told me that my passport was with an examiner (it’s the second time I’ve heard this). Waited all day and nothing has happened.
Was due to fly Thursday – left 5 weeks for my passport to be renewed. Absolutely no hope of making that flight.
I’ve filed a proper complaint now, given them a 0 in their survey and sent a complaint to the ASA saying it’s unacceptable to be telling people on an IVR that a standard renewal is typically taking 4 weeks, when that’s clearly not the case.
0300 123 1973 is the number I have but they take forever to answer and ultimately can’t do anything it would seem. You’re better waiting for a callback from the progress team.
Still nothing on my application.
Finally got through to the progress team. Apparently my application was only passed to an examiner on March 4th, and my old passport was tracking as lost.
I’m due to receive a callback from the conveyancing team tomorrow to discuss the options as it’s sadly very unlikely I will get my passport in time for my Thursday flight.
I needed it for Thursday – so I’ve already lost £300 on flights. I just want to know if I can book for the week after so I get half my holiday with my family.
But I have been on the list for a call from the processing team since Monday and nobody has rung.
Mine was a standard online adult renewal so I don’t know what they’ve even been processing for 2 weeks. Literally nothing has changed and they’ve had my documents since 18th Feb.
