[Sjh10]

Hi All.

My first time posting but I’ve found these forums extremely helpful to understand processes and timescales. Below is my passport journey timeline, as well as some other important info I’ve found out along the way which I would like to share (some of it probably repeated throughout the forum). I received my passport today (29th) and I fly 31st!

Passport received 8:18am 29th March
Passport printed 9:29am on 28 Mar
Application approved 1:14pm on 21 Mar
Application processing 12:42pm on 25 Feb
Documents received 9:23am on 25 Feb
Application received 12:01pm on 29 Jan
Application submitted 12:01pm on 29 Jan

– Passport applications go through the system to begin with. The reason some take so long is because they get rejected and fall into a ‘manual’ queue for an examiner to review. This can then take several weeks.

– My system rejection was due to the faintest shadow on my photo. Therefore I would recommend getting an image printed from photo booth. It still got approved manually in the end but the system didn’t accept it which caused a significant delay!

– The most common 0300 222 0000 number I found completely useless. A better number, not always able to do much mind you, but at least you can have a decent conversation with them is the following 0300 123 1973. They are a more senior team and helped get my application approved!

– In previous years, a friend just turned up to passport office without appointment. This, in my experience, no longer works, and didn’t with me!

I must of rung these guys every day and was on hold for hours every time! Keep pursuing because you just don’t know what impact one of them calls might have to help speed them up.

I wish everybody all the best in getting their passport back in time, which in my experience, was an extremely stressful experience. In future, if I have a holiday within 6 months, I will be booking an appointment at my nearest passport office, Peterborough.

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