Feedback, experiences, timelines, tips and useful information from people that have recently been through the UK passport application process.
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1st Adult Passport
Type of Application:
First UK Adult Passport
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
2022-11-21
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Can’t believe how quick this was…!
Delivered 9:46am on 30 November 2022 (delivered by TNT, needs signing)
Passport printed 4:46am on 29 November 2022
Application approved 1:42pm on 28 November 2022
Identity details received 1:24pm on 28 November 2022
Email sent to person confirming your identity 1:08pm on 28 November 2022
Person not eligible 12:00pm on 28 November 2022
Documents received 3:32pm on 24 November 2022
Application received 12:30pm on 21 November 2022
Identity details received 12:30pm on 21 November 2022
Email sent to person confirming your identity 11:36am on 21 November 2022
Ask someone to confirm your identity 11:34am on 21 November 2022
Application submitted 11:34am on 21 November 2022
Adult Renewal Passport
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
2022-11-21
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Delay between arriving vs the tracker updating was a day or two but whole process was prettty swift!
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Durham
Submission Date:
2022-11-04
Date Received:
2022-11-11
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Very quick.
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Not Sure
Submission Date:
2022-11-19
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Peterborough
Submission Date:
2022-11-20
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
2022-11-19
Date Received:
20222-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Applied online, everything was straightforward, and the instructions were easy to follow.
Only gripe is that unused months on old passport were not added to new passport
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
2022-11-20
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Newport
Submission Date:
2022-11-25
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
2022-11-19
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
1st Child Passport
Type of Application:
First Child Passport
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
2022-11-21
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Child Renewal
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
2022-11-21
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Super efficient!
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Passport Office:
Newport
Submission Date:
2022-11-21
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Passport Office:
Peterborough
Submission Date:
2022-09-10
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
3 Star – Average
Comments:
Application was easy however the wait was too long! Over 10 weeks.
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
2022-11-21
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
2022-11-19
Date Received:
2022-11-30
Overall Experience:
4 Star – Easy
Comments:
Super easy and faster than expected. Overall, very pleasing experience.
Overseas Passport Application
Type of Application:
Adult Renewal (Overseas Application)
Passport Office:
Liverpool (Bootle)
Submission Date:
2022-08-28
Date Received:
2022-11-29
Overall Experience:
2 Star – Stressful
Comments:
It seems that those countries where you have to apply through a processing centre, VFS Global are left high and dry by HMPO. The system is very slow and beyond confirmation that yoir documents have been sent to the UK, it is almost impossible to track.
I was intitially contacted by HMPO in Durham to say my payment had failed, I had to make an international call to resolve this. The payment went through when I called them. A few weeks later I received my paper statement and found that ten days prior to that I had in fact been charged by HMPO in Liverpool. This resulted in more ping pong and sending in proof to get one of the payments refunded, the only acknowledgment being due to a system error I was mistakingly charged twice.
HMPO should really consider expats who live in countries where they still insist on this archaic procedure of mailing everything on paper back and forth.
Very stressful process, knowing you are in a foreign country with a passport due to expire and not being able to get any salient information from the Call Centre staff other than ‘we have received it, it is currently being looked at’.
Type of Application:
Adult Renewal (Overseas Application)
Passport Office:
Durham
Submission Date:
2022-11-02
Date Received:
2022-11-23
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Type of Application:
Adult Renewal (Overseas Application)
Passport Office:
Liverpool (Bootle)
Submission Date:
2022-09-08
Date Received:
2022-11-21
Overall Experience:
3 Star – Average
Type of Application:
Adult Renewal (Overseas Application)
Passport Office:
Durham
Submission Date:
2022-11-09
Date Received:
2022-11-29
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Applied in Belgium – received passport in less than 3 weeks.