Feedback, experiences, timelines, tips and useful information from people that have recently been through the UK passport application process.
To submit your passport application experience click here
1st Adult Passport
Type of Application:
First UK Adult Passport
Passport Office:
Liverpool (Bootle)
Submission Date:
09-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Passport received: 12.45pm on 25 May 2023 (TNT delivery)
Passport printed 12:47am on 25 May 2023
Application approved 8:00am on 24 May 2023
Documents received 2:15pm on 11 May 2023
Application received 8:33pm on 9 May 2023
Identity details received 8:32pm on 9 May 2023
Email sent to person confirming your identity 6:33pm on 9 May 2023
Ask someone to confirm your identity 6:29pm on 9 May 2023
Application submitted 6:29pm on 9 May 2023
Type of Application:
First UK Adult Passport
Passport Office:
Corby
Submission Date:
06-04-2023
Date Received:
05-05-2023
Overall Experience:
4 Star – Easy
Comments:
Straight forward application. Happy with the time the whole process took.
Type of Application:
First UK Adult Passport
Passport Office:
Liverpool (Bootle)
Submission Date:
09-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
4 Star – Easy
Comments:
The process was smooth and I got regular updates. My timeline is as below
Application submitted: 9th May
Application received: 9th May
Documents posted: 10th May
Documents received by office: 11th May
Application Approved: 23 May 09:00 AM
Passport printed: 24 May 01:20 AM
Passport delivered: 25 May
Type of Application:
First UK Adult Passport
Passport Office:
Liverpool (Bootle)
Submission Date:
12-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Application history
StatusDate
Passport printed 11:18pm on 23 May 2023
Application approved 3:37pm on 23 May 2023
Documents received 11:24am on 15 May 2023
Application received 4:54pm on 12 May 2023
Application submitted 4:53pm on 12 May 2023
Adult Renewal Passport
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Corby
Submission Date:
20-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Very easy and came very quickly! Was not expecting it to come so soon but fantastic service!
StatusDate
Passport received 09:10am on 25 May 2023
Passport printed 10:50pm on 24 May 2023
Application approved 1:35am on 24 May 2023
Documents received 1:58pm on 23 May 2023
Application received 1:05am on 20 May 2023
Application submitted 1:05am on 20 May 2023
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
10-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Quick and I got loads of email and text updates at every stage of the process
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
27-04-2023
Date Received:
18-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Excellent
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Corby
Submission Date:
18-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Text message updates were helpful.
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Durham
Submission Date:
05-05-2023
Date Received:
23-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Applied with paper form. 16 year old Child to Adult renewal, counter signature for new photo and form. Spelling mistake on form did not delay process. No updates at all but arrived really quickly.
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Liverpool (Bootle)
Submission Date:
18-05-2023
Date Received:
23-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
applied online 18/5
posted off old passport 18/5
old passport received 19/5
passport approved 19/5
arrived by courier 23/5
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Liverpool (Bootle)
Submission Date:
10-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Passport received 09:43am on 25 May 2023 via Royal Mail
Passport printed 3:53am on 24 May 2023
Application approved 10:25am on 23 May 2023
Documents received 2:14pm on 12 May 2023
Application received 10:55pm on 10 May 2023
Application submitted 10:55pm on 10 May 2023
Process very easy, with online application very simple and intuitive. I was refused a recent trip to Italy due to the new 10 year max age on old EU-style passports which I only found out about at the check-in desk. My passport was coming up for renewal at the end of 2023 anyway so I had planned to renew my passport when I returned from Italy due to all of the announced strikes. I probably should have risked the renewal before I went to Italy as it took 15 days from me submitting the application to receiving my new passport, it’s only 12 days if you discount the courier time. Very impressed with the service, especially after the recent strikes.
I used a photo booth at the supermarket for a digital code as didn’t trust the functionality of the “take your own photo”, but my partner’s mum has just renewed her passport using this facility and it’s gone through without any issues. So next time I come to renew I’ll be taking my own photo and saving the £10 I spent at the booth.
Type of Application:
Adult Passport Renewal
Passport Office:
Durham
Submission Date:
02-05-2023
Date Received:
23-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Despite my DIY photo receiving a “good” rating prior to submission, the application was halted for two days until I uploaded a better photo. It seems my eyes were closed slightly in the original. My conclusion is that it’s essential to follow the requirements provided.
We have a very small favour to ask………….
We really hope this information is helpful to you and reduces stress whilst you are waiting for you passport. If you are able to make a small donation for the cost of a coffee it really helps us to maintain the site and continue to make improvements for future passport applicants.
1st Child Passport
Type of Application:
First Child Passport (Overseas Application)
Passport Office:
Belfast
Submission Date:
19-10-2022
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
The entire process took seven and a half months, five visits to the outsourced passport centre in Algiers run by TLSContact, one online interview and countless emails.
My son was born in Algeria, where I am permanently resident, in 2022. Shortly afterwards, I applied for a British passport on his behalf, confident that the process would be relatively straightforward. He is, after all, automatically a British citizen by descent since I was born in the UK to British parents.
At my first appointment at the TLSContact passport processing centre in Algiers on 5th October 2022, I presented all of the documents required as per the written guidance booklet for a UK citizen born overseas. However, during my in-person meeting, I was informed that certain documents were not required (e.g. my mother’s birth certificate) and was also asked for additional documents that were not stated in the written guidance (e.g. copies of the ultrasound scans from my pregnancy with my son, translations of every page of his newborn health booklet, a copy of my “national ID card”, which as a British citizen, I do not have, my “registration certificate”, which as I was born in the UK, I do not have, etc. etc.).
The application could not be lodged on this occasion due to the “missing” and “incorrect” documentation. When I challenged the TLSContact staff on asking for documentation that differed from the official written guidance, the agent confirmed that this was indeed the case and noted that: “Yes, we tell HMPO that their website is wrong all of the time, but they never change it”. I requested that the agent write out the list of the required documents by hand, since there was no correct list available, which she did.
At my second appointment with TLSContact on 19th October 2022, the original and additional documentation was checked, including letters I had written explaining why I do not have an ID card or registration certificate. I was informed that I had provided everything required. The application was accepted with 22 pieces of supporting documentation, including translations.
Payment for the application was taken 8 days later on 27th October 2022.
On 23rd February 2023, four months after I lodged the application, I received an email informing me that I had not, in fact, provided all of the required documentation. I was then asked for some documents that had been refused by the centre in Algiers (e.g. my mother’s birth certificate) and others that had not been requested at any point, either by the Algiers centre or in the official written guidance (e.g. a signed letter from my son’s father authorising me to apply for a passport on his behalf). I have to wonder if all British citizens with children who are born overseas are required to obtain consent from their spouse in order to apply for a passport on behalf of the child, or whether this is reserved for those applying from certain countries.
I was also asked for documentation that I had already supplied (e.g. proof of address) but that did not meet HMPO’s standards for technical reasons, despite the fact that it had been checked and accepted by the staff at TLSContact. I believe we would have saved a lot of time if the agent had spent less energy asking for documents that don’t exist (e.g. my national ID card, my registration certificate) and more time advising me on how to ensure that the documents I was supplying actually met HMPO’s standards rather than their own.
In addition, I was informed that I was required to attend an online interview “for identity and nationality purposes”, despite already having taken time off work twice to attend the passport centre in Algiers in person.
I should note that at this point the TLSContact online system showed that the application was paused due to missing documentation. This was the only time it was updated over the 7.5 month process, rendering it useless for tracking the progress of the application.
I replied to the email the same day confirming my details for the online interview. I arranged for my mother’s original birth certificate to be sent directly to HMPO Belfast by post on 2nd March 2023, on her return from an overseas trip.
To verify the remaining original documents in my possession in Algiers, I visited the TLSContact centre for a third time at the earliest opportunity available to me on 13th March. I could have chosen to send these documents by courier and dispense with the need to deal with TLSContact, which felt like the better option. However, I preferred to avoid the £80 charge for sending a document by courier from Algeria to the UK, since this is more than the cost of a passport itself.
At my third meeting at TLSContact, I was once again asked for additional documents that had not been requested at any time by HMPO. These were translations of the utility bills I was providing, and my son’s Algerian passport. Fortunately, I had taken the precaution of printing my email correspondence with M Wilkinson at HMPO Belfast, in which I had asked that she explicitly confirm that the original utility bills and photocopies were all that were required. After some persuasion on my part, these documents were accepted alongside a copy of the email correspondence as backup.
After the final documents were accepted on 13th March, it took several more chasing emails before I received an invitation to the passport interview on 20th April. I called the booking line within the hour and accepted the first slot offered to me, which was on 29th April (i.e. nine days after the invitation, over six weeks after I had submitted the final documents and over six months since submitting the original application).
The online interview itself went smoothly except for the extreme intrusiveness of the questions, for example, “Tell me a bit about your pregnancy with your son. Was it planned?”. I would also question the interview’s utility, given that the interviewer asked me more than once about my life in “Nigeria” rather than Algeria.
One week after the online interview, on 5th May, I received a text message informing me that my son’s passport was ‘scheduled for delivery today’. The text message also provided a TNT tracking number. However, I was unable to track the package because the TNT system would not accept my postcode. Needless to say, the passport was not delivered on 5th May nor on any subsequent day. This caused additional confusion and stress as I was concerned that the passport would be returned to HMPO if I was unable to take delivery of it.
After emailing HMPO again, I was told that the passport was being delivered to the TLSContact centre in Algiers and not, in fact, to my address. I was informed that I would need to wait for TLSContact to invite me to collect the passport.
However, 17 days later, I had still not been contacted by TLSContact and, given the amount of time that had elapsed and my complete loss of trust in the process as a whole, I decided to visit the centre again for an update. On 22nd May, therefore, I visited TLSContact for the fourth time. I explained the situation to ‘Samir T’ at the gate, who checked and informed me that the passport had not yet been delivered. I pressed him to explain how it was possible that a package from TNT could be ‘out for delivery’ on 5th May and still not have been delivered 17 days later, but he was unable to explain this. He informed me that TLSContact was not able to track the package or to contact TNT to find out where it could be.
At this point, you will understand that I had waited seven months to collect my son’s passport and was effectively being told that it was lost or untraceable somewhere in the system. The only answer I was being given was that the passport was not there, TLSContact did not know where it was or when or if it would be delivered. I expressed my frustration to Samir T and informed him that I would be making a lengthy complaint. He invited me inside to speak to a manager.
My discussion with the manager provided me with the answers I needed, but the reality of the situation was even more shocking than I had imagined. The manager explained that passports cannot legally be delivered by post to Algeria. As a result, my son’s passport had been sent to someone in the UK who would, and I quote, “put the passport in his diplomatic bag and deliver it to the British Embassy in Algiers” before it was passed on to TLSContact.
While I was reassured to understand why the delivery of the passport was taking so long, I could not quite believe that it was now in the bag of an unknown person travelling at an unknown time to the British Embassy with no traceability or accountability whatsoever. Surely such a sensitive document should not be transported by individuals entirely unconnected to HMPO, its contractors or its official courier, whether they benefit from diplomatic immunity or not?
It seems completely nonsensical to request so many highly personal documents and to interview me at intrusive length about my son’s birth and life, all with the stated aim of preventing identity fraud, only to place the freshly printed passport containing all of his details in the hands of someone entirely unaffiliated with HMPO. I understand that creative solutions must be found in unusual circumstances, but I still cannot imagine how this procedure is considered to be secure or acceptable. I also fail to understand why TLSContact is involved in the process at all, if the British Embassy is required to act as a delivery service in any event.
Interestingly, just 48 hours after I insisted on speaking to the manager at TLSContact and informing her that I would be filing a complaint, I received a phone call informing me that my son’s passport had “just arrived”. I collected the passport the following day, on 25th May, some seven and a half months after my first attempt to apply for it.
Type of Application:
First Child Passport
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
10-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Very straightforward first child passport for adopted child. The adoption caused no issues at all, I just sent the adoption certificate instead of birth certificate.
Child Renewal
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Passport Office:
Hemel Hempstead
Submission Date:
05-05-2023
Date Received:
24-05-2023
Overall Experience:
4 Star – Easy
Comments:
It was fine took less time than I expected.
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Passport Office:
Corby
Submission Date:
11-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Very easy to renew passport online and I was sent an email and text message keeping me up to date with its progress. Overall it took 2 weeks!
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Passport Office:
Corby
Submission Date:
05-05-2023
Date Received:
23-05-2023
Overall Experience:
5 Star – Very Easy
Comments:
Completed renewal online. Everything was very easy, clear instructions and communication too.
Type of Application:
Child Renewal
Passport Office:
Liverpool (Bootle)
Submission Date:
08-05-2023
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
I had 3 children renewal passports. Sent together with same person to do the countersign. 1 of my children Application asked to submit another person to countersign because “Your passport renewal application is on hold. The person you chose to confirm your identity does not meet the criteria. You need to ask someone else.”
Then another child was asked to sent birth certificate
Sent and Royal Mail track and trace said they received it. But heard nothing from it. I rang up and they say I will have to wait for 7-10 for them to update if they have received it or not.
If they lost it, my daughter have nothing to prove she is a human.
I asked to upgrade to fast track
They said I have to wait for 6 weeks after they will confirm received my daughter birth certificate.
PLEASE DO NOT SENT TO APPLY. I am so so so so so so regretting not wait for a fast track application appointment. Now I am stuck. Cannot book anything for summer until the end of summer.
This is the most horrible experience of my life. Also they asked if we are duel nationality. Does it matters? And we are not. Omg I am so terrify. They said if we are, they will have to make sure information put in is correct. ( so does it mean it does not need to be correct if you do not have dual nationality?!)
Overseas Passport Application
Type of Application:
First UK Passport (Overseas Application)
Passport Office:
Liverpool (Bootle)
Submission Date:
08-11-2022
Date Received:
25-05-2023
Overall Experience:
1 Star – Very Stressful
Comments:
All checks were completed. Still made me wait unnecessarily. Liverpool office. People really don’t have a heart!
View Previous Post
View Next Post
We have a very small favour to ask………….
We really hope this information is helpful to you and reduces stress whilst you are waiting for you passport. If you are able to make a small donation for the cost of a coffee it really helps us to maintain the site and continue to make improvements for future passport applicants.