Passport nightmare - What else can I do?

[act1980]

We applied for my nephews first passport back in February and it still says that it’s being processed! Called and spoken to many rude & unhelpful people so have no emailed all upgrade team departments. We got an automated email back stating that they would be in touch 48 hours prior to our travel date! How on earth can this be right? 🤷🏼 I can't do his ESTA or book his LFT without a passport number so it's cutting it fine to say the least!

Apparently the application is at the Liverpool office but this is hundreds of miles away from us so we can’t even drive there & physically ask someone whats going on. I doubt they would even see us anyway!

We go in 7 days & I’m at my wits end! My sister is getting married while we’re there and the idea of him not being with us is heartbreaking, he's also going to be one of the page boys. He's only just turned 2 and has never been away from my sister before but it will mean he will have to be left with his Auntie as we can't easily cancel & rearrange things.

I've emailed our local MP but I don't know what else to do. I feel so powerless 😭

[marypoppins38]

Even though its a long way away I think I would take a day and drive there in your situation. I am sure I read on here that someone was in the same situation with Liverpool and they turned up and got their passport.

[enjibenji]

I heard yesterday that my nephew passport has been approved and he applied 31st january, so they are way behind, lucky he applied early as we are not going til October, hope you get yours sorted soon 🤞

[chester5867]

Originally Posted by marypoppins38

Even though its a long way away I think I would take a day and drive there in your situation. I am sure I read on here that someone was in the same situation with Liverpool and they turned up and got their passport.

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I'd be inclined to do the same as this if it were me - as well as continuing to hound the contact numbers and email addresses. Hope you get sorted quickly though.

[novocastrian]

Originally Posted by marypoppins38

Even though its a long way away I think I would take a day and drive there in your situation. I am sure I read on here that someone was in the same situation with Liverpool and they turned up and got their passport.

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imo little choice OP need to get up there

the clocks ticking as havnt got esta application in yet

[Blue nose]

I agree I'd be driving there. How far away are you? I also thought Liverpool being one of the most central offices unless your Cornwall.

Also phoning daily, on Twitter, on Facebook, story to local press. Unfortunately sometimes it's those shouting loudest get sorted.

If you do travel take everything you need as if you were applying for one, so signed photo, birth certificate, parents passports numbers, not sure what you need for a new one as my youngest is 13.

Good luck.

[Dr.JumbaJookiba]

A similar question appeared on my local FB group and this was one of the replies.

We had the same issue, no luck on the phone what’s so ever (We had 5 new passports (3 adults and 2 children) been stuck at passport application processing since beginning of Feb. went to Liverpool passport office yesterday, we are having interviews on Sunday and picking them up on Monday morning. Definitely go to Liverpool. They were really helpful. We got there for 6.45am and there was a queue so try and get there for 6.30am. As it been 10 weeks and you travel in less than two weeks you shouldn’t have an issue


when you get there they put you in two queues, one if you have an appointment and one if you don’t, if you don’t they give you a little form to fill out, it asks why you are there and why you need your passport urgent

This was another reply

Contact the help line , you may have to camp on the line for a while . I have had the same issues and they have fast tracked my application today . I have had to provide proof of flight etc . It took me 2 hours to get through this morning . I am now waiting for a call back from Belfast to make the payment and the passport can be fast tracked . We are due to fly on the 21st may . Keep trying the passport office phone line .

[Kellea]

This was on my Facebook yesterday. It might be worth a try.

So this is a status about how I’ve managed to expedite my passport application and get it in time for my holiday, I’m hoping it’ll help others to get theirs in time too because I know how stressful the process is. Sorry this is long winded. ❤️
Firstly, don’t call them because it’s completely a waste of your time. Whatever office you try to call, it’s the same number, the same contact centre. They are not civil servants, they have no communication with the passport office themselves and their job is to essentially blag us that they’ve helped. All that they see is exactly the same as what we see when we put our PEX number in to get the status of our application. They will tell you they’ve put a “mark” on your file and the upgrade team will call you if your holiday is soon, except they won’t actually call because there’s no such thing as a mark on your file. The people on the phone literally do nothing to help us.
If your holiday is within two weeks and you’ve not got your passport, you need to email the upgrade team as this is the ONLY way to actually contact them. You need to put URGENT and your travel date in the subject. In the email you need to put your name, address, PEX number, contact number for them to call you and attach proof of travel to the email (flight booking). This means they wont have to contact you trying to chase up what they need and delaying the process further. No matter what office your documents are at, it’s worth emailing them all because they are all working through them in travel date order and it’ll just be whichever office gets to your application quicker that’ll call you.
The emails are -
leedsupgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk
liverpoolupgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk
glasgowupgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk
durhamupgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk
belfastupgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk
londonupgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk
newportupgradeteam@hmpo.gov.uk
If you haven’t heard back from the upgrade team within 2 days of emailing, email them again. The upgrade team are the ONLY ones that can help you get it quickly. When they do call you it can be NO CALLER ID, so make sure you pick up any calls incase it’s them. They will usually approve your application there and then on the phone and they’ll print it at your local office so you can go and collect it from the closest one.
If your travel is not in the next 2 weeks there is no point contacting the upgrade team yet as they will not help you. The upgrade teams are helping people in priority order.
If you’ve already got an application in process, do not book a fast track appt at an office as well because they won’t see you if you’ve already got a passport application in process and you’re essentially just paying for your passport twice for no reason and they won’t refund you for the appt you’ve booked (I learnt this lesson the hard way). If you want to do a fast track appt you’d have to cancel the current application, wait for your documents to be returned to you which can take 2 weeks and then make an appointment.
If you haven’t got an application in process yet but want an appointment they are being released few and far between at all offices at random times throughout the day via this link so you’ve just got to keep refreshing…
passportappointment.service.gov.uk
If you’re within a week of flying and the upgrade team haven’t contacted still then you should also email these as well as continuing to email the upgrade team …
fol@hmpo.gov.uk
abi.tierney@homeoffice.gov.uk
CEO@hmpo.gov.uk
feedback@hmpo.gov.uk
escalatedservices@hmpo.gov.uk
complaints@hmpo.gov.uk
southport@hmpo.gov.uk
It’s also worth emailing your local MP who should be happy to send an email to the passport office on your behalf to help expedite your application further.
Hope this helps others ❤️

[act1980]

Thanks for the replies everyone, it's much appreciated!

It's a 9 hour round trip for us so not easy at all and I assume they're not open on weekends? This makes it even trickier 🙄

[Dr.JumbaJookiba]

Originally Posted by act1980

Thanks for the replies everyone, it's much appreciated!

It's a 9 hour round trip for us so not easy at all and I assume they're not open on weekends? This makes it even trickier 🙄

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Open 9am-3pm on a Sat according to google.