Supporting Document Return

[justaquery]

Hi all

I got my first passport after naturalisation on Tuesday (1 Dec), my supporting docs haven’t been returned yet. I paid an extra £5 for special delivery during the passport application, but I still haven’t received it. Does anyone know how long it takes? I called HMPO and they said they will not look into it until atleast 2 weeks have passed. I wasn’t aware it could take that long, I had booked tickets on the day I got my British passport back (flight is on 17 Dec) and I need my other passport with me to travel otherwise I will need to apply for a Visa on my British passport which I don’t think I have enough time for.

[seagul]

I need my other passport with me to travel otherwise I will need to apply for a Visa on my British passport which I don’t think I have enough time for.

why visa as you may be able to travel on your national identity card.

[CULLINAN]

You can not travel to Pakistan visa free unless you have NICOP not NIC on a BP

[justaquery]

You can not travel to Pakistan visa free unless you have NICOP not NIC on a BP

Exactly, I would need eVisa. Should I apply for it or is it worth waiting for the docs to be returned? I don’t even know if it will get processed in time but the earlier I apply, the better chance I have.

[CULLINAN]

You can not travel to Pakistan visa free unless you have NICOP not NIC on a BP

Exactly, I would need eVisa. Should I apply for it or is it worth waiting for the docs to be returned? I don’t even know if it will get processed in time but the earlier I apply, the better chance I have.

I am hopeful you will get your documents before that. But just to be on the safe side, if you wish you can apply for NICOP only (National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis). It takes 1 week on urgent basis. Just a suggestion.

Your NIC will be changed in NICOP and can be done online and will be delivered at your UK address.

NICOP is valid for 10 years before which you can renew again and can travel to Pakistan visa free on your BP alone.

[Vilandra]

I'm still waiting for mine to be returned, Monday will mark 3 weeks from when my application was approved and my documents should have been despatched. Got fobbed off multiple times on the phone and in an email by HMPO advisors. I've been told an email has been sent last Monday to HMPO Newport to chase and if I don't hear back by this Monday they can escalate for me... It's very disappointing seeing that most people on the passport timeline thread are receiving theirs without a delay yet I've been told over and over again that there are delays and I should be patient. There are few examples of people reporting to HMPO on twitter that they received someone else's documents and HMPO does not seem to be in a hurry to pick them up. The documents also arrive crinkled because they don't even put them in a 'do not bend' envelope :/

[justaquery]

You can not travel to Pakistan visa free unless you have NICOP not NIC on a BP

Exactly, I would need eVisa. Should I apply for it or is it worth waiting for the docs to be returned? I don’t even know if it will get processed in time but the earlier I apply, the better chance I have.

I am hopeful you will get your documents before that. But just to be on the safe side, if you wish you can apply for NICOP only (National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis). It takes 1 week on urgent basis. Just a suggestion.

Your NIC will be changed in NICOP and can be done online and will be delivered at your UK address.

NICOP is valid for 10 years before which you can renew again and can travel to Pakistan visa free on your BP alone.

Thanks for the information, I’ll look into it.

[justaquery]

I'm still waiting for mine to be returned, Monday will mark 3 weeks from when my application was approved and my documents should have been despatched. Got fobbed off multiple times on the phone and in an email by HMPO advisors. I've been told an email has been sent last Monday to HMPO Newport to chase and if I don't hear back by this Monday they can escalate for me... It's very disappointing seeing that most people on the passport timeline thread are receiving theirs without a delay yet I've been told over and over again that there are delays and I should be patient. There are few examples of people reporting to HMPO on twitter that they received someone else's documents and HMPO does not seem to be in a hurry to pick them up. The documents also arrive crinkled because they don't even put them in a 'do not bend' envelope :/

Sorry to hear about your experience. Wasn’t expecting this from HMPO! Hope you get everything back very soon

[Vilandra]

I'm still waiting for mine to be returned, Monday will mark 3 weeks from when my application was approved and my documents should have been despatched. Got fobbed off multiple times on the phone and in an email by HMPO advisors. I've been told an email has been sent last Monday to HMPO Newport to chase and if I don't hear back by this Monday they can escalate for me... It's very disappointing seeing that most people on the passport timeline thread are receiving theirs without a delay yet I've been told over and over again that there are delays and I should be patient. There are few examples of people reporting to HMPO on twitter that they received someone else's documents and HMPO does not seem to be in a hurry to pick them up. The documents also arrive crinkled because they don't even put them in a 'do not bend' envelope :/

Sorry to hear about your experience. Wasn’t expecting this from HMPO! Hope you get everything back very soon

Thanks, I really hope they haven't lost them, the whole process of becoming British has been a nightmare and I was hoping that at least this would be straight forward and won't result in spending another 600 quid and 6 months on replacing the documents they lost . :/ Have you received yours back yet?

[justaquery]

I'm still waiting for mine to be returned, Monday will mark 3 weeks from when my application was approved and my documents should have been despatched. Got fobbed off multiple times on the phone and in an email by HMPO advisors. I've been told an email has been sent last Monday to HMPO Newport to chase and if I don't hear back by this Monday they can escalate for me... It's very disappointing seeing that most people on the passport timeline thread are receiving theirs without a delay yet I've been told over and over again that there are delays and I should be patient. There are few examples of people reporting to HMPO on twitter that they received someone else's documents and HMPO does not seem to be in a hurry to pick them up. The documents also arrive crinkled because they don't even put them in a 'do not bend' envelope :/

Sorry to hear about your experience. Wasn’t expecting this from HMPO! Hope you get everything back very soon

Thanks, I really hope they haven't lost them, the whole process of becoming British has been a nightmare and I was hoping that at least this would be straight forward and won't result in spending another 600 quid and 6 months on replacing the documents they lost . :/ Have you received yours back yet?

No I haven’t unfortunately. I have contacted them on Twitter, they said they are looking into it. So I’ll wait a couple more days and contact them again.

[Vilandra]

No I haven’t unfortunately. I have contacted them on Twitter, they said they are looking into it. So I’ll wait a couple more days and contact them again.

The trouble is the customer service people can't really do anything other than contact the relevant office on your behalf via email. Mine has been escalated today with another email sent asking for an urgent update. I've seen someone on twitter chasing a reply to a lost passport query from August, this is really disappointing :/

[024601]

I got my UK passport on 30.11 and since then I haven't received my foreign passport and the certificate of naturalization. I did the webchat with someone last Friday and they said my documents haven't been picked up yet by the courier and I should wait for about 2 weeks. So I'm just waiting for the 2 weeks to pass to chase again but I hope my documents arrive because I honestly can't deal with replacing my foreign passport!

[justaquery]

No I haven’t unfortunately. I have contacted them on Twitter, they said they are looking into it. So I’ll wait a couple more days and contact them again.

The trouble is the customer service people can't really do anything other than contact the relevant office on your behalf via email. Mine has been escalated today with another email sent asking for an urgent update. I've seen someone on twitter chasing a reply to a lost passport query from August, this is really disappointing :/

This is very disappointing. I would be curious to know what the average no of days for supporting document return is? The passport processing time line topic doesn’t have a lot of information about recent approvals whose supporting docs were returned, usually people only list the date they got their British passport.

[justaquery]

I got my UK passport on 30.11 and since then I haven't received my foreign passport and the certificate of naturalization. I did the webchat with someone last Friday and they said my documents haven't been picked up yet by the courier and I should wait for about 2 weeks. So I'm just waiting for the 2 weeks to pass to chase again but I hope my documents arrive because I honestly can't deal with replacing my foreign passport!

I am in the same situation, I am supposed to be flying out on the 17th and I need my Pakistani passport. If they have lost it, it will be quite a lot of hassle for me to get it replaced and it’s something I really do not want to deal with either. I am also worried about losing the naturalisation certificate as well.

[Vidit32]

I’m in the same situation, got my First Uk passport on 2nd and still waiting for supporting documents..

[Vilandra]

I really don't know what else I can do. Today marks 3 weeks since my British passport arrived and not a word from HMPO. Emailing my MP is pointless - he doesn't reply to things. I am seriously considering camping outside of their office and asking employees going in and out for help directly but I'll probably end up in jail... Maybe I can report the documents stolen whilst sitting in a jail cell

[justaquery]

I really don't know what else I can do. Today marks 3 weeks since my British passport arrived and not a word from HMPO. Emailing my MP is pointless - he doesn't reply to things. I am seriously considering camping outside of their office and asking employees going in and out for help directly but I'll probably end up in jail... Maybe I can report the documents stolen whilst sitting in a jail cell

I understand your frustration, I will contact my MP next week as a final resort. After that I will wait till the first week of January. If nothing comes up, I will ask HMPO to refund me (not sure if they will but I will ask them as a starting point) the cost of applying for a replacement passport (circa £100) and a replacement naturalisation certification (£250). It’s not ideal, actually it’s the worst case scenario, however, I don’t want to wait potentially months for HMPO to resolve this, I’d rather take control myself and swallow the bitter pill.

[Vidit32]

I had below reply on Twitter:

Hi, a tracking number for your supporting documents has not been generated yet. We currently have a slight delay in processing the return of supporting documents.

[024601]

I had below reply on Twitter:

Hi, a tracking number for your supporting documents has not been generated yet. We currently have a slight delay in processing the return of supporting documents.

I emailed them today and I got this which is exactly the same thing I got last week:

Upon checking the courier database, your supporting documents are yet to be collected.

In response to the latest corona virus measures relating to social distancing and necessary travel, HM Passport Office has reduced its staffing levels to ensure that these measures are followed.

As a result of this, HMPO is currently focused on getting new applications on to the system and have de-prioritised the return of supporting documents. However, HMPO is aiming to have any outstanding supporting documents returned in the next 2 weeks.

We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause you.

I get that they are focused on issuing the new passports first but I'm sure anyone can relate that it's an absolute pain to have to arrange for a new passport to be issued. For example, for my origin country passport, I have to book an appointment with the Embassy in London (I live far from London with no access to a car), I have to provide a detailed reason where my passport has gone, I have to provide a police report that it was stolen/lost, I will be fined the equivalent of £100 for not taking care of my passport ie. losing it, then I have to pay about £150-200 for a new one to be issued, a further £50 for an "express service" (otherwise I have to wait 2 months), then after it arrives in the Embassy I will need to once again travel to London to get it. I'd rather not have to do this unnecessary traveling.

Contacting my MP was as helpful as a chocolate teapot before, so I won't be wasting mine and his time.

[Vilandra]

I had below reply on Twitter:

Hi, a tracking number for your supporting documents has not been generated yet. We currently have a slight delay in processing the return of supporting documents.

I emailed them today and I got this which is exactly the same thing I got last week:

Upon checking the courier database, your supporting documents are yet to be collected.

In response to the latest corona virus measures relating to social distancing and necessary travel, HM Passport Office has reduced its staffing levels to ensure that these measures are followed.

As a result of this, HMPO is currently focused on getting new applications on to the system and have de-prioritised the return of supporting documents. However, HMPO is aiming to have any outstanding supporting documents returned in the next 2 weeks.

We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause you.

I get that they are focused on issuing the new passports first but I'm sure anyone can relate that it's an absolute pain to have to arrange for a new passport to be issued. For example, for my origin country passport, I have to book an appointment with the Embassy in London (I live far from London with no access to a car), I have to provide a detailed reason where my passport has gone, I have to provide a police report that it was stolen/lost, I will be fined the equivalent of £100 for not taking care of my passport ie. losing it, then I have to pay about £150-200 for a new one to be issued, a further £50 for an "express service" (otherwise I have to wait 2 months), then after it arrives in the Embassy I will need to once again travel to London to get it. I'd rather not have to do this unnecessary traveling.

Contacting my MP was as helpful as a chocolate teapot before, so I won't be wasting mine and his time.

I had the exact same email in response to my query two weeks ago... And still no update/documents/nothing. I've sent them a link to the passport thread showing that a lot of people are receiving their documents back without a delay and asking why mine are withheld... In the end I was told an email has been sent to the actual office asking to investigate and that was on 30.11. I'll also need to jump through hoops to replace my passport, I'll have to book an appointment, take a day off, travel to an Embassy in London, pay 3x times more for lost document (so 300 quid unless I can get a report from the police that it was lost/stolen), there is no speedy service so will need to wait normally 2 months, who knows how long now and then go again to the Embassy to pick it up. And in the meantime I won't be able to travel to Europe since UK decided to become a third country and Brits won't be allowed into EU from 1/01 because of coronavirus. My MP is absolutely useless but from what I can see we need to wait for HMPO to investigate, will be hard since they just ignore the emails... If not happy contact MP, if still not happy ask MP to sign a form to send to Ombudsman. How long do I wait before I report the documents lost/stolen?

[Vidit32]

We should post this on passport processing timeline as well so we know how many of us are actually waiting for supporting documents?

[Vidit32]

e should post this on passport processing timeline as well so we know how many of us are actually waiting for supporting documents?

[justaquery]

e should post this on passport processing timeline as well so we know how many of us are actually waiting for supporting documents?

I might be wrong on this but I don’t think that would be allowed as it’s a timeline only thread.

[024601]

Just a quick update, I did live chat with the passport service and the lady told me the documents have been picked up by TNT (they were the ones who brought me the passport as well) and will be delivered this Monday. So might be worth checking on the TNT website HERE
using your PEX number and your postcode.

Or might be worth doing the online chat and they'll be able to tell you if the documents have been sent yet.

[Vilandra]

Just a quick update, I did live chat with the passport service and the lady told me the documents have been picked up by TNT (they were the ones who brought me the passport as well) and will be delivered this Monday. So might be worth checking on the TNT website HERE
using your PEX number and your postcode.

Or might be worth doing the online chat and they'll be able to tell you if the documents have been sent yet.

That's great news for you! Makes me even more worried about mine though since my application was approved few weeks before yours and I still have no update :/

For anyone interested, the supporting documents, if you paid for secure delivery, will be picked up and delivered by TNT and you can track them using the same PAN number and postcode that you used for passport, it should show two consignments one for the passport and one for the supporting documents.