British Passport application processing timelines (only)

[MHA]

Hello dear forum members!
Please reply the following question ASAP!

Does the passport office deliver British Passport by Royal Mail or any other courier service???

Thanx!

[passporthell]

All:

Application Timeline
Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New (Naturalised Citizen)
Method of application: Check & Send PO
Date of application: 21/07/2014
Date application received by IPS: 24/07/2014 (Belfast)
SMS confirming receipt by IPS: 25/07/2014
Date of return of documents: 21/08/2014 (attempted delivery by DX on 20/08/2014)
Date of receipt of interview letter: Never (sent on 15/08/2014, see below)
Date of Passport Appointment: 27/08/2014
Date of Passport printing sms receipt: 04/09/2014
Date of Passport Receipt: 04/09/2014


There were a few hiccups in the process. Despite the hiccups, I got my passport exactly 6 weeks from receipt of my application by IPS (6weeks and 4 days from the day I sent it). A few notes and tips:

1. The "6 week" target that IPs sets for itself and against which it measures its performance appears to be from the date of actual receipt. Please bear this in mind when you apply: the 6 week period will not usually start until at least a couple of days after your check & send application.

2. There appears to be no real geographical logic to where your application ends up: I applied from London and my application was considered by the Belfast office.

3. The standard IPS helpline number is not very helpful. They do not have accurate information and calling them can be a waste of time. Even when they try to be helpful, the just don't know anything. If you need to contact IPS, contact the office that is dealing with your application. In my case, I waited 4 weeks after my application and, because I needed to travel urgently, I called the Belfast office who were extremely helpful and sent my original documents back by DX (for which I had paid) once they had reviewed my paper application and sent out my interview letter.

4. I never got an interview letter for some reason (probably lost in mail). Once I had had my original documents for a few days, I called them again and they gave me the necessary information to book an interview. (When you call them, you get an automatic message saying you should only call if you have received an invitation letter but, if you hold long enough, they will speak to you and if you have a genuine issue and are not just wasting time or panicking unnecessarily, they will help you out.)

5. For some reason, when I went for my interview, the centre did not have my details on its electronic system (apparently a glitch on their system). They ended up conducting a contingency interview on paper and sending my details by DX to Belfast. This delayed matters somewhat.

6. Once I pointed out the delay and the fact that I needed to travel to a country for which I preferred to use my British passport, I got a call back from their customer services personnel who were very helpful and arranged to process my passport on a fast-track basis. I got my passport less than a day after they got involved.

I hope this helps. Good luck all.

[ithinker]

[quote="divisionbell"]Application Type: New, for child
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 25th June 2014
Date of return of documents:waiting
Date of receipt of passport:02 Sep 2014[/quote]

Hi, Did you opt for secure delivery of documents? I see many received them around same time as interview letter. Do you know of any reason why supporting documents arrive late or how late? Thanks.

[ithinker]

Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Online and Post
Date of application: 24.07.2014
Date application received by IPS: 25.07.2014
SMS received:
Date of return of documents: still waiting
Date of receipt of interview letter: 20.08.2014
Date of Passport Appointment: 26.08.14
Date of SMS printing passport: 03.09.14
Date of Passport Receipt: 04.09.14

I have received my UK Passport. But waiting for supporting documents including previous passport. I can see most of the applicants receive the documents around the time of getting the interview letter itself. I opted for secured delivery. Is it normal? should I wait for a couple of days more? Are there others in a similar situation?

[mash2u]

Passport for: 2 Adults
Application Type: New (Naturalised Citizens)
Method of application: Check & Send PO
Date of application: 04/09/2014
Date application received by IPS: Awaiting
Date of return of documents: Awaiting
Date of receipt of interview letter: Awaiting
Date of Passport Appointment: Awaiting
Date of Passport printing SMS: Awaiting
Date of Passport Receipt: Awaiting

[MHA]

Dear Mr Asad!
1st of all congratulation secondly i wanna ask that do passport office deliver passport by Royal Mail or any other Courier Services?????

Thanx!

[divisionbell]

Application Type: New, for child
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 25th June 2014
Date of return of documents:waiting
Date of receipt of passport:02 Sep 2014

[ali_asad_pk]

Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 30/07/2014
Date application received by IPS: 04/08/2014 (SMS Received)
Date of return of documents: 01/09/2014
Date of receipt of interview letter: 26/08/2014 (dated 22/08/2014)
Date of Passport Appointment: 28/08/2014 @ 0915 (Luton; London has earliest available 03/09 and Chelmsford 01/09) Called on 27/08/2014 exact 0802 but lines were busy then left message for call back, again tried 0821 and was through straight away
Date of SMS printing passport: 01/09/2014 @ 0915
Date of Passport Receipt:01/09/2014

UPDATE:
26/08/2014 - I sent them email (from online form) to enquire status about application around mid day and got reply in evening around 1900 that application was received on 01/08/2014 and is currently going through examination process and rest was standard reply, funny enough I got letter first, when I return home and read email reply later and was thinking that there is really a serious problem about latest information which may not be available to customer service team although their reply was correct that my application is still under process/examination but I would have expected something like waiting for interview or interview call letter sent

NOTE:
On a separate note, one of my known person received interview letter which was issues to him on 23/08/2014, it seems that extra working hours i.e. weekend

UPDATE:
Supporting documents and new passport are delivered together (in separate envelops) by same person/courier.
Passport issue date is same as my interview date

Thank you very much to all wonderful users and helpful people who share their knowledge. This forum has been a great guidance. Congratulations to moderators for this service.

Good Luck to everyone

[whiskyzian]

Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send Hackney,London
Date of application: 11/08/2014
Date application received by IPS: 12/08/2014
SMS Received: 13/08/2014
Date of return of documents: 02/09/14
Date of receipt of interview letter: 20/08/2014
Date of Passport Appointment: 30/08/2014
Passport print SMS: 01/09/14
Date of Passport Receipt: 02/09/14

update，22 days

[Impatient1]

Hello All

Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 15/07/2014
SMS Received: 17/07/2014
Date of return of documents: 27/08/2014
Date of receipt of interview letter: 23/08/2014 (dated 21 August)
Date of Passport Appointment: 27/08/2014
Date of SMS: 2/9 (the date after I received my passport to say that my passport was being printed and should arrive in the next few days lol! )
Date of Passport Receipt:01/09/2014

Some info that might be useful to those who move while their passport is being processed:

I moved house on the 11th August while my application was sent. I phoned the passport office in the first week of August and advised them of the new address. It seemed ok and I thought that was it -until I received a letter around the 19th or 20th August (dated 15th August) requesting proof of this - I sent back proof by special delivery on the 20th - so lost about a week although still not bad considering my passport was printed on the 29th August. Guys, my advice is, if you do move house send them the proof (either bank statement/ utility bill/ mortgage etc) as soon as possible to save on the delay (quote the reference number). Hope this helps.

Good luck to everyone waiting.

[Impatient1]

[quote="Impatient1"]Hello All

Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 15/07/2014
SMS Received: 17/07/2014
Date of return of documents: 27/08/2014
Date of receipt of interview letter: 23/08/2014 (dated 21 August)
Date of Passport Appointment: 27/08/2014
Date of SMS: None
Date of Passport Receipt:01/09/2014

Some info that might be useful to those who move while their passport is being processed:

I moved house on the 11th August while my application was sent. I phoned the passport office in the first week of August and advised them of the new address. It seemed ok and I thought that was it -until I received a letter around the 19th or 20th August (dated 15th August) requesting proof of this - I sent back proof by special delivery on the 20th - so lost about a week although still not bad considering my passport was printed on the 29th August. Guys, my advice is, if you do move house send them the proof (either bank statement/ utility bill/ mortgage etc) as soon as possible to save on the delay (quote the reference number). Hope this helps.

Good luck to everyone waiting.

[Finishline]

Hi everyone, just thought I’d post my passport timeline. Hope it is of some use.
Passport timeline (chronological order)

Passport type: First adult passport
Application method: Check & Send

Date of application: 16/07/14
Date of receipt by IPS: 23/07/14
Date of interview letter: 19/08/14
Date of return of documents: 20/08/14
Date of passport interview: (Friday) 29/08/14 (had to travel 30 miles to interview office)
Date of passport receipt: (Monday) 01/09/14

Glad that is all over! Good luck to everybody still waiting.

[man4uni]

At last the journey is over! Alhumdulillah

Update in RED

Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New (1st British Passport)
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 6th Aug 2014
Date application received by IPS (sms): 11th Aug 2014
Date of return of documents: 28th Aug 2014
Date of receipt of interview letter: 26th Aug 2014
Date of Passport Appointment: 27th Aug 2014
Date of Passport Receipt: 1st Sep 2014

[man4uni]

Update in RED

Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New (1st British Passport)
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 6th Aug 2014
Date application received by IPS (sms): 11th Aug 2014
Date of return of documents: 28th Aug 2014
Date of receipt of interview letter: 26th Aug 2014
Date of Passport Appointment: 27th Aug 2014
Date of Passport Receipt: Waiting

[ARK003]

Hi all,

Updates in RED:
Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New (Naturalised Citizen)
Method of application: Check & Send PO
Date of application: 31/07/2014
Date application received by IPS: SMS on 5/08/214
Date of return of documents: Awaiting
Date of receipt of interview letter: 19/08/14(dated 17/08/14)
Date of Passport Appointment: 27/08/14
Date of Passport printing SMS: 28/08/14
Date of Passport Receipt: 30/08/14

I wanted to add that my appointment letter was dated on Sunday. Could be that the passport office team is working on Sundays as well or is an automated printing process..
Thanks for all the information and support on this website!! All the best!!

[kaha22]

Application Timeline

Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New - (After Naturalisation)
Method of application: Post office Check & Send
Date of application: 25/07/14
Date of Fees deduction: N/A (Fees taken at the Post Office)
Date application received by IPS: SMS on 29/07/14
Date of return of documents: 19/08/14
Date of receipt of interview letter: 19/08/14
Date of Passport Appointment: 26/08/14, Luton Office
Date SMS received for printing passport: 28/08/14
Date of Passport Receipt: 29/08/14

At the time of trying to book my interview, I was informed that London Victoria was fully booked until 17/09/14, so you may want to try other locations and in my case I opted for Luton.

In total, it took me 5 weeks from the date of application to the receipt of my passport.

Thanks for all the great feedback from this forum, it really helped me to get through this process! I wish everyone the best of luck.

[Jav13]

[quote="Jav13"]Update:
Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 17.07.2014
Date application received by IPS: 22.07.2014
SMS received: 23.07.14
Date of return of documents: still waiting
Date of receipt of interview letter: 21.08.2014
Date of Passport Appointment: 27.08.14
Date of SMS printing passport: 28.08.14 10am
Date of Passport Receipt: waiting

Text msg received 4m DX on 30.08 that they attempted delivery of passport on 29.08 and left a card. However I could NOT trace any card. I called DX to arrange a collection but they refused. I then requested re-delivery but the earliest date they gave me was 03.09. It seems almost a week. Not very happy.

[secret.simon]

Updates in red
Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 11th July 2014
Date application received by HMPO: 18th July 2014
Date of return of documents: 29th August 2014 (second delivery after failling to be delivered on 13th August)
Date of receipt of interview letter: 13th August 2014
Date of Passport Appointment: 22nd August 2014
Date of Passport Receipt: 30th August 2014

This part of my journey has come to an end and I would like to thank everybody on these forums for their experiences, which helped advise me on the courses of actions to take during my various applications. Particular thanks also goes to man4uni for compiling the statistics for both when I got naturalised and got my passport, which gave me a sense of when something was remiss. I also think that everybody on these forums owes a debt of gratitude to Amber for her advice on the various threads posted here.

I'll now emigrate to the other countries section of these forums and kick off the process of surrendering my old passport and then head off to Munich to celebrate with a few steins of beer at the Oktoberfest.

[sogy]

You can not argue with them even if you are right and they are wrong.

This is Britain, not Ukraine or Somalia. As British citizens, we should contribute to making he public servants just that, not public masters. Just don't stay out of politics!

[Haidi5]

[quote="Haidi5"]Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 28th June 2014
Date application received by IPS: SMS received 3rd June 2014.
Date of return of documents:11th Aug 2014
Date of receipt of interview letter:14th Aug 2014
Date of Passport interview:20th Aug 2014
Date of receipt of passport:29th Aug 2014

Hi Guys,
Finally got my passport today. Just dropped through the door. I had lots of different issues, all due to HM Passport office mistakes.
First they sent me interview letter on 5th Aug with wrong surname. So had to send my certificate back to get new letter by 14th Aug.
On 21st Aug, one day after my interview got call from Peterborough saying that I mention during interview that 10 years ago one of the bank put my name sequence wrong. I said yes I did mention. So gentleman ask me to send them my driving licence and other proofs that my name is correct. I sent it recorded and finally got passport today. You can not argue with them even if you are right and they are wrong.
Thanks God and good luck to everyone else

[msank]

Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 27/08/2014
Date application received by IPS: 29/08/2014( SMS received)
Date of return of documents:
Date of receipt of interview letter:
Date of Passport Interview:
Date of Passport Receipt:

[ryan2020]

update ........... finally journey is OVER

Application Timeline
Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New (Naturalised Citizen)
Method of application: Check & Send PO
Date of application: 26/07/2014
Date application received by IPS: SMS on 31/07/2014
Date of return of documents: Awaiting
Date of receipt of interview letter: 23/08/2014 dated (20/08/2014)
Date of Passport Appointment: 27/08/2014
Date of Passport printing sms receipt: 28/08/2014
Date of Passport Receipt: 29/08/2014

I sent the same picture with passport application which I sent for naturalisation. I don't wanted to spend more money on taking new pics in this hot weather by wearing 3 piece suit.

[Jav13]

Update:
Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 17.07.2014
Date application received by IPS: 22.07.2014
SMS received: 23.07.14
Date of return of documents:
Date of receipt of interview letter: 21.08.2014
Date of Passport Appointment: 27.08.14
Date of SMS printing passport: 28.08.14 10am
Date of Passport Receipt:

[ryan2020]

just got passport printing sms

will get passport tomorrow ??/

why no budy reply my post ???

[ryan2020]

Finally it's over. I can't believe I had to run for over 11 years to finish this route!!!
This forum is been great as all of us know, thanks to everyone of you for your kind information.
SPECIAL THANKS TO man4uni as he tried his best to maintain everyone's details.

Passport for: Adult
Application Type: New
Method of application: Check & Send
Date of application: 9th July 2014
Date application received by Liv: 11 Jul 2014
Date of return of documents: 18/08/14
Date of receipt of interview letter: 15/08/14
Date of Passport Appointment: 22/08/14
Date of Passport Receipt: 27/08/14

From day I applied till the day I received my passport was exactly 7 weeks.
I hope you all get yours soon, whoever waiting for it. Thanks to allah.

Hi Spike,

Its true , I also had to run 11 years to get the passport. I'm still waiting for the passport printing sms ?
Do they always send the SMS ????
It was a good time in 2003 when I first arrived in UK.

Hope you enjoyed your journey.