The current Passport Application Fiasco!

Applying for a passport should be pretty straightforward, right? You either fill in an application from the post office, add on the relevant documents, post it off, voila. The same can be done for online passport applications. Fill in your details, pay the fee, send off the documents required and wait the 10 weeks that’s been advised. It all sounds very straightforward, wouldn’t you agree?

Well, at the moment, the passport office is under some strain, to put it lightly. With everyone and their granny now looking to go on holiday for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, they’re under pressure. Under pressure to approve, print and post millions of renewal, first time and lost passports. It is chaos. And I think them blaming covid has long since passed it’s use! It is an excuse that they can no longer use, but they still try to, sadly.

However in among the madness, the passport office are making some grave GDPR mistakes. Such as posting passports to the wrong people, not returning their important documents i.e. marriage certificates, birth certificates and in some cases decree of absolutes. And in alot of other cases, including ours, not adhering to the 10wk policy to when you’ll receive your passport.

Sending off passports together will make no difference

I sent off for both my own and my youngest daughters renewal passports on the same day. I later realised that mine was sent to Peterborough and Annabelle’s was sent to Bootle {currently it is now in Durham – confused? So am I!}. My passport application, which included a name change {due to marriage}, was approved, printed and posted out to me within three weeks. We are still waiting on Annabelle’s and we are over the 10wk mark. So, you might be thinking, is there an issue with her application? Well, according to to the passport office, there is not. So why the delay you might be thinking? Well, I am wondering the very same.

All over social media I am seeing that there are people applying for passports in mid-May and getting their passports within weeks. All the while there are people waiting from February, March and April, like my daughter and receiving nothing. It seems they have all fallen into a black hole, and nobody can tell us anything as to why. There is no correspondence via text or email, like the passport office say you will receive. And now? The 10wk window means nothing.

Passport In breach of SLA, but they don’t care

Now? Those who are flying within the next 2wks are a priority. Even if they only applied for their passport within the last six weeks. Yes, you read that correctly. Surely, you’d think they would be dealing with each application as they come in, yes? That is not the case. You need to have applied within the last 6 weeks and be flying in the next two weeks to be eligible for an upgrade. Until then? You need to keep waiting in the standard queue, whether they are in breach of the SLA or not. So everyone, like my daughter who applied in February, March & April and even though they are not flying within the next 2 weeks, they do not count. Their applications get placed into a hole to be dealt with whenever.

And even saying that you are eligible for an upgrade still does not guarantee you will get it within those two weeks. Because to fall into the elibilibility for an upgrade, you need to wait for a phone call. These calls can take anything between 24-48hrs and if you miss it, they do not ring back. And sometimes they don’t even ring at all. So, within that two-week-before-you-fly-out bracket, you have potentially already lost another two days, due to a missed or lack of call at all.

The system is broken. Whenver you go online via the passport webchat service, they cannot tell you anything that you cannot see on your online tracking. So what is their purpose? And if you ring up, after being on hold for over an hour {if you’re lucky – even luckier if they don’t cut you off} they too cannot tell you anything that you don’t already know. So once again, what is the purpose of the advice line if they cannot advise you on anything helpful?

They are taking no accountability for the issues

There is zero accountability for any of the problems. They are not sorry that they are losing applications, nor are they sorry that people applying from as far back as February are still waiting, while people applying at the end of May are receiving their passports through the post. There is no apologies for those whose documents they have lost i.e. mine, no accountability of finiancial cover to go about having to get them all reprinted. Absolutely no remorse for posting other people passports through the doors of complete strangers and more. The list truly does go on.

I am on a handful of passport application Facebook groups which have been hugely helpful in some ways, during our own application struggle. Because we are not alone, there are so many other people out there going through the same. And the mistakes the passport office are making is nothing short of astounding.

These groups have been helpful when its come to who we can email {Upgrade teams etc}, as well as numbers that have worked, MPs to reach out too and more. And in alot of cases for others, these methods have worked. However, they do not work for everyone. For us for example, I keep being told that my daughter doesn’t fly out within 2 weeks {we actually fly out in 19 days} so she is not elibigible for an upgrade, even though she is over the ten weeks. It’s mental.

What is working for everyone flying within two weeks

What I can tell you, is what seems to be working for others at this point and from the groups I am on. Yes, you can email and phone, but 9 times out of 10? These do not work, or not as effectively as we’d all like to think they are. The thing that seems to be the most effective is, if you are flying within the next 24/48hrs, is to go to your local passport office.

Isn’t that insane?

This will be me, I know it to get both of my daughters passport applications. Because as long as you are flying out within that one to two days time frame, you are made a priority. And from what I can see from all of the successful passport stories, this is what they have had to do. Some flying out that very evening, some flying out the next morning, I mean, they really are removing all ability to enjoy any run up to your holiday. It is just stress, anxiety and more stress upto, in some cases, the day before! 

But, they are getting them, which I suppose is the most important thing here. Who cares for a few extra stress and worry wrinkles right? It gives us all an excuse to treat ourselves to some new Oil of Olay in duty-free or a megapint of wine at the airport bar! 

So please bare in mind, if you are in the same conundrum as us, email and phone until the cows come home because you have to feel as though you are doing something, right? I get that! But realistically? Get yourself down to your local passport office 24/48hrs before your holiday, as early as possible, with all of your relevant documentation i.e. flight information, PEX application numbers, dates of submission etc. And you will be seen. Because those who are flying out within 24/48hrs are now the priortity. The 10wk time frame now means zilch, zip, nadda.

Good luck!!