General Holiday Enquiries, Hints and Tips

General Holiday Enquiries? Got General Hints & Tips? Post Them Here.
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That's odd lady all they asked for with us was one signed photo, and baby's birth certificate. I hope she gets it sorted soon.
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Marlou, sounds to me as if they are wanting proof of identity from the person who signed Lady's grandson's photo, hence the delay, but weren't querying the identity of the person who signed your baby's photo and hence why your's went through without a hitch.

Countersignatories for first time passports or for children under the age of 11 need to already be British paaport holders themselves and meet an awful lot of other conditions! I can see why it mightn't be that straightforward.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Passports/Applicationinformation/DG_174151

SM
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Yes that is the hold up! The person meets all the requirements but they check every so often and we were the unlucky ones! They have sent a form for them to fill in and return but they only got that yesterday! Nightmare!
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Well I hope they sort it soon so that they can go and enjoy their holiday .
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Passport for my grandson arrived today so relief it took 6 weeks, now they can look forward to their holiday!
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:tup lady....glad your all sorted...tweetie
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Hi all we are in a big panic we are getting married on 23 june and flying off on honeymoon as a present on 24th june we sent fiance passport replacment form and also renewel check and send on may 30th got email from liverpool stating they had received it on 31st since then nothing has happened to it and after numerous phone calls and emails we have been given 9 different stories..cut a long story short its the two week mark wed and we gotta call back weve tried and tried to be put through to Liverpool but its constantly busy the stress of the thought that we cant go if the passport doesnt come back is getting too much ...ps there are no appts left at liverpool to fast track it
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Welcome Claire ... if you cannot get through on the phone, you could use the online tracking service. However, they do ask that you wait until 2 weeks after sending your application before using this service:

https://forms.direct.gov.uk/forms/form/5/en/request_an_email_update_on_the_progress_of_your_passport_application

They aim to reply with an update on progress within 1 working day.

David :wave
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Hiya david thanks for the quick reply yeah weve few emails just saying still processing ..just cant believe that this is taking so long never waited this long before and neither has anyone else we know
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Hi Claire ... as it has only been with them for 11 days, I think you perhaps need to try and be a little more patient (easy for me to say) as that is not long at this time of year. They do advise that Check & Send applications take a minimum of 2 weeks.

I don't want to alarm you but I have heard recent reports of some renewals taking up to 6 weeks. However, that may possibly have been as the result of errors on the application, which hopefully the Check & Send service would have eliminated in your case.

David :wave
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God i hope not they have said we may be able to upgrade the application depends on where itis when we ring on wed im hoping that this is correct
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Claire ... doing a bit of digging, I have seen some reports of recent Check & Send applications (with no errors) taking 3 to 4 weeks. Those may be isolated incidents, or it may be the average turnaround time at the moment going into peak season, I really don't know. But perhaps something to bear in mind when you manage to speak to someone, or if you are given the opportunity to upgrade your application.

Do let us know how you get on.

David :wave
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Thanks for that david the post office said when we submitted aplication there were no delays
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There may be no delays as such Claire, it may just be normal processing times for this time of year. During the quieter winter months, passport applications are often processed within a week, but that can't be expected going into peak summer season. I would have thought the Post Office should have informed you of Identity & Passport Service advice that Check & Send applications take a minimum of 2 weeks to process (there are no guarantees on time), so that you could then have taken the decision about whether you may have wanted to use one of the guaranteed premium services instead.

David :wave
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A friend of mine works for the Identity and Passport Service. He says at the office he works in they are at least a week behind, I think he mentioned they were processing work received at the end of May now.
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Fantastic news weve had email and two phonecalls that its been processed and is beinfg printed today too weve gotta ring tmz for courrier tracking number and can then arrange delivery by weekend ..estatic is not the word
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Great news, thanks for the update Claire. Hopefully one less thing to worry about now in the lead up to your big day. Good luck, hope all goes well ! :tup
David :wave
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Thanks david will update you when we recieve it by
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