has anyone else had or in process child first time passport .its been over a year now since i submitted the application in late april 2014 i ring and email find out what happening all im getting is Your daughter's application is currently undergoing validation overseas ,,Unfortunately we are unable to give a timescale as to when our checks will be complete, but we will try our utmost to complete our routine security checks as soon as possible thats all i get for past 4 months is same answer ..i given all what they ask and more they had all mine and my wife genuine documents and even my daughter hospital records ,just a bit annoying when she surely she entitled to british passport , i want her passport so when i get spouse visa it just be my wife for a visa as my daughter have her british passport or do i just get them both on a visa and get my daughter a filipina passport aswell ////
Really sorry to hear this, I got my daughter a UK passport but that was back in 2009 when it could still be done in Manila, a year to process this is completely out of order. When you call them are you calling a UK government office number and are you being answered by someone who is in a position to actually help or are you being directed around a voice answering service? At this stage I agree with elizdave contact your MP and be really clear about the timescales that have been involved already.
Yep all overseas passport applications are now processed in thge UK (Liverpool), hence the massive backlogs. Here's an article from last year, obviously it has got worse since then:- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/ex...t-renewal-delays-causing-expat-headaches.html
Yeah but they are saying a wait of up to 8 weeks "or more", this chap has been waiting a year, that's a hell of an "or more"!
Very true. I've heard of excessive wait times before (8 months if memory serves) so I don't think the case is unique in that respect. Definitely contact the local MP and see whether he can add any pressure.
This is the reason I won't renew my daughters passport from oversea's, I'd rather get her here on her Philippine passport with all the correct documents that she needs and apply once she is physically in the UK, the chance of all those originals getting lost in transit or under a desk in Liverpool is simply too high!
Its absolutely ridiculous having to wait so long for a kiddies passport, all the upset and inconvenience, the system or lack of it obviously isn't fit for purpose. Elizdave was right, contact your MP.
We applied in the same month. Mine was 10th of April 2014. The difference though is the application is for myself, for a first-time adult UK passport. My parents are both British (mum is Filipina-born but got naturalised way back in 1981) though I was born here in the Philippines. I also used to have a UK child passport which was never used though. Anyway, just to share my timeline so we could compare and see where we are both at in our applications. 2014 April- I submitted the UK passport application July- My counter-signatory in the UK was contacted November- I contacted HMPO Liverpool. I was then told that UK checks are done and local checks are next to be conducted. 2015 January- I was then contacted by HMPO in Bangkok for further documents. February- HMPO Bangkok sent me an email that I would need to attend an interview, to be held at the Consulate in Manila on the 21st of April. April- I attended the interview. Since then, I don't have any further news regarding my application. Every time I email HMPO, they only send me that same generic email that they gave you.
I already contacted an MP, a member of the House of Lords who my parents knew quite well. He has already told me that there's not much he could do and bypassing passport security checks are out of his powers. Only the Queen could do so. Hahhahaha... He just told me that if I ever decide to come to the UK instead, he could just ask HMPO to provide me an emergency passport. I was actually being provided one by HMPO before which I did not took. Reason was, I needed a UK passport for a job offer in Australia (which has long been rescinded because of the long wait). I can't use an emergency passport or my Philippine passport for it.
to follow up on my daughter passport it came while i was in philippines i only got back thursday and the timescale was very long it was about year but they ask for more documents so i think in all about 10 months but i finally have it now .its waiting game
Not just passports. British Citizenship applications seem to be taking longer and longer. Up to 6 months or more now. I guess its possibly linked to increased security and more and more people trying to get into the UK....
In the case of the issuance of Passports for those living abroad, the answer is that all these applications are dealt with by one office which already had a huge domestic catchment area, Liverpool. A year's wait is not uncommon.
Yes. Understood. From Halos post from last years Telegraph on the very topic, it is taking potentially far longer than " advertised" "Passports take about three weeks to be processed for those living in the UK. Passport renewals used to take around four weeks for those living overseas, but new advice states that for overseas applicants the wait is now at least six weeks and first-time applications can take eight weeks or more." Also as Oss highlighted. I am simply suggesting it is taking far longer owing to a tightening up of security and not just down to centralising applications to Liverpool. This in turn ties in with increased waiting times for Citizenship. If it is increased security it is a good thing in one sense but harder for genuine applicants on the flipside. I saw and felt the look and sound of emphatic convinction by the Immigration officer when she explained to us how long it would take for Citizenship applications right now. It has been 4 months for us so far, so significantly longer than in the past.
Just spoken to a friend of Mrs Ash. It took 6 months for her Citizenship application to come through. So they are indeed taking longer compared to a year or so ago.