** ALL ** Passport Related Questions in here! Please Read Post#1 first!

fiona-f wrote: »

Can anyone advise what to do next? Application posted over two weeks ago by Passport Express, travel next week. The website showed "issue date" as yesterday. But literally nothing has changed since, it still has status as "received and registered" and issue date as yesterday, seems like it hasn't even been checked yet. The phone service isn't even letting you be on hold, I've sent emails to the address in the voicemail but nothing. I am now starting to worry, what can I do? Is there any point in calling in person to the office? Any other action I can take? Or do I just sit back and hope that it was indeed issued yesterday and the site simply hasn't been updated? Thanks.

The status of the application is not likely to change until the day before it's issued.

Are you a first time applicant or is it a straightforward renewal? First time applicants take slightly longer to check, as your identity has to be verified, and the witness has to be contacted.

Might be worth dropping in to the office in Dublin or Cork (depending on where you are based) just to see what the story is.

Since you are traveling soon, drop in proof of travel to see if they will issue the passport to you asap.

^

What pow pow said.

And sometimes a checker cannot speak directly to the Garda who witnessed the application, if the Garda work night shifts, etc, and will have to wait a day or two to talk to them, thereby holding up the application. If the checker cannot get through to the Garda after a few days, they will reject the application out to the applicant (depends on the checker though)

Flying Fox wrote: »

What drives me mad is that you don’t know what’s happening. Fair enough if there are delays but let people know what’s going on. Update the tracker and let people phone your office! It’s ridiculous that you would have to keep ringing over and over again just to be put on hold for 50 minutes. Most people are working during the day and don’t have time for this.

That's a valid complaint, but unfortunately there's just not enough staff to man all areas, and the priority is to get the passports out the door. Answering phones and emails seems to take a back seat. The passport office have taken on TCO's for the busy season, but some of them keep getting moved to other govt departments by the Public Appointments Service.

This is what happens when public services are cut to the bone.

I got my passport today It's lovely and very fancy...much nicer than my Australian one

Blanchguy wrote: »

That's nothing to do with cutbacks, the PAS are idiots. They ask you repeatedly when you are available and you tell them - end of August - when your current PS contract finishes. They call up 2 days later and say - here's a 6 month contract, starting next week, either take it or be dropped off the list until next March. I know at least 3 people this has happened to. What would you do?

I know that. I know several people this has happened to myself. In fact one of them made a point of going to the interview for another govt body and stating in the interview that he would not take the job offer, because breaking his current contract would not be ethical.

Either way, between voluntary redundancies, shorter working year, and a ban on recruitment, there is simply not enough staff to meet the demand that is placed on the system (as evidenced by the Passport Office not meeting it's 10 day turnaround during the high season).

How much is it to renew an out of date passport??

Hello folks,

I have a big problem. I applied for a renewal passport for my daughter on
the 14th of May using the N.I Post Office Express.

As a widower I had to include a sworn oath form along with my wife's
Death Certificate. I got a letter on the 9th of June from the Passport Office
stating the Death Certificate had not been sent by the Post Office.

I looked in my documents folder and sure enough there it was. I posted the
certificate straight away. It now looks like the application has been was
put into the start of the system and the online tracking says the issue date is
26 June - the same date as my daughter is due to fly to Lourdes from Belfast on a school trip.

I tried making an appointment online but the earliest I can get is the day before
at 3:40 pm. Surely there wouldn't be enough time to get it processed?

I have tried phoning but it's impossible to get through.

So my question is, would it be worthwhile me travelling from Derry to Dublin
on Monday morning, unannounced to try and get it sorted?

My daughter is very worried, plus it will be £600 down the drain.

Any advice would be appreciated.

R.

The numbers on your passport are a tiny fraction bigger than the letters, assuming she has the newer biometric version. If you look along the bottom of the identity page, left hand side where the passport umber is followed by IRL and your DOB backwards, you should be able to see, so if it's slightly bigger than the letter "E" it's a number "0"

However the older passports do have a different combination of numbers and letters so the a I've wouldn't apply.

Flying Fox wrote: »

It might be the best option unfortunately! If you do go down there, bring evidence of travel on the 26th.

Do you have any friends or relations in Dublin who might go down for you with the reference number and the proof of travel?

Apparently people have managed to get through eventually but you have to keep on trying constantly!

Good luck - it's ridiculous that its so hard to get through to them.

Thanks for your response FF.
I don't know anyone in Dublin unfortunately. Regarding proof of travel do you know what entails? The thing is, it seems my daughter's school have used an agency to organise the trip. There's a school meeting on Sunday where I have to hand over her passport, medical insurance etc.

It isn't looking good.:(

Thanks again.

DoesNotCompute wrote: »

I know that. I know several people this has happened to myself. In fact one of them made a point of going to the interview for another govt body and stating in the interview that he would not take the job offer, because breaking his current contract would not be ethical.

Either way, between voluntary redundancies, shorter working year, and a ban on recruitment, there is simply not enough staff to meet the demand that is placed on the system (as evidenced by the Passport Office not meeting it's 10 day turnaround during the high season).

There's also an extra two hours being worked a week. If things were organised properly there's no shortage of staff.

Well folks I've just missed my flight from UK to Spain this evening as my passport did not arrive from the Irish Embassy in London this morning despite having paid them an extra €14 for yesterday for special delivery postage to my home address. To recap I sent it for renewal on 7 May and have been in regular contact trying to move things along for the last 3 weeks but they wouldn't expedite my application until 7 days before travel (2 days used up by the weekend and a further 2 used up by postage from Dublin to London and then on to me, not that I have received it yet). Tomorrow is Sunday so the earliest I could receive it is Monday and I can't rebook any flights assuming I can get one until I do. This is all down to this not fit for purpose 7 day policy for UK applications. Interestingly I was told that my new passport was supposed to be on a plane from Dublin on Wednesday but somebody there failed to put it in the Mail bag in time delaying all my efforts by a crucial day. I've now been without a passport for 6 weeks and am stuck at home when I should be on holiday. Complete shambles.