by Anura Guruge
on July 13, 2022
20-days START-to-FINISH is pretty damn impressive — given that it was ALL done in the U.K.
Kudos to the HM Passport Office — & a HUGE Thank YOU.
The British Civil Service still rocks. I am glad & proud.
It could have been 18-days, rather than 20 IF NOT for 2 separate postal service related delays. One was yesterday. We were NOT at home & as such could not sign for delivery. Instead, had to pick it up, from the Post Office, this morning. That added a day. The other was at the very start. Also had to do with the Post Office. They were NOT able to handle the delivery of my old passport to the U.K.! I described it all here. I had to take it to a FedEx office the next day. So, lost another day there.
But, 20-days start-to-finish is impressive. I am happy. I am glad.
Using FedEx definitely helped. They got my old passport to the U.K. in less than 3-days. That expedited matters. Appears that they don’t start processing your application UNTIL they receive your old passport. That I managed to get it to them QUICKLY helped. [It wasn’t cheap at $92.03 BUT it was worth every penny. Thank YOU, FedEx.]
Once they got my old passport it was very quick. Took about 3 days for the old passport to get from the mailroom to whatever. Then it was BANG, BANG, BANG.
See the timetable at top. Impressive.
I think it took longer when the renewals were done in D.C. — & if I am NOT mistaken, cost more! So, this is great. NOT SURE why anyone would want to use a 3rd party passport application/renewal service. The ONLINE process was very smooth.
So, I am back to an Ol’ style Blue British Passport.
WOW. The about of anti-forgery ‘devices’ is mind-blowing. For a start there are 4 COPIES of your picture. It used to be just ONE. Now 4. But, it appears my passport is machine readable, i.e., I can go through automated passport controls. I never have. The main picture has some kind of polarizing (or holographic) overlay. A tiny copy of your picture, again under a plastic overlay, sits under your date-of-birth. It is a work of art.
