Passport Renewal / Application - Time Taken?

[andye]

Recent drop in status? If so, perhaps a Covid adjustment?

Who does the UK Govt want to thin the ranks of....unions officials, photographers, journalists...

I expect it's to stop the people registering with a surgery and asking the UK GP to say they know them (or the "relative" theyve brought along with them) after a few weeks. It says doctors will only be accepted if they know the applicant well.
As in all walks of life, some doctors are more trusting and less confrontational than others.

Or maybe the GPs have lobbied to not be bothered by it especially as so few would actually impose the fee that it should carry

 

[Stanley Lambchop]

I lodged my son's application on 23 Feb. Received notification that it was complete on 5 May (10 weeks). Now just waiting for Aus Post to deliver the damn thing!

 

[Ron Calls]

I lodged my application on on 30th March and sent back on 11th April. I'm in Regional QLD too.

 

[YSSY]

After 8 weeks I've just been emailed to advise that my application is complete and should be printed with auspost soon.

 

[offshore171]

After 8 weeks I've just been emailed to advise that my application is complete and should be printed with auspost soon.

Was that a full application or a renewal?

 

[Rebeccaeng]

I lodged passport renewal for my daughter 7 weeks ago and still no news from them. I'm very worried, called the office many many times but just being hang up at the end. Is there anyway i can track the status?

 

[Rebeccaeng]

After 8 weeks I've just been emailed to advise that my application is complete and should be printed with auspost soon.

Which state are you at?

 

[MH_fan]

There really should be a way of making contact to find out the status of a passport application or renewal if you've been waiting longer than 6 weeks. It's fair if you're trying to chase them up before 6 weeks, as they've already said upfront that it could take up to 6 weeks, and you can't contact them, but beyond that...

 

[Rebeccaeng]

There really should be a way of making contact to find out the status of a passport application or renewal if you've been waiting longer than 6 weeks. It's fair if you're trying to chase them up before 6 weeks, as they've already said upfront that it could take up to 6 weeks, and you can't contact them, but beyond that...

I know right! I'm calling the hotline, dialed at 8am sharp, it's been 20mins but still on hold..

 

[MH_fan]

What's the hotline number??

 

[SydneySwan]

The youngest cygnet submitted passport application on April 6 at post office in downtown Sydney. It was a renewal but his old passport was a child one and his new passport will be adult. Just over 4 weeks passed and status is still ''under assessment''. Since then he has booked to travel overseas on May 18. Whenever he rings they are too busy to take calls and suggest he calls later.

Website says you should allow 6 weeks to receive passport which in his case would be May 18. Any ideas to try and hurry the process up?

An update;

May 5 emailed local Federal MPs office and followed up with a phone call on May 6. They promised to follow up with DFAT.

May 10 Hobart Passport Office phoned to say passport would be printed today and can be collected in Sydney office on May 11.

May 11 cygnet went to Sydney office but passport not there. Cygnet phoned Hobart who told him it was in Sydney office.

May 12 cygnet returned to Sydney office but passport still not there. Cygnet phoned Hobart office again who changed their story. Passport was now being printed in Melbourne office and he would receive email after it arrived in Sydney office and available for collection.

May 13 cygnet received email that it was available for collection in Sydney office.

May 16 (this morning) cygnet collected new passport.

Local MPs office gave distinct impression that they are intervening via contacts in DFAT on a daily basis to accelerate processing of passport applications. Why an application lodged in Sydney would get processed in Hobart and then printed in Melbourne office after being flagged as urgent is a mystery.

A stressful time for all. Cygnet just thankful to have passport in time for flight in 2 days on May 18!

 

[1022]

Today is 8 weeks since submitting my renewal. Still "under assessment" according to the website and I just discovered first hand today what others have mentioned about being unable to speak to anyone due to the phone menu just leading to a dead end for enquiries on existing applications. Travelling in mid June and getting slightly stressed given mail delivery times to Northern NSW are still very much flood affected.

 

[MH_fan]

I'm pretty much in the same boat. Tomorrow makes it 7 weeks since I lodged the renewal application and that will leave me 3 weeks until I'm meant to leave.
I wonder what will happen and what recourse there is if I can't fly because my passport didn't come back in time?

 

[clifford]

I lodged my renewal application 1.5 weeks ago and just received an email saying that the new passport had been dispatched to me.

No complaints there.

 

[SydneySwan]

I lodged my renewal application 1.5 weeks ago and just received an email saying that the new passport had been dispatched to me.

No complaints there.

Do you slip the post office clerk a “pineapple“?

 

[MH_fan]

I lodged my renewal application 1.5 weeks ago and just received an email saying that the new passport had been dispatched to me.

No complaints there.

It's this kind of inconsistency that's really sh*ting me!

 

[Stanley Lambchop]

Finally got my son's child passport 11 weeks after lodgment. Trying to contact the passport office was a nightmare - it took countless tries just to get in the call waiting queue (all other calls just had a message telling me to call back again before disconnecting, although they make you trawl through 2 minutes of recorded c**p before politely getting rid of you). Then first time on hold got disconnected after 45 minutes. Another half a dozen tries to get back into the queue and then a further hour and a half on hold before call answered.
Fortunately we didn't have a pressing travel date, but I wanted to make sure there was no problem with the application because if we had to start a new one we would be struggling with future travel. All fine as it turned out, just very slow (apparently there are extra steps in assessing child applications)
I did also get a response after a couple of days when lodging a status request on the website which might help others.
There should be an easier way to track the status and escalate delayed processing.

 

[1022]

Finally got my son's child passport 11 weeks after lodgment. Trying to contact the passport office was a nightmare - it took countless tries just to get in the call waiting queue (all other calls just had a message telling me to call back again before disconnecting, although they make you trawl through 2 minutes of recorded c**p before politely getting rid of you). Then first time on hold got disconnected after 45 minutes. Another half a dozen tries to get back into the queue and then a further hour and a half on hold before call answered.
Fortunately we didn't have a pressing travel date, but I wanted to make sure there was no problem with the application because if we had to start a new one we would be struggling with future travel. All fine as it turned out, just very slow (apparently there are extra steps in assessing child applications)
I did also get a response after a couple of days when lodging a status request on the website which might help others.
There should be an easier way to track the status and escalate delayed processing.

I must have missed where to submit a status request via the website. I’ll have another look for that for my 8+ week renewal because it’s really quite a disgrace that it’s impossible to get through on the phone to follow up on very delayed applications.

 

[Stanley Lambchop]

At the bottom of the website there is an "Enquiries and Feedback" link. When you navigate through the drop down menus one of the "enquiry" categories is for a "passport application update". It took a couple of days for them to respond, but at least they did so.

 

[aikman]

Woah. I dropped off my passport renewal at a post office 7 days ago and I just got a text and email telling me that my new passport has been posted.