ImageDude

2 hours ago, OJAS said:

Words fail me!

 

Could you please remind us of your current immigration status here (and apologies if you have already mentioned this in this and other relevant threads)? If, say, you were a retiree or spouse of a Thai national, then I wonder whether it might be worth your while exploring with your local immigration office the possibility of them granting a non-O visa conversion in your new passport, to enable you to start afresh with annual extensions in due course?

 

I have already made extensive enquiries at the Local Immigration. At best they were unhelpful. Without my old passport, unless they are instructed from above they will view it for what is. No passport, No help. End of.

12 minutes ago, OJAS said:

Well, if it does transpire that your old passport has disappeared down some black hole in HMPO's Liverpool office never to be seen again, then the very least that those bungling incompetent cretinous clowns should IMHO do is proactively to intercede with Immigration here, through the Thai Embassy in London, to get your stay here regularised.

 

Latest news from HMPO: I made further enqiries about the whereabouts of my OLD passport last night and received the following email. I am now convinced that HMPO employ people with reading difficulties.

HM Passport Office <[email protected]>

1 hour ago, pontious said:

HMPO signed the DHL to say they had received your passport so it is there somewhere. As they have sent your new passport they probably think there is no urgency to find it. Have you still got time to email Abi,s office to ask them to urgently find your passport. They will not be aware of the immigration mess they have got you into. If found the corners can be cut so there is no security problem to sending it top priority by DHL to your home address. There incompetence has got you into this complete nightmare.. Find your passport and send it direct to you.

I received an email last night from the customer resolution team stating that so far my old passport has not been found however a 'Full Office Search' is still ongoing. Bear in mind that this search has been going on since last Friday, how difficult can it be?  I have sent out further emails today and am awaiting replies. They are well aware of the problems I will face at Immigration, I repeatedly informed them about those consequences in almost every email. It became clear early on in the proceedings that I was dealing with incompetents, so I made it my business to ensure they knew all about it. But you already are aware that they just disregarded everything I told them. I have kept a log of all correspondence and I am compiling quite a damning report that will be submitted to all concerned, whatever the final outcome is.

19 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

 

I would still get a police report, stating that the PP was lost in transit between Thailand and UK.

Okay, I will do that tomorrow, thanks.

25 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Why not do a police report on the old passport and present that to Immigration

I already asked about that and was told that because my passport was not lost in Thailand, then it has nothing to do with them. HMPO has got me into this mess because of their incompetence and subsequent dereliction of duty. Henceforth they have a responsibility to resolve it. I have sent two more emails this morning one to HMPO and one to my MP notifying them of my now precarious position in Thailand.

13 minutes ago, pontious said:

They always quote security when asked why they can,t send to home address. Then HMPO received your passport and promptly lose it. Unbelievable. So much for there security.

In the absence of my old passport, my local Immigration Office has told me that they cannot transfer my details from old to new passport by only using a photocopy of my old passport. Unless they receive orders to the contrary from upon high. Then they will treat me as being in breach of their laws and act accordingly! 

On 6/6/2020 at 6:21 AM, ImageDude said:

It seems that Abi Tierney's office really does have some teeth. I received a second email yesterday from a very nice lady at the HMPO Customer Resolution Team stating that she had requested that HMPO Liverpool send her a full review of my passport application including any and all correspondence. She will contact me again next Tuesday, hopefully with some kind of result. I also received an email from HMPO Liverpool stating that my new passport had been printed on June 1st and was awaiting pick up by the courier, it will be delivered to the application centre, so maybe they have word that the Chiang Mai office is about to reopen. Still no mention of the whereabouts of my old passport, but maybe the Customer Resolution Team will uncover that mystery. I now have the correct email for Abi Tierney's Office and I also have a named contact at HMPO Customer Complaint Resolution Team. I am not going to post them here, but if any of you guys run into problems with your applications please feel free to PM me and I will give you the information, but only if you are having problems.  Peace.

Update: I received another email yesterday from HMPO Customer Resolution Team. Their investigation and review of my application has revealed, so far, that HMPO Liverpool ironically have lost my old passport! So, the investigation is continuing. I really don't know what happens now. I guess it was just my misfortune to run into a whole bunch of incompetent fools masquerading as intelligent beings.  Peace

I have received an email from my MP's secretary informing me that from their enquiries, HMPO have replied to them with the news indicating that my passport will be issued soon. However, I may have to wait until the VFS Office in Chiang Mai opens. HMPO have still not confirmed that they have received my old passport and it has been placed with my application. The bottom line is that it should never have been requested in the first place. Whilst I am sympathetic and in agreement with the measures put in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The coronavirus did not cause the incompetence, unprofessionalism, unhelpfulness and obstructiveness that I encountered in my dealings with HMPO. If I finally get my old and new passport, the matter will not rest there.

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

I have received a similar interim reply to my email to Abi Tierney referred to up thread!

 

I contacted her myself but as yet, not received any reply. 

On 5/25/2020 at 7:57 AM, ImageDude said:

This morning I have blitzed HMPO, I have sent emails to everyone at HMPO who has replied to my queries over the last few weeks and there are many of them. Each email has the heading. Please bring this email to the attention of your office manager/supervisor/or any other superior, as it has become abundantly clear that no one at your level has the competency/ability to solve this issue. Followed by my message about the irony of how the Passport Office has managed to lose my Passport.

 

Enough is enough, they can't make things any worse for me than they already have.

In response to my blitz, I am now starting to receive replies from the recipients at HMPO (3 yesterday). Each reply starts by telling me it is a courtesy email, (that's a first). and my complaint has been escalated to the Customer Resolutions Team. So obviously, they now realise that I do have a genuine grievance and there is a case to answer. It will be interesting to see what conclusion they come to. It's good to see that VFS are finally reopening, let's hope there is not to much of a backlog and the rest of you guys are dealt with in a timely manner.

23 hours ago, OJAS said:

 

Having just checked those links to VFS website. I can see only reference to the Visa Section opening. Nothing about Passports! Or maybe I am looking in the wrong place.

44 minutes ago, OJAS said:

You might like to add:-

 

3/ Records relating to all actions taken by HMPO to date in connection with my passport renewal application, with particular regard to the decision to require me to submit my original passport in contravention of the procedures described on the GOV.UK website.

 

Thanks I will. I am awaiting information from a friend in the UK who works for a Law Firm. She returns to work next Monday. In the meantime, if anyone else has any ideas on this course of action. Feel free to comment.

Not knowing where to go next, I have been thinking. Would contacting the press add weight to our plight. I have no idea how to do this, nor do I have any press contacts. I thought maybe it would be a public interest story for the Thai newspapers initially and ultimately to the UK Nationals.

•   12 hours ago, cheekysailor said:

12 hours ago, cheekysailor said:

Any name specific emails that you have within the HMPO please PM them to me.  I would also like add me 'two-peneth' into the mix. 

PM Sent.

1 hour ago, theoldgit said:

Did you include Abi Tierney in your email offensive?

Abi took over as DG for the HMPO and UKVI Directorates in February, she used to work for SERCO Healthcare.

No, I don't have a contact for her. But I did copy in The Home Office and my MP. Not that either of them has been any use so far. I believe today is a Bank Holiday in the UK, so maybe on Tuesday my inbox will be red hot! Or not. I am reluctant to phone HMPO again because I am so angry, frustrated and wound up that I will not be able to contain myself.

12 minutes ago, Yorkshire Tea said:

 

So, what happens when you eventually receive your new passport, without your old passport?  How will Thai immigration react when you present an empty passport, with no entry stamp?

I have no clue, but obviously things are going to get far more interesting for me, to say the least. The biggest problem is that no one person is dealing with it. Each time I make enquiries, a different person responds and I have to go over the same ground each time. Nobody is prepared to own it and see it through to a satisfactory conclusion.

One thing for sure is that Covid-19 has exposed issues and flaws with the current procedure for renewing UK passports from within Thailand. It has also highlighted the gross incompetence, unhelpfulness and on occasions downright unfriendliness of some of the staff at HMPO.

As you all know, I was bullied into sending my old passport to HMPO Liverpool before they would consider processing my application. So, eventually I reluctantly I sent it and I know that it was received and signed for on May 5^th.

I sent further emails to get confirmation that my passport had been received and was now united with my original application. After 5 replies I got the answer that my application was being looked at and therefore my passport must be with the application. That was as good an answer as I was going to get from that individual.

Yesterday (yes they were open on Saturday) I contacted HMPO with the request that if my application was completed, and they were unable to send out the new passport. Would HMPO at least consider sending back my old passport to me, figuring that something would be better than nothing. The reply stated that my old passport was not with the original application and nobody knew where it was, but they would make further enquiries!  any ideas where to go to from here?

8 hours ago, cheekysailor said:

If your passport will expire before a solution has been agreed you will need to consider returning to UK to renew your passport.

Kind Regards

British Embassy Bangkok

And thereby incurring more expense. That would make it one hell of an expensive passport! What kind of a response is that? It in no way addresses the issue for those of us with passport renewals already in the system.

7 hours ago, cheekysailor said:

Due to Coronavirus our partner agency, VFS has closed. This means you are currently unable to renew your passport within Thailand.

I am beginning to wonder if VFS will ever reopen. Surely with the low incidence of Coronavirus cases in Thailand it cannot be responsible for this prolonged closure! Maybe HMPO are looking for a permanant alternative to VFS.