UK Passport Office workers to strike

[OJAS]

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64981979

 

Not good news for those with UK passport renewal applications in the pipeline or about to be submitted. Looks like we can kiss goodbye to any chance of receiving new passports within 3-4 weeks for the next couple of months at least.

[transam]

Not so long ago, I waited 15 weeks for mine with no strike...????

[Doctor Tom]

1 minute ago, transam said:

Not so long ago, I waited 15 weeks for mine with no strike...????

Indeed so, will we even notice.   They are a bunch of inefficient feckless muppets 

[liddelljohn]

its run by a private contractor anyway ,  totally  crummy

[dick turpin]

Wonder if VFS will continue to accept renewal

applications if this kicks in.

[AhFarangJa]

Same as Transam, my application took 16 weeks last year. Applied middle of June, received passport middle October. The biggest headache is not being able to track it. Even though VFS give you a reference number it does not work for British passports. 

[OJAS]

12 hours ago, dick turpin said:

Wonder if VFS will continue to accept renewal

applications if this kicks in.

Wouldn't be surprised if they didn't once DHL told them that they couldn't accept any new applications for delivery as there would be no-one in HMPO's mail room to sign for them. They certainly had no hesitation in pulling the plug for several weeks at the height of the pandemic as I recall (although in fairness to them I think that they were acting under strict orders issued by their HMPO masters on that particular occasion).

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by OJAS

[OJAS]

42 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

The biggest headache is not being able to track it. 

An even bigger headache IMHO is being forced to make 2 trips in person to a rundown tower block in Bangkok (or its Chiang Mai equivalent which may not necessarily be rundown for all I know) or fork out an extra 5,000 THB for an agent to make these trips on your behalf.

 

Not to mention that obtaining mugshots complying with HMPO's over-fussy requirements as regards acceptable background colours can be easier said than done in Thailand as most professional photographers here are simply not geared up to take mugshots against physical plain cream or plain light-grey backgrounds.

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by OJAS

[theoldgit]

13 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

its run by a private contractor anyway ,  totally  crummy

 

VFS only handle the receipt of applications, which are then processed by HMPO in the UK.

I'm not the greatest fan of VFS, but they handled my recent application pretty well, though all they actually do is receive the application and forward to the appropriate Government Agency for processing. 

[teatree]

Aren't PP applications from Thailand processed in India anyway now?  Hopefully the strike won't affect things too much.

[theoldgit]

1 minute ago, teatree said:

Aren't PP applications from Thailand processed in India anyway now?  Hopefully the strike won't affect things too much.

 

No, Liverpool

[Thingamabob]

I have always applied for a new UK passport a year in advance of the expiry of a current UK passport. A shame to lose a year but it avoids a lot of these issues. 

[sandyf]

47 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

I have always applied for a new UK passport a year in advance of the expiry of a current UK passport. A shame to lose a year but it avoids a lot of these issues. 

If it takes 4 months for renewal, it will be 4 months whenever you apply. Once you make the application you cannot use the passport internationally.

[Chomper Higgot]

15 hours ago, transam said:

Not so long ago, I waited 15 weeks for mine with no strike...????

I wonder what caused that?:

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1617865/passport-delays-staff-cuts-travel-delays

[Mac Mickmanus]

15 minutes ago, sandyf said:

If it takes 4 months for renewal, it will be 4 months whenever you apply. Once you make the application you cannot use the passport internationally.

You can use the old passport right up until you receive the new passport . The old passport gets invalidated when you receive the new one 

[nong38]

I applied for the wife's UK tourist Visa on the 13th I guess this maybe affected as well?

[Bangkok Barry]

17 hours ago, OJAS said:

Looks like we can kiss goodbye to any chance of receiving new passports within 3-4 weeks for the next couple of months at least.

It depends A few decades ago I worked for BT in the UK dealing with phone bills and the union called us out on strike. It was summer, we got full pay and I only had to stand outside the office on picket duty for half a day a week. Lovely. The strike lasted for much of the summer, and when we got back to work we were offered overtime with double pay at the weekend in order to catch up. Maybe the same will happen at the Passport Office.

[dick turpin]

2 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

You can use the old passport right up until you receive the new passport . The old passport gets invalidated when you receive the new one 

Your old passport gets cancelled once your application is received,

allowed to retain in Thailand for the purposes of ID, but invalid for

international travel.

[richard_smith237]

12 minutes ago, dick turpin said:

2 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

You can use the old passport right up until you receive the new passport . The old passport gets invalidated when you receive the new one 

Your old passport gets cancelled once your application is received,

allowed to retain in Thailand for the purposes of ID, but invalid for

international travel.

Interesting.. I never knew it was cancelled until your replacement had been received. 

 

That lends to the question of legality - being overseas without a valid passport. 

 

Also raise eyebrows in the event of needing to travel in the even of an emergency while the Passport application is in place.

 

I have these options covered (holding two British Passports)... But, obviously not my Son (whose passport expires on Sept & I was going to apply for renewal at the Beginning of April which allows for 3 months...  If thats not going to work out then I’d have to apply for fast-track renewal in the UK (hopefully the staff at HMPO are not still striking by then !).

 

 

[hotandsticky]

25 minutes ago, dick turpin said:

Your old passport gets cancelled once your application is received,

allowed to retain in Thailand for the purposes of ID, but invalid for

international travel.

 

That is incorrect.

 

I traveled to Cambodia on mine. Once the corner gets snipped (when you collect the new passport) it is not valid.

[hotandsticky]

46 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

 

That lends to the question of legality - being overseas without a valid passport. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't worry you are not.

 

In reality you could get away with using your old passport in Thailand (and for travel to neighbouring countries, (certainly by land crossing, as I did ) until Immigration become aware of your new passport (and as long as VfS do not cut the corner off the old passport - as they failed to do with mine).

[youreavinalaff]

2 hours ago, nong38 said:

I applied for the wife's UK tourist Visa on the 13th I guess this maybe affected as well?

Why?

 

Visas applications come under UKVI.

 

It is HMPO who are striking.

[transam]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I wonder what caused that?:

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1617865/passport-delays-staff-cuts-travel-delays

I think they moved staff to cope wiv all the rubber boat people....????

[lamyai3]

21 hours ago, OJAS said:

Not good news for those with UK passport renewal applications in the pipeline or about to be submitted. Looks like we can kiss goodbye to any chance of receiving new passports within 3-4 weeks for the next couple of months at least.

What a fiasco.

 

As an aside, are there any disadvantages in getting a UK passport renewal overseas as opposed to the UK, in relations to things like NHS or DWP records etc? Think I've read in the past it's better to get the new pp in UK if possible, though I can't remember why. 

[transam]

1 minute ago, lamyai3 said:

What a fiasco.

 

As an aside, are there any disadvantages in getting a UK passport renewal overseas as opposed to the UK, in relations to things like NHS or DWP records etc? Think I've read in the past it's better to get the new pp in UK if possible, though I can't remember why. 

Perhaps because renewing from abroad, every page of your passport must be copied and checked by the agency, then that is all sent off to the UK.......

[In the jungle]

Passport Office staff were offered a 2% pay increase by the government who refuse to negotiate.

 

Given inflation is around 10% in the UK I can understand why they are striking.

 

 

[AhFarangJa]

On 3/18/2023 at 8:30 AM, OJAS said:

An even bigger headache IMHO is being forced to make 2 trips in person to a rundown tower block in Bangkok (or its Chiang Mai equivalent which may not necessarily be rundown for all I know) or fork out an extra 5,000 THB for an agent to make these trips on your behalf.

 

Not to mention that obtaining mugshots complying with HMPO's over-fussy requirements as regards acceptable background colours can be easier said than done in Thailand as most professional photographers here are simply not geared up to take mugshots against physical plain cream or plain light-grey backgrounds.

 

It is a headache for sure. I live in Surin now, so two trips to Bangkok would cost me about 5,000 Baht in diesel. I used Key visa company in Pattaya, which, as you say cost 5,000 Baht. I was lucky regarding the photos. Went to a Thai photo shop in Prasart. He took my picture in the photo room, then changed the background, etc. on the computer. He certainly knows what he is doing.

[rickudon]

The long wait times where a feature of everyone renewing their passports as the pandemic flying issues abated. I applied for a passport for my daughter in February this year at Trendy house and it only took 3 weeks to get the passport. So, unless the strike is prolonged i would not be unduly worried about timing. Always pays to assume it will take 3 months.

[mrfill]

5 hours ago, rickudon said:

The long wait times where a feature of everyone renewing their passports as the pandemic flying issues abated. I applied for a passport for my daughter in February this year at Trendy house and it only took 3 weeks to get the passport. So, unless the strike is prolonged i would not be unduly worried about timing. Always pays to assume it will take 3 months.

Current advice by HMG (pre-strike) is that it takes up to 10 weeks. And that's when it is claimed to be working just fine.

[Dazkkk]

When I applied for new passport in UK to travel to Auz, the courier they used to deliver it put it through a letter box a mile away from my house! Luckily the homeowner knew me and delivered it to me. This was meant to be a signed for service, but the <deleted> courier just put it through his door and didn’t even try to get a signature. I was luck because I was flying the next day. 
It took 9 weeks to process. 
Bunch of incompetent <deleted>. ????