Renewing my British passport - HMPO totally lost the plot and the I lost the will to live!

[Blueman1]

2 hours ago, cliveshep said:

Update - there is none. Over a week since they received the original birth certificate from DHL, not a peep from them. I'm going to call their phone line to check progress later today when they open.

 

Looking back over the last 40 years and noting the milestones in my life when I did foreign travel this application is almost certainly for my 5th passport which makes HMPO's behaviour even more stupid and unnecessary. If only someone with a brain could see that.

 

 If only someone with a brain could see that. I Wonder IF The SAME People work at The DWP ?? Sorry @cliveshep

[cmsally]

I found this page, which is basically a guideline for their staff. If I were you I would get in contact with your nearest British Consul and explain the situation. Considering your age and need for the passport to get a Thai visa, I can't see why they would be unable to process everything, maybe with an interview with the Consul or someone at the embassy. 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-documents-not-available/supporting-documents-not-available-accessible

[cliveshep]

2 hours ago, cmsally said:

I found this page, which is basically a guideline for their staff. If I were you I would get in contact with your nearest British Consul and explain the situation. Considering your age and need for the passport to get a Thai visa, I can't see why they would be unable to process everything, maybe with an interview with the Consul or someone at the embassy. 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-documents-not-available/supporting-documents-not-available-accessible

Thank you for your concern, as I said elsewhere my current passport doesn't expire until next January so there is no immediate urgency but googling before the advice was to apply 6 months before expiry in case of c**k-ups. Clearly good advice. Phoned them this morning - automated check line which said they are looking at the application. I confess the waiting is very stressful.  I don't think the issue is one of identity and given the fact I have had 4 passports to date the only thing they queried was my address now we fled here to avoid my wife being deported under Theresa May's pogrom it is not as before - in the UK. I explained all that and even gave them the old UK address since when it has gone quiet.

[cliveshep]

UPDATE - A really nice Yorkshire guy phoned me just now from HMPO in Hemel Hempstead, UK to ask about my passport application. According to him because I put Herts UK as place of birth that apparently differed from a previous application and all he wanted to ask was did I mind if he changed that to England? So I laughed and said of course not, Herts is in England anyway isn't it. He said he thought given my age and circumstances it was better to call me on a private phone than yet more emails and he would changed the place of birth to England and the passport would then be sent for printing and issuing and posting back. 

 

So we had a little chat about - the weather of course being English, and he asked me to confirm my Thai postcode - no problem - and date of birth. Told him we only came here because of Theresa May - he didn't seem to know about her so I had to explain why we got forced to leave the UK. All in all a really good phone call with a nice guy and bearing good news in the end.  

 

All I got to do now is wait for it to arrive in Bangkok, hopefully in a few days.

[chickenslegs]

2 minutes ago, cliveshep said:

UPDATE - A really nice Yorkshire guy phoned me just now from HMPO in Hemel Hempstead, UK to ask about my passport application. According to him because I put Herts UK as place of birth that apparently differed from a previous application and all he wanted to ask was did I mind if he changed that to England? So I laughed and said of course not, Herts is in England anyway isn't it. He said he thought given my age and circumstances it was better to call me on a private phone than yet more emails and he would changed the place of birth to England and the passport would then be sent for printing and issuing and posting back. 

 

So we had a little chat about - the weather of course being English, and he asked me to confirm my Thai postcode - no problem - and date of birth. Told him we only came here because of Theresa May - he didn't seem to know about her so I had to explain why we got forced to leave the UK. All in all a really good phone call with a nice guy and bearing good news in the end.  

 

All I got to do now is wait for it to arrive in Bangkok, hopefully in a few days.

Great news!

[josephbloggs]

19 minutes ago, cliveshep said:

UPDATE - A really nice Yorkshire guy phoned me just now from HMPO in Hemel Hempstead, UK to ask about my passport application. According to him because I put Herts UK as place of birth that apparently differed from a previous application and all he wanted to ask was did I mind if he changed that to England? So I laughed and said of course not, Herts is in England anyway isn't it. He said he thought given my age and circumstances it was better to call me on a private phone than yet more emails and he would changed the place of birth to England and the passport would then be sent for printing and issuing and posting back. 

 

So we had a little chat about - the weather of course being English, and he asked me to confirm my Thai postcode - no problem - and date of birth. Told him we only came here because of Theresa May - he didn't seem to know about her so I had to explain why we got forced to leave the UK. All in all a really good phone call with a nice guy and bearing good news in the end.  

 

All I got to do now is wait for it to arrive in Bangkok, hopefully in a few days.

Excellent news, and good on him for following up personally. But ridiculous that something so small and trivial could cause so much drama and stress. So stupid. But all's well that ends well.

[cliveshep]

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, cliveshep said:

Woo Hooo!

[sandyf]

18 hours ago, cliveshep said:

Thank you for your concern, as I said elsewhere my current passport doesn't expire until next January so there is no immediate urgency

That is not quite the case. When you make an application for a new passport HMPO will on receipt of the application cancel the existing passport. If you had needed to return to the UK you would have had to get an ETD from the embassy.

Fortunately it sounds like progress has been made and no longer a concern.

[Farmerslife]

Absolutely delighted that you appear to have broken free of this bureaucratic nightmare.

 

However, it does seem perverse that they are prepared to accept the Country rather than the county as a place of birth. Doesn't exactly narrow it down, does it? 

 

Anyway, the important thing is that they have conceded and common sense has triumphed for once.

 

[Blueman1]

On 6/11/2025 at 11:33 AM, Blueman1 said:

@cliveshep I'm Not trying to Hijack Your Post My Friend,But I'm having Similar problems with The DWP ( Another Bunch of Beaurocratic IDIOTS ) They have only been Paying me 23/30ths of a Singlemans Pension and also 23/30ths of the NEW Pension Since it changed, Despite them having PROOF Of My / Our Marriage certificate which is even stamped by the British Embassy in Bangkok on the day of Marriage in 1993,All The DWP Have done for the past 3 Months is IGNORE My emails, But they have sent me 15 emails asking for MORE Information,So I've had NO Other choice than to ask my last MP In England to Intervene which I'm Happy to say he now has done,I DON'T Think they will IGNORE Him, Or WILL They ??..BTW, My PITTANCE Of what they've paid me was FROZEN Whilst I / We were living in The U.K. In 2014 ( My 1st Pension ) & IS Still frozen at the same rate until the present day.....I've asked THEM In the Past " How Could a Married Couple be expected to Live on 7  Pounds a Day After Expenses" Of Course I Was IGNORED...!!

Eventually, you'll find someone in the DWP who says: "We are being so stupid! Just give him His Correct Pension!" Afterall IT IS His Money & NOT Ours ........ Well I THINK I have a Much better chance now that I've got My MP Involved.....Yeah ?? 

[Upnotover]

4 hours ago, sandyf said:

That is not quite the case. When you make an application for a new passport HMPO will on receipt of the application cancel the existing passport. If you had needed to return to the UK you would have had to get an ETD from the embassy.

Fortunately it sounds like progress has been made and no longer a concern.

I'm wondering about that.  UK passport doesn't need an ETA so the first encounter with UK Immigration would be on arrival.  Until then nobody would know that the passport had been cancelled.  I realise airlines send passenger lists but to what extent they are reviewed and how quickly I don't know.

[sandyf]

14 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

I'm wondering about that.  UK passport doesn't need an ETA so the first encounter with UK Immigration would be on arrival.  Until then nobody would know that the passport had been cancelled.  I realise airlines send passenger lists but to what extent they are reviewed and how quickly I don't know.

You wouldn't be able to leave Thailand with a passport that had been cancelled by HMPO. I was caught up  in the 2014 passport fiasco and advised by the embassy that the only travel option was Emergency Travel Document(ETD) back to the UK. My passport couldn't be used for travel once the HMPO had received an application for a replacement.

I was advised to sit it out even if it meant overstay. If i travelled and the new passport was sent out I wouldn't be able to retrieve it, meaning a further cancellation and a new application.

[Upnotover]

5 minutes ago, sandyf said:

You wouldn't be able to leave Thailand with a passport that had been cancelled by HMPO.

This is my point.  Why can't you?  The airline doesn't know it's cancelled.  Thai immigration doesn't know it's cancelled.  So only you know that you shouldn't be travelling on it.  Maybe not a good idea but in case of urgent need I see no reason not to try it.

[josephbloggs]

8 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

This is my point.  Why can't you?  The airline doesn't know it's cancelled.  Thai immigration doesn't know it's cancelled.  So only you know that you shouldn't be travelling on it.  Maybe not a good idea but in case of urgent need I see no reason not to try it.

A friend of mine has done it more than once and had no problems. Personally I wouldn't risk it but I know he has done it - a few years ago now mind.