Passport chaos

[ashtead]

Should anyone be thinking after the lockout of last year of returning to France for a summer cruise do remember to check the validity and months left on your uk passport as there seems to be some serious staffing issues at HMPO . Clearly it’s not just a shortage of chefs at £22 per hour,bin men and lorry drivers currently but also civil servants I guess.

 

[Boathook]

DVLA seem no better with a note blaming covid for delays.

 

[ashtead]

It amazes me that a number of regulatory bodies put out warnings to the private sector on planning for such issue yet it takes such public bodies by surprise . Anyway if you do encounter difficulties I’m told lots of other fora with info and I’m sure the absence of any jobless people in Durham for HMPO has provided benefits to those in Slough. I think in the past I have never really produced all the passports in say cherbourg but would now seem to be required I guess

 

[Never Grumble]

DVLA seem no better with a note blaming covid for delays.

My wife just applied for a renewal of her driving license arrived 1 working day after.

 

[mjcoon]

My wife just applied for a renewal of her driving license arrived 1 working day after.

Was that the over-70 jobbie?? Now you mention it I applied, and got an on-line acknowledgement, on 8th April but have not seen a licence yet. I don't cut up and return the old one until I've got the new. I did have a thought that perhaps they wait for the old before issuing the new, giving rise to a Catch-22. But I don't think they do that; too much like hard work!

 

[PlanB]

I got my over 70 online renewed licence in less than a week last month, but didn't return the old one till I got my paws on the new one.

 

[Never Grumble]

Was that the over-70 jobbie?? Now you mention it I applied, and got an on-line acknowledgement, on 8th April but have not seen a licence yet. I don't cut up and return the old one until I've got the new. I did have a thought that perhaps they wait for the old before issuing the new, giving rise to a Catch-22. But I don't think they do that; too much like hard work!

No she's a fair bit younger than that!

 

[ithet]

Should anyone be thinking after the lockout of last year of returning to France for a summer cruise do remember to check the validity and months left on your uk passport as there seems to be some serious staffing issues at HMPO . Clearly it’s not just a shortage of chefs at £22 per hour,bin men and lorry drivers currently but also civil servants I guess.

My online renewal in the depths of COVID last year took a week, as did my daughter's a few weeks ago.

 

[dunedin]

My wife's passport renewal took just a week in January. Perhaps people should plan ahead a bit more and not leave things till last minute.

 

[capnsensible]

Careful! There are lots of 'you can't tell me what to do ers' on the forum. They will get all sulky.

 

[Stork_III]

I got my over 70 online renewed licence in less than a week last month, but didn't return the old one till I got my paws on the new one.

Online DVLA applications appear to be working reasonably OK, but paper applications for retention of C1 licence class are taking ages. Online is dealt with by WFH staff, paper only by those in the office (few). My wife's application in early Sept 2021 took until late March 2022 to arrive, and only with the intervention of my MP to kick start it.

 

[NDG]

Applied for my replacement passport on 9 April. Had a message yesterday saying it’s on its way to me. Less than 3 weeks.

 

[greeny]

Online DVLA applications appear to be working reasonably OK, but paper applications for retention of C1 licence class are taking ages. Online is dealt with by WFH staff, paper only by those in the office (few). My wife's application in early Sept 2021 took until late March 2022 to arrive, and only with the intervention of my MP to kick start it.

I think you're right. A friends renewal took less than a week to arrive. Maybe the "work at homers"should get their ar**s back in the office and get working at helping to reduce the backlog of the other stuff.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Was that the over-70 jobbie?? Now you mention it I applied, and got an on-line acknowledgement, on 8th April but have not seen a licence yet. I don't cut up and return the old one until I've got the new. I did have a thought that perhaps they wait for the old before issuing the new, giving rise to a Catch-22. But I don't think they do that; too much like hard work!

In Ireland, the initial over-70m licences are for three years only. When I got my first one, I discovered that while I could still drive mopeds, farm tractors and cars with twin-axle trailers, I could only drive commercials up to three tons, not seven tons as before, which disappointed me. When I got my second one, to my delight I discovered that I was now entitled to drive Category A motorcycles. However when I looked more closely, I found that that line included a code which meant that only tricycles were included!
Renewal was a simple online application with no return of the old licence required, and no updated photograph. I did have to have an eye test and a visit to the GP to have a form filled in, which certified that I did not suffer from any of a long list of incapacitating conditions.
I'm taking my tricycle limitation as a provocation and intend applying for a Category A Driving Test!

 

[dunedin]

I think you're right. A friends renewal took less than a week to arrive. Maybe the "work at homers"should get their ar**s back in the office and get working at helping to reduce the backlog of the other stuff.

Or perhaps those that are in a hurry should use the online forms which are more efficient. If choosing to go paper and snail mail, then expect a snail pace and plan ahead.
And what the Minister for the Victorian Era and other luddites probably don’t realise, for most large operations the first thing that happens to any inbound paper is it gets scanned onto computer, so it can be dealt with anywhere - any office or work from home.
Properly managed WFH can be far more efficient than old style central paper factories aka offices.

 

[[3889]]

My wife just applied for a renewal of her driving license arrived 1 working day after.

I applied for a new license in mid Feb and got it last week - after intervention from my MP.

 

[Ian_Rob]

I applied for my passport on the 7th and it arrived this morning so 3 weeks aswell.

 

[Stork_III]

Or perhaps those that are in a hurry should use the online forms which are more efficient. If choosing to go paper and snail mail, then expect a snail pace and plan ahead.
And what the Minister for the Victorian Era and other luddites probably don’t realise, for most large operations the first thing that happens to any inbound paper is it gets scanned onto computer, so it can be dealt with anywhere - any office or work from home.
Properly managed WFH can be far more efficient than old style central paper factories aka offices.

Perhaps you could get DVLA to adopt your system, currently paper is dealt with by office base only.

 

[oldgit]

Renewed driving licence and passport recently without delays . Also sorted out probate in very fast time.
All done quickly and efficiently online .
Couple of problems were sorted by a couple of folks definitely working from home.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

My wife just applied for a renewal of her driving license arrived 1 working day after.

I think if it is a straight forward online renewal it can happen.

Last July (2001) I sent a handwritten letter to the DVLA and a number of photocopies of various documents requesting a tax refund. This was sent first class post. I have never heard a thing since .

I had some success though last night with British Gas with a boiler problem. I actually conversed with a humanoid. Not directly over the phone but via computer chat. Things are looking up