HM Passport Office, Durham [Appointments only]

After 10 weeks of waiting for our renewals, countless calls, failed call backs and a lot of wrong advice from the helpline.....
We can't fault Durham passport office. We travelled down to Durham yesterday, waited in line for about 3 hours, explained that we're travelling next week and that we'd tried every which way to contact someone at the passport office for help and updates, but to no avail and the staff were more than happy to help. They were really polite, listened to my concerns and put me at ease. I made sure I brought along my receipts to show proof of the date we applied, along with emails to prove that I had tried to upgrade our passports 5 days before, which also failed miserably... and after a 10 minute chat, i paid for the upgrade and we collected our passports 8:30 that night (around 4 hours after we'd been told we could have our passport's the same day). Communication on the phone throughout the day was great too. We are over the moon that we managed to get our passports, and considering the amount of work they have on right now, I think they did a really great job. Would absolutely recommend the trip if you're travelling within a week. As long as you're telling the truth about when you applied, and your travel dates, they are more than happy to help.

I renewed my passport from overseas. The online form was easy to complete and I have received my new passport exactly 2 weeks after sending the previous one. The actual processing and printing took only 4 days. I’m very impressed. Excellent.
Just an update from last week, I have now received my old passport via DHL. Total of 21 days from start to finish. Great service.

Having applied for passports back in April we finally, after numerous calls to Passport Office with conflicting information, set off on Friday night for Durham Passport Office as we were travelling on Monday at 7am. We arrived at 8.10 this morning and were immediately greeted by very pleasant staff outside of the office and guided to the appropriate place to wait (not for very long either). Once inside we were dealt with by pleasant and efficient staff and left to await a call to advise if we could collect or not. The call arrived soon after and we were given a time to go back, with nothing else to do we went back to wait outside and staff were again helpful in letting us know when the lists were updated and guided us in earlier than expected.
Thankyou so much for making this process so stress less and a huge WELL DONE to all Durham staff you certainly made mine and my two grandsons' day as they can now go off on holiday.

We have been waiting for my daughter's British passport longer then 10 weeks. I have been calling everyday to check the progress and for the last 4 weeks it has been waiting for examination in Durham office. We have a holiday booked next week to Croatia. I have 3 small children and we are staying in my sister's flat in the living room as we had to move out from the flat where we lived. We are moving back to Poland and we have a van full of furniture. Lucky we have my sister here otherwise we will end up sleeping in the van waiting for the passport. What a nightmare!

The fact that anyone gets their passports at all seems nothing short of miraculous. We live in USA, trying to get UK passports renewed for our sons since December 2021. We sent all the documents requested to Durham, but Passport Office unilaterally cancelled the applications in March. Try calling them, and if you are lucky enough to get through then you will probably talk to someone who has no idea what they are talking about. It's clear that the Passport Office has recruited a lot of new staff to meet recent rise in demand, but none of them - in my experience - are trained. Meanwhile, they have lost the documents we sent them last January (including expired passports), we are out of pocket about 400 pounds, and we are probably going to have to start the whole process over again, with no guarantee of success the second time around. I only give them one star because I cannot give them minus 5. The Home Office should hang its head in shame.

Brilliant, fast processing of an overseas application for the renewal of my passport. Living in France, and had to suddenly renew my passport, for travelling within one month of the application date. The service was extremely fast, professional, and very reassuring. I received progress updates throughout the process, and the time from them receiving my old passport in the post to dispatching my new one was minimal. And finally I received my new passport within more than one week of travelling. Huge thanks to the Durham office personnel for such fast and professional service.

Applied from overseas - still waiting after 12 weeks. Tried ringing several times at great expense (30-40min call times)
To be told that they can’t provide any information. The system is awful and cannot get any information on when my passport will arrive. Was told by one person they would speed up my claim as over 10 weeks. The second person told me they haven’t and can’t. Any helpful suggestions gratefully received. Thinking I will have to contact my embassy to see if they can help. So frustrating

Absolutely fantastic service. I have no idea what's with the low and abusive reviews on here. If all of your paperwork is in order. If you've applied online. If you treat the staff with respect and decency. ALL staff from the security outside to the security inside and the checking service staff were amazing. Completely professional and so accomodating. Premium service. Applied 3 weeks ago. Got an appointment. Went 10 minutes before. Allowed in 5 minutes early. Whole process including receiving passport took 7 minutes including security screening of baggage. Absolutely awesome service to the whole team. Thank you Durham Passport Office. Above and beyond the call of duty.