Originally Posted by
davidjohnson6
...but if your paperwork is all in order and you are prepared to go to a passport office in person, the system delivers what it promises
Currently that is a problem. I was back in the UK for 5 weeks in Jul/Aug and planned to do the renewal then, but found that it was impossible to book a passport office appointment (for Newport or Liverpool which are the only offices of practicable distance for me). The Covid excuse as usual. Something you do not discover until near the end of the online application process.
Thankfully, I still had the minimum six months remaining to get back into Europe, and have now gone down the pricey overseas online route. However, not comfortable being without passport for up to 11 weeks - and in normal times this would have put a severe constraint on my normal business travel, though not so much currently.
Why do they have to receive the old passport before they begin processing? They have got my money for doing the job, so receipt of the old passport should only be a pre-requisite for actually sending out the new one. The process is long enough without wasting a whole week.