First child passport issue

CashMoney

Hi would like some help with my problem. My daughter was born in the summer and last month I applied for her first passport online and then sent off her birth certificate. Around 2-3 weeks later I got an email stating that the photo taken had been rejected and to try again. I did this and once again it was rejected. I then went to a professional passport photo shop and the gentleman their took the passport photos with his camera and printed out hardcopies for me. I then scanned these photos and submitted them again. Once again they were rejected. I rang the shop and he said it is probably because they were scanned and to just send off the hardcopies to them. I then sent them off recorded delivery and could see they had reached but and once again got a reply saying that they needed to be taken via the website with a phone or uploaded because it’s an online application. I then tried taking a photo with my phone of the actual hard copy photo and it was accepted so submitted it. A few days later once again it was rejected. I tried one last time with my phone trying my very best with making sure there were no shadows and lighting and background was perfect. The system said it was “very good” quality so again I submitted it. But a few days later rejected again. 

I wish I hadn’t done the application online now (even though I did my oldest child’s a few months prior to this one and was fine). I have tried all sorts to get hold of the passport office to ask them to cancel this application and I will start over again with a paper application and send off hardcopies of the photos but they are impossible to get hold of. I have sent a message through their website but no reply. I once did manage to speak to someone after waiting nearly an hour in the queue only to be cut off within the first minute halfway through trying to explain the situation. I would rather just start all over again with a paper application and cancel the online application. I don’t mind paying the fee again but the problem is firstly they have my daughters’ birth certificate and also there is an ongoing application already. What else should I do?

Any ideas?

Thanks

onashoestring

Do the photos meet this criteria? 

Photos of babies and children

Children must be on their own in the picture. Babies must not be holding toys or using dummies.

Children under 6 do not have to be looking directly at the camera or have a plain expression.

Children under one do not have to have their eyes open. You can support their head with your hand, but your hand must not be visible in the photo.

Children under one should lie on a plain light-coloured sheet. Take the photo from above.

CashMoney

Yes it does meet the criteria. The shop certified it and also the passport online “meter” confirmed them as “very good” quality.

onashoestring

For an online application the shop needs to give you a digital photo - not a hard copy -(some shops can also give you a code to add the photo to your application)

I would suggest going back to the shop - they should have provided this on the first place .
 

TELLIT01

Is it possible to phone the passport office to ask what the problem(s) is/are as you have failed so many times to provide an acceptable image?

photome

TELLIT01 said:

Is it possible to phone the passport office to ask what the problem(s) is/are as you have failed so many times to provide an acceptable image?

I think that was addressed in the OP .. 1 hour waiting on the phone and then getting cut off, but I do agree that it is still prob the best option

CashMoney

Hi thanks for your replies.

@onashoestring - I told them this and they said due to data protection they cannot save any photos taken and that if I had told them in the first place that it was an online application then they could’ve sent me the photo via email. They advised to come back again and take hard copy photos again and send off with a paper application but (1) I already have an application ongoing and (2) the office still has my daughters’ birth certificate so I couldn’t do that anyway.

@TELLIT01 and @photome - I have tried this numerous times on different days of the week and at different times and I cannot get through to them, the once I did get through I got cut off as I was explaining the issue.

Ms_Chocaholic

It looks like HMPO have a webchat

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-passport-office/contact/hm-passport-office-webchat

CashMoney

@Ms_Chocaholic - Hi I have tried that but it alway says it is closed even when you try during their available time. It’s like HMPO have made sure nobody can get in contact with them!

onashoestring

@CashMoney I would suggest if the photos you are taking are being rejected that you need to pay for another photo a digital one this time. 

smudge56

Try taking another photo with your phone and uploading it. Make sure that the baby is lying on a pale coloured sheet or similar (no creases). The criteria for babies is quite lax. It must be the quality of the photo they are rejecting.  As long as it’s the correct size and the baby is facing forward it doesn’t  matter if she is smiling or sleeping. It should be accepted .  The passport office should also have accepted your physical photos. It would just have been transferred on to a different system and taken a bit longer to process.  I don’t understand why they didn’t do that when the photos were received