Waiting for Passport Supporting Documents for Five Weeks. Contains Foreign Passport Needed to travel

Ben1989

Hi all,

My daughter is dual citizen and because of that had to send her American passport with her British passport application back in early February.

We received her British passport over five weeks ago. We are STILL waiting for her supporting documents which contain her US passport. We are travelling to the US next week (19th May).

I have been on the phone every other day for the past three weeks. They put in requests for callbacks which you either don't receive or are completely useless. One guy just sent me through to TNT customer service. Ridiculous.

Now I don't know what to do and have no options. They have 'sent emails' etc and nobody can just take ownership. I have also emailed my MP who has emailed them to no response. I was even going to go to the newspapers to help.

I am on immigration forums and everyone are receiving their documents within two weeks. Everyone.

Does anybody have any recommendations? I'm out of ideas. It's ludicrous the only option is to just hope and wait. It's unacceptable.

Sandtree

Is it possible for her to get an ESTA and travel on her UK passport? I know some countries allow dual citizens to enter on their other nationality (depending on what it is) but others insist that national enter under their local passport.

sheramber

TNT has a large back log of documents to deliver as they cannot cope with the extra demand tha thas arisen.

That will be why you were directed to TNT if the documents have been passed to them to deliver.

xzibit

Not everyone is receiving their overseas passport back in 2 weeks. When I applied late last year I waited 8 weeks to get my overseas passport back. I nearly reported it stolen as nobody could tell me where is was. One thing I noticed on the original passport tracking was that another item showed up one day then the next day my overseas passport was delivered. 

When we renew my daughters passport in a couple months we may just forget to tick the dual citizen box. 

CKhalvashi

Sandtree said:

Is it possible for her to get an ESTA and travel on her UK passport? I know some countries allow dual citizens to enter on their other nationality (depending on what it is) but others insist that national enter under their local passport.

I believe the US isn't one of these from this document (click here).

It's issued for completely different circumstances but does make the situation clear to me.

onashoestring

It appears that people who contact the press get their passports returned promptly:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/mar/16/how-can-tnt-take-three-months-to-deliver-a-passport

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-61384981

Ben1989

Hi all.

You wouldn't believe it but the supporting documents were delivered today! 

It wasn't a TNT issue. HMPO simply hadn't handed it over to them yet and was stuck in Peterborough (for whatever reason).

As my daughter is a dual citizen she must enter on her US passport as America is one of those countries who don't recognise other nationalities. They will see her as a US citizen and a US citizen only.

I was one day away from going to the press. The complicated passport side had been completed and received and just needed somebody to put the docs in an envelope!

smudge56

The priority at the moment is getting passports out the door. These are printed at a central location and collected by the courier from there. The documents are sitting in envelopes waiting to be labelled and sent out.  

Sandtree

CKhalvashi said:

Sandtree said:

Is it possible for her to get an ESTA and travel on her UK passport? I know some countries allow dual citizens to enter on their other nationality (depending on what it is) but others insist that national enter under their local passport.

I believe the US isn't one of these from this document (click here).

It's issued for completely different circumstances but does make the situation clear to me.

https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/u-s-passports/u-s-passport-faqs/ 

2.) I am a U.S. citizen, but also have a foreign passport. Can I travel to the United States on the foreign passport? 

By law U.S. citizens must enter and depart the United States using U.S. passports, even if they hold a passport from another country.

Also https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/Advice-about-Possible-Loss-of-US-Nationality-Dual-Nationality/Dual-Nationality.html

U.S. nationals, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States. 

xzibit

smudge56 said:

The priority at the moment is getting passports out the door. These are printed at a central location and collected by the courier from there. The documents are sitting in envelopes waiting to be labelled and sent out.  

They have their priorities wrong. Fair enough there is no particular rush to return old passports, however peoples documents or overseas passports need to be returned as quickly as possible! To be honest, it’s none of HMPO business what other citizenships people hold. 

Ben1989

It just doesn't make sense to me that once they've processed the documents you can't just throw them in an envelope and throw a printed label on it.

They have to have the passport as by law they have to match. Same the other way round also.