MP blasts ‘shambles’ of lost passport documents
Two people in Bath have had their documents lost by His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) this year, MP Wera Hobhouse has said.
Jonathan Mcclue told his MP that he was afraid to reapply for a passport after the office mislaid his naturalisation certificate. Meanwhile, a student was reportedly unable to enrol at Bath Spa University after HMPO lost their father’s birth certificate.
Ms Hobhouse said that Mr Mcclue applied for his passport back in April and submitted all the necessary documents. A couple of weeks later, the HMPO application tracker confirmed that they had received his paperwork.
Yet, the system continued to ask for his “supporting documents” even though all the paperwork had been sent together.
Jonathan contacted customer services about this and they reassured him that they had received everything.
He asked his MP Wera Hobhouse for help in tracking down his documents and her staff made enquiries.
Ms Hobhouse said they were given conflicting information and that UK Visa and Immigration (which oversees HMPO) said Jonathan needed to reapply and he would be assigned a caseworker to help him do so.
However, Ms Hobhouse (pictured) said that this did not happen.
She added that UKVI then said Mr Mcclue’s application could be reinstated if HMPO were found to be at fault, but the Passport Office then said the application could not be reinstated, contradicting the earlier advice.
According to Ms Hobhouse, they said Mr Mcclue would need to reapply and he is now too worried to do so after the “incompetence endured the first time around placed so much stress on him”.
The MP added that his case was “particularly egregious”.
“HMPO has returned the birth certificate but not his naturalisation certificate and the Passport Office has admitted they have lost it. The Passport Office has said they will replace the naturalisation certificate but has given no timescale and Jonathan will not receive any compensation,” the MP’S office said. Jonathan Mcclue is not the only Bath resident to be let down by the Passport Office this year. Wera Hobhouse said that Eli Reina-morris, a student, had applied in January for a passport.
However, they had to withdraw their initial application to get their supporting documents returned to them, in order to provide proof they could work in the UK for a job.
The MP told how HMPO had lost Eli’s father’s birth certificate in the process of returning the documents.
Without this certificate, Eli has not been able to secure Student Finance for their upcoming studies at Bath Spa University and has been put on an alternative payment plan after initially being told they could not enrol due to this fact.
Wera Hobhouse added that she had requested a meeting with the relevant Home Office Minister and is looking to get this resolved as a matter of urgency.
The Bath MP said: “Eli’s situation is horrendous. They cannot secure Student Finance as the Passport Office has lost the documentation needed to apply.
“Jonathan waited for six months, only to find out that his documents had been lost and that he would have to reapply all over again.
“This shambles needs to be rectified and fast. It is not fair to disrupt people’s lives like this. It is no wonder HMPO is struggling when the Conservatives have gutted the Passport Office as they have with other public services. I will be pressuring the Home Office to get these matters resolved urgently.”