HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Have re-posted here as per Graham's suggestion)

OK - I am in panic mode.

My employer submitted my Passport to the home office Back on October 1st for an extension of my work permit, and I have still not received my passport back.  Apparently, the rules have changed  regarding work permits, and I was required to submit a FLR application.  Now I am being told it can take up to 10 weeks for these applications to be approved. 

Only problem is - I am supposed to be leaving on Holiday to the states in less than 3 weeks!!

Is there anything I can do?  My partner and I have been planning this trip for months, and with her being 23 weeks pregnant, this is our last chance to visit the US before the baby comes.  My family have never met my parnter, and they will be devastated if we can't make this trip. HELP!!!

Apparently, the rules have changed  regarding work permits, and I was required to submit a FLR application.  Now I am being told it can take up to 10 weeks for these applications to be approved. 

The new rules for work permits became effective 1 Oct 2004, and the next new rules will kick in on 1 April 2005.  At this point, your employer will need to ask WPUK to make a copy of your passport for your application and send the passport back.  They can issue a WP on their letterhead if they don't have the passport, and the IO can transfer it to your passport next time you're in or out.  It's not a drastically unusual situation, I wouldn't panic just yet.

Someone with experience on the American side might know if there's a temporary passport scheme?  If so, I bet the procedure reeks of beaurocratic paranoia, but it might be worth checking out.

Here is the link you need to look at if it gets to a week before your trip and you still havent recieved your passport back.

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/acs/passports/urgent.htm

Well, here's what it looks like I have to do:

1) My company is cancelling my FLR application, as the urgent request still will not get the passport back to me (alnog with my work permit which has been approved) on time.

2) When I get to America, I will have to make an appointment with the UK embassy and get "Entry Clearance".  The woman from UK Immigration said that this should not be a problem since I alreayd have the work permit.

3) When I get bck to the UK , my company will need to re-file my FLR application.  It will take at least 10 weeks to then get my passport back, but that shouldn't be an issue since I have no travel plans in the near future.

So, the only downside for me is that we will have to spend one day of our holiday in NY getting the Entry clearance sorted out, which isn't the worst thing in the world since I was planning on taking my partner there for the dy anyway.  Hopefully, all of the information I have been given is correct, otherwise, I may be stuck in the states for a while.

Thanks everybody for your help, and cross your fingers that the passport makes it back to me on time!!