DVLA/Royal Mail/Passport/Visa Crisis

Hi,

I returned to live in the UK with my wife (USC) in November. She immediately tried to apply for a driving licence. As she wasn't happy with sending her passport to the DVLA she went in person to their Edinburgh office to submit the application, but unfortunately they insisted on sending the passport and her marriage certificate to Swansea anyway. At no stage did they offer to return it recorded delivery, or point out that they are in the habit of sending vital documents without any way of tracking them.

That was at the end of November. She called them on December 15th and asked about her application, and was told they had sent it back 2 days previously and would open an investigation. She called them back today and they confirmed that they had sent it back and she learned for the first time that it had been sent ordinary first class, which came as a surprise to say the least.

We have filed a complaint with Royal Mail, which they say will take up to 30 days to resolve, and we are now worried that we will have to pay a further 600+GBP to get a new spouse visa, and that her entry stamp is in the old passport which is apparently lost.

Does anyone have any experience of these problems? It seems ridiculous that she presented her passport to a DVLA official but he still could not verify her identity, and that she was never given the option of recorded delivery. If it comes to the point of getting a new visa I would consider that one or both or the organisations should be paying for it.

Any ideas/suggestions?

No suggestions but what a nightmare!  I hope you can get it resolved without paying too much money. 

You don't have to repay for a new visa, you will have to fill out a Transfer of Conditions form and pay the fee (not sure what it is now but not the price of a new visa).  My husband lost his passport with visa and this is what he had to do.

When it came to ILR he obviously didn't have his entry stamp but he had a photocopy of his original visa, some bills etc showing that he was living in the UK a week or so after the entry date and an explanation letter.  This seemed to suffice.

Considering all the snow issues and problems that it caused Royal Mail at the end of November/beg of December (we didnt' receive mail for 2 weeks here in Derbyshire) it may just be floating around somewhere in the Mail System.

The only way this could have been avoided is to have included a prepaid Special Delivery Return Envelope writing down the tracking number that way you can track it when they send it back to you. It's advised that when sending Passports in the UK to use Special Delivery so you can KNOW exactly where it is at all times.

Personally it's surprising DVLA uses First Class...UKBA uses Second Class  .

Something similar happened to me, My passport was bounced around for over 3 months before I finally was able to pick it up at a local post office. Nightmare. I've never had such issues with the mail before I came here. Makes me appreciate the unofficial US postal service motto "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" 
   *Sigh...* Oh well! I hope you do finally get your passport back.  Just stay on top of the situation, it's what I did.

Thanks for the replies everyone

Hatsumomo - that's a big relief.

WebyJ - Yeah, she knows that now about recorded delivery, I just feel they should have told her, I mean she told the guy she was alarmed at the idea of sending the passport, so he took photocopies and stamped them and gave her a receipt, but didn't bother to tell her about her options for having it returned. IMHO it seems logical that she would assume they would take care of her passport, I mean the implication of giving a receipt is that DVLA were taking responsibility for it, and sending a passport by regular mail isn't taking care of it.

She has held licences in Minnesota and Western Australia, in both places you go to the local office in person and don't send valuable documents through the mail. The passport has now been seen by both the Edinburgh and Swansea offices, but she can't apply for a provisional licence now, because she has no valid ID to give them (!), which is potentially delaying her finding a job as so many insist on a licence.

(To clarify, the guy at DVLA Edinburgh wrongly advised her to try to exchange her Australian licence to avoid taking the test, despite the fact that the D1 form asks "If you did not take your test in the issuing country, where did you take it?". As the answer was USA, her application was rejected, so she is down 50 quid, 1 Aussie licence, 1 marriage certificate, 1 passport, and unable to apply for a licence)

Am trying not to rant, honest

Hi tonito,

  I have encountered with the same situation as that of your wife. I lost my passport and now DVLA is telling that they need 30 days to complete the enquiry with Royal Mail.

  Could you please tell me what happened in your case? Did they reimburse you the cost of re-applying for passport and visa? Please let me know.

Regards,
Iqbal

Hi Iqbal, I haven't been on here for ages and only just saw your question. 

The DVLA have agreed to pay all my wife's costs for her new visa, passport etc.  They sent a letter essentially saying "Obviously it's all your fault, but we'll pay anyway as we're so generous."  At this stage she is still finalising everything and getting appropriate receipts to put the claim in to the DVLA.

I think if you just posted your passport they probably wouldn't reimburse you, our case was different in that she went into the DVLA office, gave the documents in person and was guided through the process by staff who neglected to mention that they would send her passport by regular mail.

The only new problem is that my wife lost her passport in Vietnam a few years ago, and the US consulate in Edinburgh have told her if she loses another one she will only be issued with passports which expire after a year, even though this one wasn't her fault.