From the day HMPO receives your documents — not from when you submit the online form.
Track your UK passport application.
The official tracker on passport.service.gov.uk shows your current stage in HMPO's processing queue. Here is exactly how to read it — and when it is worth checking.
Open the official tracker
How to check your status
Online applicants get a reference beginning with PEX in their confirmation email. Post Office Digital Check & Send applicants get a POD reference. Paper applicants need the 10-digit barcode from the form or 9-digit receipt number.
PEX references go to passport.service.gov.uk/track. POD references go to passport.service.gov.uk/track/reference. Paper applications cannot be tracked online — you must call the Passport Adviceline.
The tracker will show the current stage: documents received, in review, printed, or dispatched. The status updates as your file moves through HMPO. There is no public ETA on the page itself.
HMPO targets 3 weeks from the day they receive your supporting documents. Do not call until day 22 — earlier calls will be told to wait. If you booked Fast Track, the courier window starts after your appointment, not after you apply.
Tracker URLs
When the tracker stops moving
If the status hasn't changed for two weeks and you are inside the 3-week target, that's normal — most of the elapsed time is the file sitting in queue waiting for an examiner to pick it up. The status only jumps when work happens. If you are past the 3-week target, escalate with the Adviceline and reference your PEX/POD number; HMPO will check whether biometrics, document verification, or a fraud flag has held the file.