Faulty passports: caseworker guidance
Tells HM Passport Office staff how to deal with faulty passports.
Documents
Details
This guidance tells HM Passport Office staff what a faulty passport is and how we deal with them.
Updates to this page
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Updated the faulty passports caseworker guidance, a full list of changes can be found in the guide.
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First published.
Update history
2026-08-13 10:44
This guidance has been updated to tell examiners to send the customer a damaged passport letter using Comms builder (this template has replaced previous letters 115 and 116) and to tell counter examiners they must check if the customer has any valid or expired visas in their passport (and take a photocopy of these if the customer would like to keep them), before continuing with an application to replace a faulty passport.
2026-02-25 09:28
Updated guidance to version 18.
2025-12-17 12:00
Updated guidance to to tell the Customer Service Management Team (CSMT) the new process for uploading documents onto DAP (Digital Application Processing) and to tell examiners to add observation OBTP when issuing a replacement passport.
2025-10-13 13:39
Updated the faulty passports caseworker guidance, a full list of changes can be found in the guide.
2025-05-12 16:37
First published.