Guidance

Counter collections (accessible)

Published 6 June 2025

Version 4.0

About: Counter collections

This guidance tells His Majesty’s Passport Office, public counter examiners how to deal with customers who collect their passports or documents from the counter.

This guidance applies to:

• Premium service applications
• Digital Fast Track (DFT) applications, where the new passport is printed in local print rooms because the customer wants to collect their passport
• Urgent government business or compassionate (U&C) application 

Contacts

If you have any questions about the guidance and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think the guidance has factual errors then email the Guidance team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this guidance (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the guidance then you can email the Guidance team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the guidance was published:

• version 4.0
• published for Home Office staff on 24 February 2025 

Changes from last version of this guidance

This guidance has been updated to tell counter examiners they no longer need to compare the signature on a collection receipt with the customer’s previous passport when they are returning to collect their new passport.

Who can collect from the counter

This section tells HM Passport Office public counter staff who can collect passports and documents from the counter.

A customer may need to collect their new passport from the public counter because:

• they have applied for a passport that must be collected from the counter, for example using the:
  • Premium service
  • Digital Fast Track (collect) service
  • Urgent government business or compassionate (U&C) service
• the higher executive officer (HEO) counter manager agreed the customer can collect their new passport when they applied using the fast track service

The customer or a suitable alternative person can collect a passport from the counter. A suitable alternative person is:

• a parent, when collecting a child passport (Digital Fast Track collect and U&C applications only)
• a third-party, which may include but not be limited to a:
  • friend or relative
  • personal assistant
  • agent or courier

Collecting from the counter

This section tells HM Passport Office public counter staff, how to deal with a collection of a new passport and documents from the counter.

You, the public counter staff, must check the information held on our systems to carry out basic identity checks, before handing over any passports at the counter. 

If a person arrives at the counter to make a collection, you must ask them to confirm:

• the passport holder’s full name
• the passport holder’s date of birth (if known)
• if they are collecting their own passport or one issued to someone else 

If the person is a third party collecting a passport on the customer’s behalf, they must also provide:

• documents to confirm their identity
• a signed letter of consent from the customer, giving them permission to collect the new passport on their behalf (this must be provided during the initial counter appointment and recorded on the application as a scanned document)

Checking the new passport exists on our passport records

Counter staff must check the new passport is showing on our passport records before handing the new passport to the customer (or a third party).

If the passport is not on our records, you must raise an incident on ITnow.

You must not hand a passport to a customer if the data is not showing on our passport records.

Checking the identity of the passport holder

If the customer is collecting their own passport, you must:

1. Ask the customer to give you their counter collection receipt.

2. Check the customer resembles the photograph on the new passport.

3. Provide the customer with a receipt for the passport they are collecting and ask them to sign it.

4. Attach the receipt to the counter collect report provided by the local print room.

5. Return the counter collect report to the local print room.

When you have confirmed the identity of the passport holder, you must record the passport collection on Digital Application Processing (DAP).

Checking the identity of a parent or third party

You must ask the person to confirm their identity by providing official documents, if the person is collecting:

• a child passport (Digital Fast Track collect or Urgent government business or compassionate (U&C) applications only)
• an adult passport on behalf of someone else (third party)

The identity documents must include their full name, date of birth and photograph. These may include, but are not limited to a:

• passport
• driving licence
• government or privately issued identity card

Third party collector

If a third party is making the collection on behalf of the customer, in addition to the checks above, you must also ask them to provide signed consent from the customer allowing them to collect the passport or supporting documents.

The signed consent must be dated and can be either:

• written
• a scan of a letter, sent by email

This signed consent must be:

• scanned and recorded as a document on the customer’s application; and,
• provided at the initial counter appointment

You must follow Authorisation and consent guidance to check the consent provided by the customer.

You must not give the customer’s passport or supporting documents to a third party unless you have signed consent from the customer.

If a third party is collecting the passport on behalf of the customer, you must:

1. Check the signature on the statement of consent belongs to the customer (see confirming identity guidance).

2. Provide the customer with a receipt for the passport they are collecting and ask them to sign it.

3. Attach the receipt to the counter collect report provided by the local print room.

4. Return the counter collect report to the local print room.

When you confirm the details provided match those on the passport, you must record the passport collection on Digital Application Processing (DAP).

You must tell the collector the customer is required to sign the passport on the observations page, in black ball point pen.

Collecting a child passport

If a person arrives to collect a child passport, in addition to the checks above, you must also ask them to provide the child’s:

• name
• date of birth (if known)

A child’s passport must only be collected by the person who has:

• parental responsibility
• been given signed consent to collect it, from the person with parental responsibility (see, Authorisation and consent)

If the person arrives to collect a child passport, in addition to confirming the collector’s identity, you must:

1. Check the name and date of birth given against those on the passport.

2. Provide the collector with a receipt for the passport they are collecting.

3. Ask the person to:

   • sign the receipt
   • complete the child collection form inside the collection pack

4. Attach the receipt to the counter collect report provided by the local print room.

5. Check if the application was made online or by paper. For:

   • paper applications, compare the signature with the signature given at section 9 of the application form (in line with confirming identity guidance)
   • online applications, check the person collecting the passport is the person who completed the declaration online (in line with confirming identity guidance)

6. Hand the passport and any supporting documents to the person and ask them to check the passport details are correct, before leaving.

You must not hand over the child’s passport or supporting documents if the person collecting the passport:

• is not the person who completed the online declaration
• does not have signed consent from the person who completed the online declaration

When you have confirmed the child’s details, collector’s identity and consent, you must record the passport collection on Digital Application Processing (DAP).

If you have doubts about the person collecting a passport

You must inform the counter manager immediately if:

• you have any doubts about the identity of the person collecting the passport
• the person tells you the personal details on the passport do not match those on the application

Recording the passport collection on DAP

When you have confirmed the identity of the collector and the details on the new passport are correct, you must record the passport collection on DAP.

To do this on DAP, you must:

1. Search for the customer’s application.

2. Select the Record passport collection option from the Appointment tasks screen.

3. Select either the Applicant or Someone on behalf of the applicant option (according to who is collecting the passport).

4. Record the name of the person collecting the passport if you have selected the Someone on behalf of the applicant option.

5. Select the I confirm that the new passport with the above number has been collected option.

6. Select Confirm and close.

7. Select Next application.

8. Search for the customer’s application again.

9. Confirm the Record passport collection option is no longer showing on the Appointment tasks screen (if the Record passport collection option is still showing on the screen, you must repeat steps 2 to 9).

When the Record passport collection option is no longer showing on the application, DAP has recorded the collection of the new passport.

You must now hand over the new passport to the customer or third party.