In reply to Babika:
This is the same problem doing another lap of the block.
Many years ago - when the kids were born, they were added to my wife's passport. The rules changed, so when she needed a new passport, we found ourselves in need of three. We knew there was a backlog and so we applied early and paid for the checked, expedited service x3.
The appointed time for receipt came and went, but being good citizens we waited some more, and then started to get worried and hit the phone. We eventually got the answer was that our applications had been checked and expedited, and put in the wrong workflow. He then told us that our applications were currently in Belfast, in a room that was full to the ceiling with mail bags and that there was no time stated for completion.
We asked about the checking and expediting service, and they said they would do that again for us without charge (we just had enough time). Great we said, except there are three original birth certificates and a marriage certificate in a room in Belfast....
We had to get duplicates, which you could fortunately do in person then by going up to the records office in London, leafing through the huge ledgers and you'd get the duplicates with 24 hours. We scraped in with 2 days to spare.
Now, had my birth certificate been involved, that would have been that - issued in Nyasaland and Southern Rhodesia; Zimbabwe is not in the business of issuing replacement colonial certificates.....