Passport stuck at the consulate: How long can they legally hold it?

[oliverjones]

Hey everyone,
I am opening this thread to discuss a major stress point that many of us face: consulates holding onto passports for weeks, or even months, with zero updates.
When you have upcoming travel plans - whether it is for work or a family emergency - having your passport locked away feels incredibly helpless. It makes you wonder: is there a legal limit to how long a embassy can actually hold your official document?
From what we see regularly at Travel Saga Tourism, European Schengen consulates officially state they can take up to 15 to 45 days for a decision. However, there are times when passports get stuck well past these timelines without any clear explanation. It leaves applicants trapped in Dubai, unable to travel anywhere else.
If your passport is currently stuck, or if you recently went through this nightmare, please share your situation below. Let's try to gather some real-time data to help each other:

• Which country currently has your passport?
• How many days has it been since your VFS appointment?
• Did you find any successful way to contact the embassy directly to get an update or withdraw your passport?

Let's use this space to share advice on how to handle these delays and what options we actually have when our travel documents are held up.

 

[Naturgrl]

So you work for a travel company. What is the purpose of this thread under General Immigration. What type of visa? How is up to 30 days a nightmare? Stuck is years, not days.

 

[Buletruck]

Hey everyone,
I am opening this thread to discuss a major stress point that many of us face: consulates holding onto passports for weeks, or even months, with zero updates.
When you have upcoming travel plans - whether it is for work or a family emergency - having your passport locked away feels incredibly helpless. It makes you wonder: is there a legal limit to how long a embassy can actually hold your official document?
From what we see regularly at Travel Saga Tourism, European Schengen consulates officially state they can take up to 15 to 45 days for a decision. However, there are times when passports get stuck well past these timelines without any clear explanation. It leaves applicants trapped in Dubai, unable to travel anywhere else.
If your passport is currently stuck, or if you recently went through this nightmare, please share your situation below. Let's try to gather some real-time data to help each other:

• Which country currently has your passport?
• How many days has it been since your VFS appointment?
• Did you find any successful way to contact the embassy directly to get an update or withdraw your passport?

Let's use this space to share advice on how to handle these delays and what options we actually have when our travel documents are held up.

Well, that was easy.....

"If you will need your passport for other travel while we are processing your application, tell the visa office. Staff will let you know what to do."

https://ircc.canada.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=439&top=16