Registry delays

[MCAggrav]

My relative was a US resident who passed away and appointed me executor, also US resident. Relative had assets in a UK bank which the bank required me to get a grant of probate to administer. Will was a US will and unfortunately had handwritten changes. Application was filed on January 28, 2025, along with an opinion of a Florida attorney as to the effect of the handwritten notations. Registry made three separate requests for information, all of which were promptly supplied. Registry informed me on Sept 8, 2025 that it had everything it had requested. No further action being forthcoming, a complaint was filed on November 25, 2025. A response was received ten days later saying the Registry was unusually busy and that the will was complicated. Nothing further heard until February 2, 2026, when registry sent an email saying that "Your case has been escalated to the registrar. This means a registrar needs to view your application before it can be progressed. It can take up to 3 weeks for your application to be reviewed by the registrar." Received a second email on February 16 saying someone (not necessarily the registrar) was reviewing the case. Nothing further since that communication. Is this normal? Should my solicitor be more aggressive? Any other action I can take? Thanks for any advice.

[Tofros]

I have seen on another forum that some probate practitioners have had success after asking their MPs to intervene. The performance of HMCTs probate service is shambolic at present, especially for anything remotely unusual.

[PallasAthena]

Unfortunately neither deceased nor executor are UK resident and there's no mention of any probate practitioner in the UK so I'm not sure which MP could be involved with this.
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[Tofros]

There is mention of a solicitor, so I assumed that the protagonists have retained local representation here ( solicitor not being a term used for US lawyers).

[PallasAthena]

If OP has a British solicitor submitting a Probate allocation (in which case why are Probate Registry communicating directly with OP and not the solicitor? ) then before incurring more legal costs by instructing the solicitor to refer it to an MP I recommend that the OP asks the solicitor the questions in Post #1.