It has been a stressful time for holidaymakers who are caught up in a huge backlog of passport applications. Strict rules about passport expiry dates have seen some people lose their much-need holidays.
Travellers have been urged by HM Passport Office to make sure their passports are renewed and valid in plenty of time for their travels, NottinghamLive reports. For more than a year, people have been told to allow up to 10 weeks to get their new passport.
The coronavirus pandemic saw a big drop in people applying for a new or renewed passport as not many people were doing much travelling. As the world opened up for tourism, more and more people have started to apply to get their documents up to date.
It's estimated that more than five million people delayed their passport applications during the pandemic in 2021 and 2021.
Director general of HM Passport Office, Abi Tierney, said: "Now that international travel has resumed, we know people will be looking at going away on holiday and yet many people are leaving applying for a passport too late. The summer holidays are fast approaching so if you need a new passport, we urge you to apply now."
The department added: "Our dedicated staff are working tirelessly to ensure that passport applications are processed as quickly as possible."
There there are urgent services for people who need their passport more quickly, however appointment availability is limited and incurs an additional cost. Details of how to apply for a UK passport can be found here.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) said it anticipate 9.5 million British passport applications will be made this year and in March 2022 alone, HMPO said it processed more than one million new passport applications, the highest output on record.
What the Passport Office says it is doing
In a statement today, it said:
- we have increased staff numbers by 500 since April 2021 and are in the process of recruiting another 700. In total, as of 1 April 2022 there are over 4,000 staff in passport production roles – this has helped us to handle more applications than ever before
- additional staff are being recruited to assist with customer queries on the Passport Adviceline which is currently run by Teleperformance
- we have onboarded more delivery companies to ensure passports and supporting documents are delivered on time to customers
- we have increased availability for fast-track appointments and extended working hours across the 7 HMPO public counters – new appointments are released daily, 3 weeks in advance
