A British mum living in South Africa has told how the “horrendous” passport delays are preventing her from caring for her seriously ill son in the UK.
Sharon Magro, 59, has been waiting for ten weeks to receive her British passport back after sending off an application to renew it on March 1.
The mum-of-two is desperate to fly back to the UK to see her son Sheldon Magro, 31, who was diagnosed with Stage Three colorectal cancer earlier this year.
Sharon, who works in a freight forwarding company in Durban, says she is devastated that she cannot get to Sheldon and is relying on her eldest son Warrick, 35, to care for him until she can fly to the UK.
She said: “I am so stressed that I cannot be there for my son.
“I'm so annoyed and so cross. I cannot tell you how lonely it feels, when you can’t even get any updates from the Passport Office.
“I’ve tried calling and I’ve tried their web page. You cannot even get through to anyone. You hang on and on.
Have you struggled to get your passport renewed? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
“I am phoning from a cell phone in South Africa so it has cost me a lot in charges as well, around £1,000 to £1,500.”
She continued: “I have even taken to sending the Prime Minister an email - I’ve had no response from him - regarding my appalling service.
“Nothing is worse for a mother, sitting miles and miles away and not being able to get to her children.”
Sharon, who lives with her partner Jeffrey Holliday, 68, in South Africa, wrote to The Mirror after thousands of holidaymakers were caught up in huge passport delays
The Home Office has since said that Sharon's passport has now been issued after being expedited "on urgent and compassionate grounds".
It added that renewal applications from South Africa are taking up to 11 weeks.
Sharon said: "I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am that you have gotten involved with finding out the status of the passport.
"I cannot believe that in one day, the passport has been processed, printed and out en route for delivery to me!"
The Home Office, which issues all UK passports, is currently advising travellers to wait up to ten weeks for their passport to be renewed.
However, some families say they’ve been left waiting 12 weeks and fear their summer holidays won’t be able to go ahead if their documents don’t arrive in time.
There have been warnings of a huge demand in passport applications following the easing of international travel rules after the Covid pandemic.
The rules are also more complicated because since Brexit, as Brits can no longer travel to the EU on a passport that's about to expire.
Under Schengen area rules, your passport must be less than 10 years old on the day you enter, and valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave.
The three-month rule does not apply to Ireland but does apply to some non-EU countries too - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City.
The Passport Office anticipates 9.5 million British passport applications will be made this year and in March 2022 alone.
