A Belfast family have been forced to cancel their summer holiday due to a delay in processing a passport renewal.
Roisin Thompson, from the Ballyhackamore area of East Belfast, said they were forced to cancel their trip to Majorca as her 11-year-old son's passport renewal was delayed.
The renewal application was sent off on May 1, and Roisin said any attempt to contact the passport office for an update in the weeks after proved futile.
Read more: Ryanair announces Belfast 'comeback' with 12 destinations
She has criticised the HM Passport Office for a lack of communication, which has resulted in a loss of £1,400 due to a last-minute holiday cancellation.
The family had been looking forward to their holiday after a difficult two years. Last year, Roisin was diagnosed with cancer and had half of her lung removed in a lobectomy as a result.
After enduring the life-threatening disease and finding herself in remission, she said the holiday was the family's "lifeline."
"I had my operation on July 6, 2021, so our holiday was set to be a year to the day," Roisin told Belfast Live. "It was a means to get away for a while and get back to some normality. I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me."
She said the main issue she encountered when renewing her son Hal's application was "a lack of any information or updates."
"I went to the passport office in Belfast with my son's application and the old passport on May 1. It's been with them now for nine weeks," Roisin added.
"I started trying to track it on the week starting June 20 because we were going on holiday on July 6, so I thought it was best if I double checked what was going on. I got an automated email saying not to contact them and the application was in the system.
"I heard nothing else so tried to track it again, but received another automated email saying they had all the information they needed and would be in touch. I went back to the passport office in Belfast on June 27."
At this stage, the team in Belfast told Roisin the application was now in Liverpool and she should contact them as she was now eligible for the passport to be fast-tracked. Upon contacting the Liverpool office, she said it was difficult to get a clear update.
Roisin said: "I got an automated email saying the application was sent off for fast-track and they would be in touch. I heard nothing, I rung twice. The first time I held for three hours on the phone and the next time it was an hour and a half.
"When I finally got someone to answer, they said they didn't know where it is and couldn't give me any information, they just knew it was in the system. I was asked to email my flight details, which I did. At that point I was told they were working three days ahead for people who were flying. It's all really down to the wire at the minute."
Roisin said if they had been told weeks ago it wouldn't be possible for the renewal to be completed on time, they could have planned accordingly and been able to get some of their money back. However, now the family are out £1,400 due to a late holiday cancellation.
After her local MP, Gavin Robinson's office heard about the issue the family were having, they contacted the passport office on their behalf. At this stage, Roisin was asked to call in to the Belfast passport office on the day of her flight.
"If the passport office said we weren't going to get the passport, it would have made things easier," she added.
"They said they knew it was urgent but asked us to go away then come back at 2pm if we hadn't heard from them. Somebody rang when I was away to say they wouldn't be able to get my son's passport sorted on time.
"I asked what was going on, and they said nothing had happened, it was still in the system, but we weren't going to get it. I went to the office and a manager came out and said I might as well go home as they won't get the passport sorted today, and there was nothing they could do.
"If they had told us a few weeks ago, we could have contacted easyJet and got some money back. But now we can't get anything back.
"We're still waiting for the passport, have had no calls on when we may get it, we don't know whether to look to book another flight or even if we'll get a holiday this year."
The guidance from HM Passport Office is that passport applications should be approved within ten weeks. In May, over 91% of applications from the UK were completed within 6 weeks.
Their advice is customers should not book travel until they have a valid passport, as your new passport will not have the same passport number as your old one.
A HM Passport Office spokesperson said: “Staff are processing approximately 250,000 passport applications each week and between March and May 98.5% of applications were completed within 10 weeks. But we cannot compromise security checks and people should apply with plenty of time prior to travelling.
“Since April 2021, we’ve clearly stated that people should allow up to ten weeks when applying for their passport to factor in the increased demand, which has seen 5 million people delay their passport application due to the pandemic. Face-to-face passport services are only available by appointment.”
READ NEXT:
- Drunk man arrested on Ryanair flight after trying to open emergency exit door amid delays
- Travel insurance warning and top tips for NI holidaymakers ahead of predicted strike disruption
- Spain holidays: Ryanair crew announce 12 new strike dates
- Airbnb with hot tub and sauna opens up in Co Tyrone business park
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
