The chilly winter season has come early and so of course, everyone and their mum is trying to yeet onto warmer shores. But if you’re planning on catching flights not feelings this cuffing season, be warned: passport delays are lengthy AF right now.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is recommending people plan way ahead for their trips, because if your passport expires it could take up to *six* weeks for a renewal. To create a new one, the wait is even longer.
DFAT said it’s gotten a record number of passport applications since borders opened. It used to get an average of 7000 to 9000 passport applications every working day, but that’s risen to between 10,000 and 12,000.
Last financial year DFAT issued around 600,000 passports. So far in this financial year they’ve issued more than 1 million. Meaning things are pretty chaotic. Right now it’s taking about 17 business days to get a passport processed — that’s nearly four weeks. Some customers actually had to wait over 90 days (three months!!) for theirs.
If your Aussie passport is about to expire, and you need it soonish, apply for it now! The 6 week turnaround time has blown out, no one answering 131232 – in the end I had to go in person to the Sydney office (queue was 100m long outside building) just to make an enquiry. #auspol
