Passport Office workers will launch a five-week strike today (Monday) in the increasingly bitter civil service dispute over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions. More than 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) - around a quarter of the 4,000 strong workforce - will walk out at eight sites in an escalation of the long-running row.
Picket lines will be mounted outside the offices in Glasgow, Durham, Liverpool, Southport, Peterborough, London, Belfast and Newport in Wales. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka has written to the Government calling for urgent talks in a bid to resolve the dispute.
The Home Office said the Passport Office has already processed more than 2.7 million applications this year, adding over 99.7% of standard applications are being processed within 10 weeks, with the majority of those delivered to customers well under this timescale. There are currently no plans to change official guidance which states that it takes up to 10 weeks to get a passport.
Read more:
In a statement, the Home Office said: "We are disappointed with the union's decision to strike. We are working to manage the impact of strike action, whilst ensuring we can continue to deliver vital services to the public, with comprehensive contingency plans in place.
"There are currently no plans to change our guidance which states that it takes up to 10 weeks to get a passport."
When do you need to renew your passport?
At least nine months before your current passport is due to expire is a good rule of thumb. Different countries have different countries about the minimum time you should have on your passport before it expires.
You can check this on the government website. EU countries require your passport to have three months of validity from the end date of your vacation.
How will the strike affect renewal time?
The government says the strike does not affect their guidance to allow up to 10 weeks to get a passport. That's been in place since April 2021, before that the advice was to allow three to six weeks.
In February Home secretary Suella Braverman said: "Last week, approximately 97% of all UK applications were completed within three weeks. Customers should continue to allow 10 weeks, and I urge people to apply in good time, not at the last minute, to avoid delays."
Last a surge in demand, as covid travel restrictions were lifted, meant hundreds of thousands of people waited more than 10 weeks for a new passport. There were more than seven million passport applications between January and September 2022.
The busiest month was May when more than 1.2m requests for passports were submitted.
How long does it take to renew your passport?
It should be renewed within 10 weeks, but if you can't wait that long, you can pay extra to get it sooner. A one-week Fast Track service costs £155 for an adult passport and £126 for a child passport.
You will need to get an application form from a Post Office and book an appointment online. There's also an Online Premium service costing £193.50. The earliest you can get an appointment (where you will receive your new passport) is two days after applying online.
If you need a passport urgently or for medical treatment or because a friend or family member is seriously ill or has died, the government advice is to call the Passport Adviceline .
How do you renew your passport?
The cheapest and quickest way is to do it online, at a cost of £82.50. But you can still do it by or by post using a form from the Post Office at a cost of £93.
For under 16s the fee is £53.50 for an online application and £64 for a postal one. To apply online, you will need your existing passport and a digital photograph.
It's recommended you have your photos taken in a booth or at a photo shop as they are more likely to meet the criteria, which you can read here. You will need to have one of two new print photos validated if renewing a passport for a child aged 11 or under, or if you are renewing your own passport and you cannot be recognised from your existing passport.
