The nail-biting wait for new passports looks set to continue into the summer holiday season. Families suffered an up-to-the wire hold-up at half-term last month, and latest figures show the waiting time for both new applications and renewals looks set to be on the rise again, following a slight fall at the beginning of the month.
But it's not all bad news - for the families who submitted their waiting times on www.passportwaitigntime.co.uk reported they were getting their passports sent to them a lot quicker than the 10 weeks currently quoted by the Home Office. Adults who applied for a completely new passport and received it back last week had to wait an average of 37.3 days after submitting their application.
This was up from 32.5 days at the end of May, but substantially quicker than the 42.9 days people who received their passport at the end of April had to wait. Adult renewals were speedier, taking an average of 27 days last week compared to 23.5 days at the end of May and 26.6 days at the end of June.
Read more: What are your options if your passport doesn't arrive in time?
However, the news was bleaker for families waiting back for their child's first passport, as the wait last week, at 40.3 days, was the longest since July 2020, up from 38 days at the end of May and 39 days at the end of April. This came down to 31 days last week compared to 25.6 days at end of May and 28.4 days at end of April to renew a child's passport.
While the wait across the board is a longer than the three weeks the Home Office previously advised people to allow to get their passports back, it is a lot less than the 10 weeks currently being advised.
|The figures were collected by www.passportwaitingtime.co.uk, which uses the website and Twitter to provide an estimate of how long you are likely to have to wait to receive your passport. The home page sates: "Whilst it is not a precise indication of when you will get your passport back it will certainly give you some idea of how long you may need to wait based on other people who have recently applied and received theirs."
The current crisis - which the Passport Office says is because of a surge in applications after lockdown restrictions were lifted – meant many families had to cancel planned half-term breaks last month when their passports failed to arrive in time.
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A HM Passport Office spokesperson said: “Staff are processing approximately 250,000 passport applications each week and the latest figures show that 98.5% of applications have been 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 five million people delay their passport application due to the pandemic. An expedited service is available to help the small percentage of people whose applications take longer than ten weeks to receive their passports before they travel.”
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