The Passport Office has admitted that more than 50,000 Britons have been waiting more than 10 weeks for their passports, as officials struggle with a record number of applications ahead of the summer holiday getaway.
MPs were told on Wednesday that there were 550,000 passport applications in the system at the end of June and that one in 10 had exceeded the 10-week deadline the Passport Office recommends to people who allow it.
Thomas Greig, director of passports, citizenship and civil registry of the Passport Office, apologized to people whose applications were blocked in the system. He said the service was facing an unprecedented level of demand after millions of people delayed renewing their passports during the pandemic.
“We have reached record production levels and have provided decent service for the vast majority of our applicants,” Greig said. “For a small proportion of people we have not provided the service we would like and at the moment our goal is to try to resolve these requests so that people can access their passport if they need it urgently. Personally, I am sorry for this people “.
Passport applications have skyrocketed as travel abroad has resumed following the shutdown caused by the pandemic. In a normal year there are 7 million applications, but in 2020 and 2021 there were 4 and 5 million respectively.
Diana Johnson, chair of the select committee on home affairs, said deputies’ offices were flooded with requests for help from people struggling to get their passports.
Johnson said she was shocked by the volume of applications in the system, especially by the number of people waiting for more than 10 weeks. He said this was “completely unacceptable”.
An HMPO spokesman said: “The vast majority of applications are completed within the published deadline, with 97.7% of applications being processed in 10 weeks during the first half of this year. “But we can’t compromise security checks and people should ask for it long before they travel.”
Social media is full of people recounting anxious waits for passports as the days go by for the summer holidays, with groups dedicated to the topic on sites like Facebook attracting tens of thousands of members. There, users share tips on how to penetrate the bureaucracy surrounding their application amid complaints about the inadequacy of the Passport Office helpline.
Growing despair means people queuing up at dawn with vacation tickets at the nearest passport office or embarking on long road trips to try to get their passport where it is being processed.
At the end of June, the number of pending applications to the system was about 550,000, Greig said. That main figure was falling at a rate of about 60,000 a week and he estimated that they would now be at the “400,000 lows,” including recently submitted applications.
Greig said the service was struggling with a large number, with more than 9 million passport applications this year. “So far we have received and processed 5 million applications, which is more than we processed all last year.”