Thousands face losing summer holidays as Passport Office delays continue
A couple this week told how they face having to cancel their wedding because of continued delays at the Passport Office.
Lucia Thompson and her partner, both British nationals who live in Australia, have been told they must allow 13 weeks for their newborn baby’s British passport to arrive. They are due to marry in the UK next month; the ceremony was twice postponed because of Covid.
“We applied for our son’s passport in March as soon as the birth certificate was issued,” Thompson told Guardian Money.
“The helpline has told us we should have allowed more time, even though we had no control over when our baby was born. The cost of the wedding is about £40,000, not to mention the cost to guests flying in, and our insurance does not cover us for passport issues.”
Meanwhile, thousands of families face losing holidays they have booked for this summer because of the delays.
Weeks after the Guardian reported problems at the government agency, the backlog has not been tackled, and this week MPs accused it of operating an “absolute shambles”.
The Home Office is urging travellers to get their passport applications in “as soon as possible” as the new 10-week processing target is repeatedly being breached.
Travellers have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket because of being unable to fly after their new passports failed to arrive in time. Some had been waiting up to five months from application.
Holidaymakers have complained of a system in meltdown, with uncontactable customer services, processing errors and a lack of appointments for the premium-price fast-track service. Others claim that their applications were delayed or even terminated because the Passport Office failed to log supporting documents.
According to the Home Office,
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