Why are passports delayed and what is the current waiting time?
dailyrecord.co.ukAnyone who holds a British passport is being advised to check if they need to renew and to do so as soon as possible. This comes after the government confirmed that an "unprecedented demand" for new passports has caused a delay.
It is estimated that at least five million applicants put off applying during Covid lockdown, due to restrictions on international travel.
But now that most countries have relaxed travel rules, countless Brits want to make up for lost time. Under new Brexit-EU rules, British passports must have at least three months validity remaining, which could mean further stress for the process.Since April 2021, "contingency measures" have been introduced by the Passport Office and the UK Government say over a million applications were processed last month alone.
In a normal year, the Passport Office deal with seven million applications.In the Commons, minister Kevin Foster told MPs that between January and March, over 90% of cases were completed within six weeks, but people are now being told to allow up to 10 weeks for their application.However opposition MPs told him that target was "routinely" being missed.
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