Passport office struggles with influx of applications as Aussies prepare to flee overseas

It’s been a long two years and Aussies are ready to holiday overseas again – a desire that is causing one government office to buckle under the pressure.

The passport office is struggling with a surge in demand after Aussies who have been stuck at home for the past two years finally consider going overseas again.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is in charge of issuing passports – and has been flat out since international borders reopened on November 1 and NSW and Victoria announced quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated Aussies.

According to data obtained by The Guardian, DFAT has issued more than 275,000 passports since November 1, equating to almost 3000 passports a day.

The number is almost triple of what DFAT was processing in the same period a year ago, when Covid was rampant across the world and most countries had their borders shut.

The surge in demand is also impacting wait times, with applications taking up to 60 per cent longer to be processed.

“Due to the increased demand passports are currently taking longer to process,” a spokesperson for DFAT told The Guardian.

“At present, processing times are, on average, around 16 business days, compared to within 10 business days previously.”

There is a delay for Australian passports. Picture: iStock

Despite the longer wait times, DFAT was still working within its recommended deadline with the passport office recommending people apply at least six weeks before heading overseas.

The spokesperson said this processing time was “well short of the time frame the public are encouraged to renew their passport” – up to six weeks ahead of their planned international travel.

The passport office’s call line is also crippling under the demand with many frustrated Aussies turning to social media to vent their concerns.

DFAT has been intermittently replying to people, encouraging them to instead get in touch via email.

Hi @nsmith72, please email the Australian Passport Office at [e-mail] with your contact details so that we can assist with your enquiry

— DFAT🇦🇺 (@dfat) February 1, 2022

@dfat Team, can you please advise how to reach you. 131232 call centre keeps disconnecting!!

— Vish A (@arora_vishal) January 30, 2022

Hi @smahi220, please email the Australian Passport Office at [e-mail] with your contact details so that we can assist with your enquiry

— DFAT🇦🇺 (@dfat) January 28, 2022

DFAT attempted to warn Australians about the predicted influx in October last year.

An analysis from DFAT in October revealed more than 1.3 million people had put off renewing their passport due to border closures.

And a further 600,000 delayed applying for their first passport, with plenty of Aussies not wanting to pay for a document that was essentially useless through the pandemic.

In response to the worrying delay, DFAT spent most of 2021 notifying more than 1.4 million people that their documents were going to expire.

A DFAT spokeswoman told The Australian in October that anyone hoping to get overseas should send in their passport application as soon as possible.

“Recent experience in the US and the UK has shown that there was a significant increase in applications ahead of international travel restrictions being lifted in these countries, resulting in long wait times for passports,” she said.

“While the department is doing everything it possibly can to prepare for a similar eventuality, longer than usual processing times cannot be ruled out.”

The Guardian reported DFAT has hired more than 130 new staff to cope with the demand and brought back staff that had been redeployed elsewhere while the demand for passports was low.