Warning for Aussies desperate to travel

Passport delays are not over with Aussies looking to travel within the next six months advised to put through their application immediately.

If you’re planning on travelling within the next six months, the advise is to apply or renew your passport now.

Passport delays are still happening, with the Australian Passport Office (APO) receiving up to 15,000 applications a day.

To put that into perspective, pre-Covid that figure was around 7000 to 9000, meaning applications have almost doubled.

“We regret these delays and are investing energy and resources to address this,” a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told news.com.au.

During the two-year period when Australia’s international border was closed due to Covid, travel was not possible for most Australians.

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The Australian Passport Office (APO) is receiving up to 15,000 applications per business day – almost double compared to pre-Covid days.

“The APO sent individual messages to Australians with expiring passports to encourage renewals,” the spokesperson said. “However, there were still around 1.8 million passports that were not renewed during this period.”

In response, extra staff were put on with staffing numbers doubling since June this year, going from roughly 730 staff to nearly 1800.

Aussies looking to travel within the next six months have been warned to apply or renew now.

Aussies needing to travel within the next six weeks who don’t have a valid passport can still get one, but it comes at a cost.

“The APO’s priority processing service is available for $225, with passports ready for mailing or collection within two business days of all documents being received from Australia Post,” the spokesperson told news.com.au.

And those looking to travel within the next six months are being encouraged to put in their application from now – to avoid disappointment.

“While the majority of applications are being processed within six weeks, there will always be some that take longer,” the spokesperson added.

“First-time adult and child passport applications may fall into this category.

“These applications generally take longer because there are extra security checks, and all supporting documents need to be verified.”

News.com.au understands that in September, the APO issued more than 120,000 passports and this financial year to date (2022-23) it has answered over 380,000 calls, and issued more than 570,000 passports (almost 11,000 per business day).