Travellers urged to act now on mountain of expired passports
Close to 2 million Australians have not bothered to renew their passport in the past 18 months, creating the risk of lengthy delays when international borders reopen.
Close to two million Australians have not bothered to renew their passport in the past 18 months or not applied for one for the first time, creating the risk of lengthy delays to the process as international borders reopen.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said it expected high demand for passports in coming months as would-be travellers sought to update their paperwork.
According to DFAT analysis, since the start of the pandemic about 1.3 million people have put off renewing their passport because of border closures, and a further 600,000 have delayed making applications for one.
In response, the department has sent 1.4 million emails and texts since January 2021 to alert passport holders that their essential travel documents had expired or were about to.
A DFAT spokeswoman said they strongly encouraged anyone planning to travel when international borders opened to renew or apply for their passport straight away.
“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.”
She also urged anyone with a current passport to check the expiry date. “Some countries won’t let visitors enter on a passport that expires in less than six months,” she said.
DFAT advises anyone applying for a passport to allow at least three weeks for it to arrive. Priority processing is available at an extra cost of $220 on top of the $301 price for a 10-year passport.
University of Technology Sydney tourism and travel expert David Beirman said it was not surprising so many people had let their passports lapse, given the international border closure in March 2020.
“Our passports have been pretty useless, and they are very expensive so there wouldn’t seem to be much point in shelling out for one that’s going to sit in a drawer for months on end,” he said.
“When borders fully open, there will be a lot of people wanting to travel so it makes sense the passports office would want to get the message out now about renewal.”
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