Holiday warning as Brits wait MORE than 10 weeks for passports with renewals hitting record high
FRANTIC Brits are being forced to cancel their long-awaited holidays after waiting more than the 10 recommended weeks for passport renewals.
The government was forced to issue a holiday warning after passport renewals hit a record high.
While the usual waiting time is around five weeks, they have since warned to allow 10 weeks due to demand.
However, many families have said they have waited more than this, meaning they have had to miss their holidays.
One mum said she had waited more than 12 weeks for two passports for her kids, and faced having to cancel her £2,400 holiday next week.
She wrote on the website Passportwaitingtime.co.uk: “Applied for my two children’s renewal 17 Jan and currently still in the processing stage.
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“I have phoned on a weekly basis for the last month as we have a holiday booked for 19 April. I made four applications in Jan and have received two out of four of them."
Another woman complained on Twitter: "I have allowed 10 weeks and my daughter's passport still has not come back! We fly in a week."
A second added: "Sister in law been waiting 10 weeks for a passport due to leave the country Friday still no passport promised to fast track after making complaint and STILL no contact!
"Disgusting service and now three children can’t go on holiday AND thousands of pounds lost."
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Lots of other families said they applied earlier this year before the advice changed from five weeks to 10 weeks.
Others have had to miss their holidays, either cancelling them or moving them to later in the year, at their own expense.
Mum Katherine Turner had to miss her £2,200 Easter holiday to Spain with her family after waiting eight weeks for her. daughter's passport.
Another family was forced to cancel their £1,800 holiday to the Canary Islands after they were stuck without one of their passports due to huge delays.
And a 10-year-old boy was left "sobbing" after being forced to miss his school holiday with his friends due to delays with passport renewals.
Director General of HM Passport Office, Abi Tierney, said: “Now that international travel has resumed, we know people will be looking at going away on holiday and yet many people are leaving applying for a passport too late.
“The summer holidays are fast approaching so if you need a new passport, we urge you to apply now."
According to the , the Passport Office claimed they processed more than one million applications in March along, 13 per cent higher than March 2019, the last record high.
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Here is the exact date you need to order a new passport for it to arrive in time for the summer holidays, when factoring in the 10 week waiting time.
And we've explained what to do if your passport doesn't arrive in time for your holiday.
