I’ve been waiting 14 weeks for my passport – I’m scared I’ll have to cancel my Spain holiday
A WOMAN has been left fearing she will have to cancel her holiday due to ongoing passport delays.
Elizabeth Beckett, 25, applied for her first passport back on July 17.
The Home Office is currently advising it takes up to 10 weeks to get a passport meaning it should have arrived last month.
However, Elizabeth said she is yet to receive it 14 weeks later.
And with a holiday to Barcelona booked on November 1, she has been left fearing her passport won't arrive in time.
Elizabeth told : "I’ve been waiting 14 weeks for my passport. I have travel booked for November 1 and I have been in contact with HM passport services nearly every day via phone for updates.
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“When I rang two weeks ago I was informed that I wouldn’t need an interview and this document was that last item the examiner needed to sign off my passport.
“I am constantly going round in circles and being pushed from pillar to post. I am being told different things by different people.”
She said she was "fed up" and had issued a formal complaint, adding it would be "so tough" if everyone else on the holiday could go without her.
She said she has since been told that her passport had been approved, and it would delivered this week, hopefully in time for her trip.
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A Passport Office spokesperson said: “Since January 2022, staff have processed an average of almost 800,000 passport applications each month, with 95.3 per cent of applications being processed within 10 weeks.
"But we cannot compromise security checks and people should apply with plenty of time prior to travelling.
“An expedited service is available at no additional cost to help the small percentage of people whose applications take longer than ten weeks to receive their passports before they travel.”
A backlog of over 700,000 outstanding passport applications this summer led to the Home Office recommending Brits to allow up to 10 weeks for processing.
However, some had to wait even longer than that, and ended up missing their trips abroad.
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One woman told Sun Online Travel she had to cancel her £2,200 holiday to Spain because of the delays while others have had to pay to move their holidays to later in the year.
Here is how to get a fast-track passport renewal.
