The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is experiencing "unprecedented" demand for its passport services.
Now that the days of duty-free shopping, in-flight entertainment and turbulence are well and truly back, there’s been a huge influx of Australians keen to get back out there and explore the world.
While it’s incredibly exciting, there’s just one major problem: Australians are facing serious delays getting or renewing a passport.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around the region here.
The Australian Passport Office has warned Australians to allow up to six weeks to receive a new passport or renew one, but there have been reports that some have been left waiting even longer than that.
“We are experiencing high demand for passports since the reopening of Australia’s international border,” the department said in a statement.
“In the first three months of this year, we issued nearly 400,000 passports, more than double the total number we issued over the same period in 2021.
“With passport demand on the rise, we strongly urge you not to leave your application to the last minute.
“You should allow up to six weeks to get a new passport or renew one.”
Over the past few years of the pandemic, around 1.4 million passports expired and now that international borders are open and the weather is dropping, people are keen to seek summer comforts overseas.
The ABC reported that more than 1.1 million passports had been issued this financial year, with 800,000 of those since November 1, 2021 following the reopening of Australia’s border. That’s compared to last financial year where the DFAT issued around 600,000 passports. So that’s a huge increase in workload!
While recommended to allow six weeks, varying reports across social media have seen customers actually waiting up to three months for theirs – so you really, really want check those passport expiry dates and jump on it quickly if you’re planning on busting out of the country anytime soon.
Dear @dfat. Similarly, waiting for 10 weeks since application. Your call centre drops calls automatically. Lodged an inquiry – no response.
I appreciate the high demand issue, but what are the current wait times? How much longer do I wait?Extremely stressful. https://t.co/QN0VPCJrDd
— Dmytro Popov (@_dmytropopov) May 31, 2022
Hi DFAT
I have been waiting for advice on a passport application since 15 March, have called 131232 number for weeks and weeks without being able to get through to anyone. Please explain what I am supposed to do if i cant even get through to your call centre!
Concerned Citizen— Gibb River (@gibb_river) May 30, 2022
@dfat waiting 11 weeks for a passport – flying in 2. Can’t get through on phone line. Please help, this is now very stressful.
— Nichola Gill (@nagill) May 26, 2022
If you’ve already got a trip booked and you can’t afford to wait six weeks, you can choose to pay an extra $225 for priority processing which gets your passport sorted in approximately two business days. But that cost is on top of the renewal fee itself with is almost $200, and there’s really no guarantee on when you’ll get it.
The semi-good news though is that if you’ve paid for a priority service and did not have the passport issued within two business days after the APO received all the information, you can request a refund.
“Customers can request a refund of our priority service fee if their passport was not issued within two business days after we received all the information we requested to satisfy us of their identity and entitlement to a passport,” a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Trade and Affairs said
“The time taken to deliver a passport to a customer, either by post or courier, is not included in this two business days service standard.”
Good luck!
You can read more here.