Staff at HM Passport Office have warned that a five-week strike started last week and, as a result, applicants have rushed to schedule fast-track appointments. With these recent changes, the demand for urgent applications has soared while the average processing time for passports, at present, remains at around two weeks.
Nearly 1,600 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union who work for the Passport Offices intend to join the strike that is expected to last until May 5, asking for better salaries, pensions, redundancy terms and job security, VisaGuide.World reports.
The strike is expected to affect offices that offer such services in Belfast, Glasgow, Durham, London, Liverpool, Peterborough, Newport and Southport.
However, travellers who need to renew their documents are able to do so during the strike, but delays might occur during this time.
The UK government has advised that applicants should be prepared to wait for up to ten weeks for a standard passport renewal, with this time frame being valid since the pandemic times. The authorities explain that the average time to process a passport for adults was 17.5 days and 14 days for child passports.
On the other hand, those whose passport is soon to expire, can try to schedule a fast-track appointment. In addition, those that are planning to travel to the Schengen countries, whose passport must be issued ten years before the date of entering the country and another three months after the day of departure from the zone. These rules are not applicable to travel to the neighbouring country of Ireland, which is a member of the EU but not Schengen, yet.
The number of urgent passport application services available, however, is reducing while the UK Fast Track and Premium Passport reported an increase in the demand for such appointments.
Prices for passport applications in the UK are £82.50 for adults and £53.50 for children, while postal applications cost £93 and £64 for adults and children, respectively.
Moreover, the one-week fast-track passports price varies between £155 for adults and £126 for children. Online premium passports are issued on the day of application and cost £193.50. For such passports, appointments are usually released about two days in advance.
VisaGuide.World previously reported that passport applications are particularly higher in March, April and May, in comparison to other months, while people make their getaway plans for holidays. Nearly 1.2 million applications for passports were made in the UK in 2022, with the most notable applications being made in March (100,000), April (90,000) and May (120,000).
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