Renew your passport now – it could take TEN weeks

HOLIDAYMAKERS planning to go abroad this summer are being warned to check now if their passport needs renewing – as it could take a record ten weeks to sort out.

Following the Easter break, the Passport Office is expecting an unprecedented wave of applications following two years of pandemic travel restrictions. It means those hoping to travel from June 19 onwards should get their passport applications in immediately.

Travellers can get caught out by new European Union restrictions put on British holidaymakers. A passport must be no more than ten years old on the date of entry to any EU country – so it is important to check its ‘date of issue’.

It must also be valid for at least three months after the date you plan to leave the EU country visited. These restrictions do not apply when travelling to Ireland. Abi Tierney, director general of the Passport Office, says: ‘People are leaving applying for a passport too late.’

A standard 34-page adult passport costs £75.50 if renewed online, £49 for children. Paper applications for an adult are £85. A Post Office ‘check and send’ service at select branches is £16 on top of the usual fee. A ‘one-week fast track’ service costs adults £142 while an ‘online premium service’ for an application to be processed in two days is £177. Those born before September 2, 1929 – aged 92 or older – can get a passport renewed for free.