SOME Islanders are facing a ten-week delay in receiving a new passport as a post-Covid holiday surge has led to an ‘unprecedented’ number of applications, Jersey Customs has said.
The processing time for standard passport renewals has shot up to around 50 working days, with large numbers of people seeking some summer sun after two years of travel restrictions prevented many foreign holidays.
Jersey Customs and Immigration senior manager Andrew Allan said that some staff were working extra hours and weekends to try to manage the number of applications.
He said: ‘We apologise for having to extend the turnaround times for standard passports. We are aware of the impact this has on the public. We are facing an unprecedented challenge with passport application volumes. This challenge is mirrored in many jurisdictions around the world where processing times have also significantly increased.
‘Extra resource has been drafted in to help the passport team and officers are working extra hours, weekends and bank holidays to try and manage the workload, but it still remains very challenging.’
The passport office has advised that those without immediate travel plans do not need to upgrade to the express passport renewal, which takes around ten working days.
Islanders are also being reminded that passports are not required to travel to the UK.
