Minister warns of ‘unprecedented surge’ in passport applications

UK travellers could lose out on holidays this summer because of an “unprecedented” surge in passport applications.

Those hoping to travel abroad have been warned to renew their passports “as soon as possible” by Home Office minister Kevin Foster, who said a million passport applications were received in the last month alone.

“To put that into context, we usually deal with seven million in a whole year,” he told MPs.

“We would advise people this is a very, virtually unprecedented surge in demand, and if people are planning to travel this summer we would advise them to get their application in as soon as possible.”

If you do need to get your passport renewed to meet the latest criteria, the Home Office has warned Brits that there could be a delay of around 10 weeks to get your document issued.

It’s estimated that over five million people have delayed their passport applications in 2020 and 2021.

Post-Brexit travel rules from the EU have complicated matters further as they require travelling Britons to have at least three months validity remaining when travelling to EU member nations.