Passport delay threatens Tamworth family's holiday

Emma Davies applied to change the name on her passport 12 weeks ago

A woman from Staffordshire, who had planned an extended family holiday, says she's frustrated not to have received her passport 12 weeks after applying for it.

Emma Davies from Tamworth said she sent off her documents to change her name after a divorce in mid-February.

"It's incredibly stressful," she said.

The Passport Office said it had increased staff numbers and estimated five million people delayed their applications in 2020 and 2021.

Ms Davies said the holiday at the end of the month would be the first trip abroad for the family since before the coronavirus pandemic.

"They have all of my identification documents so that's limited me on what I can do," she added.

She said since February she had received regular notifications from the service saying it needed more identification in order to process her application.

"When I have phoned them, what I've been told, every single week, is that there's just a glitch in the system - just ignore it."

Home Office minister Kevin Foster said last month staff were working weekends and overtime to work through passport applications

She explained she had repeatedly been told to expect a call back from staff, but until this week that had not happened.

She stands to lose about £600 if the holiday is cancelled.

"I haven't allowed myself to get excited because we are not sure it's going to happen," she said.

"But there's still a chance."

The Passport Office said it urged people who need a new passport to apply for one as soon as possible.

"To deal with this demand, we have increased staff numbers by 500 since April 2021. This has helped us to handle more applications than ever before."