Passport warning – families waiting since MARCH to get them in time for holidays

BRITS are STILL facing huge waits for their new passports, with some families yet to get them back since March.

Thousands of new applications, as well as staff shortages, has led to huge delays of up to 10 weeks.

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Yet many claim to be waiting even longer.

Samantha Antonio, 49, submitted passports for her two daughters, 15 and 12, back in March.

However, she is fearing that they won’t be able to travel to Hungary to see family in August as only one of them has been sent back.

While she hasn’t booked her holiday yet, she told the Independent: “If I’d got it earlier I would have got cheaper flights

“I’m now going to pay double the price.”

Another mum said she was yet to get her daughter Eleanor’s passport back, submitted in early March.

Carolyn Schuoler, from Redruth, said she was “devastated” after saving for months to pay for her 16-year-old’s school trip.

She told Cornwall Live: “The whole situation has been incredibly stressful and has had a negative impact on her mental health.”

Many already have been affected by the delays – one woman told Sun Online Travel she had to cancel her £2,200 holiday to Spain because of the delays while others have had to pay to move their holidays to later in the year.

A passport worker, who remained anonymous, told the i that the delays are only “going to get worse” this summer, adding the current delays are the “tip of the iceberg” of problems.

And now new research has found that more delays could cause problems, according to the Independent, due to new plans to cut staff.

The research issued by the Labour party means this would result in 8,000 fewer passport applications being processed a day.

Here’s what to do if your passport doesn’t arrive in time.

And we’ve explained the seven ways your passport could be rejected.

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