Passport Renewal / Application - Time Taken?

[Katie]

I applied for MissM's child's passport on Wed (1 Jun) and after reading reports on this site, other sites and in the general media decided to pony up for priority processing as we need the passport number to update her bookings (old passport used), ETSA, Canada eTA etc. In hindsight I should have applied last year and not that it matters and OT, are there rules around passports for kids that change depending on age. From memory for MissM's first and second passport we were advised that both parents and MissM had to go to the post office which we did. When I enquired about making an appointment I was asked how old she is (15) and was informed one parent could submit and she did not have to be present.

I've just been researching, as our Teen will need a new passport some time soon-ish, definitely for her potential school trip to NYC next June/July. And now I think more about it, might be for our next planned trip in Dec.
For 16 and 17yo children getting a passport, they need to attend with one parent. They also (finally!!) get a 10 year passport.

 

[Matt_01]

@Katie I applied for MissM's passport last week, she is 15 and did not have to attend.

 

[Katie]

@Matt_01 Understood. Maybe I shouldn't have quoted your post. Your info about your experience inspired my search for info pertaining to my situation, but it didn't really relate to your post inherently.

I only mentioned the requirement for 16 and 17yos as I'd just read it on the Aus Govt passport site, and my Teen may be 16 by the time we apply for their next passport (How to get a child passport.)

 

[glasszon]

My priority passport application is over 2 weeks now and they haven't responded to my emails except saying the passport office will reach out to me early last week and I haven't heard from them since. Anyone know a way to escalate further or is reaching out to MP the only option?

 

[SydneySwan]

My priority passport application is over 2 weeks now and they haven't responded to my emails except saying the passport office will reach out to me early last week and I haven't heard from them since. Anyone know a way to escalate further or is reaching out to MP the only option?

Reaching out to your local MP is only likely to be an effective option if your MP was re-elected. New MPs will only just be setting up their offices and may not yet have established a direct line to DFAT. If your MP was voted out you could try his / her office. It should still be operating for a few weeks yet although to a lesser degree.

 

[Ade]

Mate, Mate's wife & son became AU citizens in May this year. They have applied for passport and were advised that it will take at least 13 weeks for new passport applications. Wondering how long for renewals? I'm assuming renewals are done quicker.

 

[RooFlyer]

On Hobart TV news tonight, said "passport office" no longer taking calls OR responding to e-mails.

Lovely.

 

[glasszon]

Reaching out to your local MP is only likely to be an effective option if your MP was re-elected. New MPs will only just be setting up their offices and may not yet have established a direct line to DFAT. If your MP was voted out you could try his / her office. It should still be operating for a few weeks yet although to a lesser degree.

Thanks, guess I have to reach out to the local MP then. He has been re-elected, although given how safe the seat is, he might not be that inclined to help.

So much for paying the priority processing fee!

 

[SydneySwan]

On Hobart TV news tonight, said "passport office" no longer taking calls OR responding to e-mails.

Lovely.

Standard move for companies about to enter bankruptcy - oh wait ....... aren't they the government?

 

[SydneySwan]

Thanks, guess I have to reach out to the local MP then. He has been re-elected, although given how safe the seat is, he might not be that inclined to help.

So much for paying the priority processing fee!

I am sure his office will help. Send an email to his office tonight making it clear you are in his constituency. Then ring the office early in the morning so they can locate the email and get right onto it. I am sure you will find that they deal with DFAT on a daily basis regarding passport issues.

 

[Matt_01]

@Matt_01 ….. I only mentioned the requirement for 16 and 17yos as I'd just read it on the Aus Govt passport site, and my Teen may be 16 by the time we apply for their next passport (How to get a child passport.)

From what have I read and understand from the AU passport website the total saving on a 10 year child passport compared to adult passport is around $3-$5 in total.

Back on topic of how long does it take, I applied for her passport (MissM) on 1 Jun 22 and paid the express fee, I already have the Auspost tracking number indicating that we will receive her passport next week.

 

[Formal Hall]

My priority passport application is over 2 weeks now and they haven't responded to my emails except saying the passport office will reach out to me early last week and I haven't heard from them since. Anyone know a way to escalate further or is reaching out to MP the only option?

Have a try ringing the hotline at 0800 AEST sharp - as in to the second. Quickly go through the prompts (I think it is 2 then 1, but someone will correct me!) Did this last week and was through to a real person in around half an hour - they were excellent and quite chatty given the pressure they are under. They didn't promise anything but got the 'your new passport' email within 48 hours.

 

[coriander]

Radio news reported today that Melbourne passport office had 100m queue down the street.

I wondered what the queue was today as I had occasion to drive from Collins Street into Batmans Hill Drive. The queue was from the gov building in Collins Street all the way down Batmans Hill Drive and round the corner into McCrae Street.

Crazy stuff!.

 

[Melburnian1]

Reaching out to your local MP is only likely to be an effective option if your MP was re-elected. New MPs will only just be setting up their offices and may not yet have established a direct line to DFAT. If your MP was voted out you could try his / her office. It should still be operating for a few weeks yet although to a lesser degree.

MPs 'voted out' will in most if not all cases have vacated their electorate (and Canberra Parliament House) offices by Friday 3 June 2022.

IIRC, they must do so prior to the declaration of the poll, which has already occurred in some of the 151 Federal House of Representatives seats, of which a substantial minority changed hands (and in some cases, a retiring MP was replaced by the same party's candidate).

The Senate count takes longer due to its complexity.

 

[Melburnian1]

By 11am I had our passports. The system is so broken.

The system is only temporarily 'broken' as it's never before in our lifetimes faced the demand it has encountered since travel restrictions were lifted in February 2022.

 

[prozac]

Radio caller says Sydney PP office queue 150 people at 0730.

 

[Melburnian1]

'The Age' has a story this morning claiming that yesterday, queues in Melbourne saw people trying to expedite processing by paying the extra, or collecting passports, waiting for up to three hours, and those in Sydney waiting up to six hours.

 

[SydneySwan]

Radio caller says Sydney PP office queue 150 people at 0730.

It is stunning how the numbers have exploded.

Three weeks ago on May 16 my youngest son collected his passport at Sydney office at 9am. He was third in the collection queue although the submission queue was longer - about 10. Now 150 at 7.30am! People will be camping overnight soon.

 

[MooTime]

People have had 2 years to update/renew their passports, as I did last year.

Did people really have to wait for the Gov to announce borders opening??? My goodness.

Everybody says how poor the gov acts on events in a reactive manner........so many people claim to be so smart yet have reacted in such a gov-like reactive manner.

How difficult was it to foresee that borders were going to reopen, yet alone on the verge of opening as the world was opening well before Australia, wasn't too common sense to be proactive in this regard.
Nobody to blame but themselves IMO. Oh yeah blame the passport agency, yeah why not that's easier, zero self responsibility.

 

[1022]

People have had 2 years to update/renew their passports, as I did last year.

Did people really have to wait for the Gov to announce borders opening??? My goodness.

Everybody says how poor the gov acts on events in a reactive manner........so many people claim to be so smart yet have reacted in such a gov-like reactive manner.

How difficult was it to foresee that borders were going to reopen, yet alone on the verge of opening as the world was opening well before Australia, wasn't too common sense to be proactive in this regard.
Nobody to blame but themselves IMO. Oh yeah blame the passport agency, yeah why not that's easier, zero self responsibility.

Yes and no…I applied for a renewal in March which I thought was plenty of time for a trip in June given the advice was to allow “up to 6 weeks” for processing. The fact that it took 10 weeks isn’t due to my poor planning….