Peacehaven family receive passport two days before holiday

Chris Taylor, a self-employed plumber and gas engineer from Peacehaven, had booked the trip to Turkey with 16 family and friends and was half packed, ready to leave on Saturday.

But he feared it would all be called off because his 13-year-old daughter Sienna's passport had not been returned.

The father-of-five, who received two renewed passports for other family members in April, went through "months of stress" trying to get the final passport for Sienna.

They applied for it 13 weeks ago on February 18.

The Argus contacted the Passport Office on Monday and was told the next day by the Home Office that Sienna Taylor’s passport had been sent to print - but there was no guarantee it would arrive ahead of their holiday.

The whole family now have their passports. From left, Sienna, 13, Chris, 39, and Bella, 11

But yesterday morning the final passport arrived, meaning the family can enjoy their holiday all together.

Chris told The Argus: “We got the email on Wednesday night confirming that the passport would be with us through the Royal Mail on Thursday morning. At 8.50am it arrived, I got the message saying it had been delivered.

“My daughter was at school, I sent her a little video and she was made up that she can actually pack her case that was half packed because she wasn’t sure if she would be going.

“Now we can go ahead with the plans, look forward to it and relax rather than waste time on the phone. I have spent £280 by being on the phone and days off work trying to sort this out.

The family on a previous holiday to Turkey

“It is frustrating because of their incompetence, it’s not just me chasing because they’re busy. We chased when they messed up but now we feel relaxed and relieved.

“But I may still sort out what I have financially lost from this. I got the message about 9pm on Thursday and thought ‘wow they clearly are on it’.

“I’m relieved but it’s mixed feelings. They are sending lots of passports back within three or four weeks so it seems like there is no system. Ultimately it is upsetting people, there are thousands of people online who are upset and losing money trying to get passports.”

One of the UK's seven passport offices. Picture by Albert Bridge

Chris tried Kemptown MP's Lloyd Russell-Moyle’s office but the Labour MP confirmed that his staff have been “waiting for hours on the phone” only to be told the Passport Office will not look at requests for passport updates.

Mr Russell-Moyle said the Home Office “needs to act to clear this backlog and treat people with a bit of common decency”.

The Home Office said it has had increased demand due to five million people in the country delaying passport applications due to the pandemic.

A spokeswoman said: “Since April 2021, we’ve clearly stated that people should allow up to ten weeks when applying for their passport to factor in the increased demand, which has seen five million people delay their passport application due to the pandemic. 

“The overwhelming majority of applications are completed within ten weeks, with the latest figures showing 90 per cent were completed within six weeks. But we cannot compromise security checks and people should apply with plenty of time prior to travelling.”