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Islanders’ desperation to jet-set from the Rock as covid restrictions ease around the world have seen waiting times for standard passport renewals shoot up to as much as 10 weeks.
Jersey Customs and Immigration this afternoon said they were facing an “unprecedented challenge with passport application volumes”, with officers forced to work extra hours and new staff on their way to help bring waiting times down.
As of today, anyone requiring a new passport should expect to wait around 50 working days for the travel document.
Senior Manager Andrew Allan apologised for the extended turnaround time, but noted that it was not unique to Jersey.
“This challenge is mirrored in many jurisdictions around the world where processing times have also significantly increased,” he said.
“Extra resource has been drafted in to help the passport team and Officers are working extra hours, weekends and bank holidays to try and manage the workload but it still remains very challenging.”
To ensure there are no further delays, anyone who does not have immediate travel plans is being reminded that they should not upgrade their passport to the Express route, which takes 10 working days.
Islanders are also being reminded that passports are also not required to travel to the UK.
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