London ranked worst passport office

London worst UK passport office for urgent on-the-day renewals, research finds 

A new analysis has revealed the best and worst UK passport offices for the availability of on-the-day passport renewal appointments. London ranked bottom of the table, with applicants over seven times less likely to get an emergency appointment in the capital compared to Belfast.

The research by Ripe Caravan Insurance analysed the number of online premium service appointments available to book every day between 1st May and 1st July 2023 across all applicable UK passport offices. Appointments can be booked up to 21 days in advance.

Applicants were most likely to secure an appointment at the Belfast branch, with a daily average of 167 online premium service slots available to book within three weeks. Glasgow was ranked second, with an average of 160 appointments, followed by Durham with 121, Liverpool with 115, Peterborough with 83, and Newport with 81. The London office performed the worst, with a daily average of just 23 slots available to book within three weeks. 

This means that despite London being the most populous city in the UK, its branch offered just 3% of the UK’s total appointment availability. The number of appointments available to book at the London branch over the nine-week period analysed was equivalent to just 0.01% of Greater London residents. Belfast, meanwhile, offered 22% of the UK’s total appointment availability, with Glasgow offering 21%.

Those looking to secure an urgent passport appointment within one week of booking will have been even more disappointed. Over the period analysed, London had no premium service appointments available to book at all. In fact, throughout May and June in the run-up to the busiest holiday period of the year, the lead time for an emergency passport appointment across all southern England was at least a week – potentially scuppering an entire trip away.

In 2022, UK residents took an estimated 71.8 million trips overseas*, 375% more than in 2021. However, according to the data, just 0.004% of these travellers would be able to access an emergency passport appointment within seven days should they need to. 

Researchers found that Thursday is the best day to try and book an appointment – on average across the period, Thursdays had the most appointments available to book across all UK branches. Monday was found to be the worst. 

Since the UK’s pandemic-related travel restrictions were lifted in 2022, passport offices have been overwhelmed with applications, causing significant delays and disappointment for hundreds of thousands of hopeful travellers. Currently, the typical wait time for a non-urgent renewal is 10 weeks.

John Woosey, Founder of Ripe Caravan Insurance, commented: “Anyone who has needed to visit the passport office for an urgent appointment will understand the huge stress that it can cause. And with only seven branches across the entire UK, it’s likely that London-based applicants will have to travel to access an urgent service. This isn’t feasible for most families.  

“If Londoners need to get hold of an urgent passport within a week, for example, they’ll be forced to go hundreds of miles – not to mention take time off work – to do so. It’s clear that more must be done to address both the issues of supply and the nationwide discrepancy in appointment availability. Unfortunately, as it stands the system isn’t fit for purpose.” 

A guide to urgent passport renewal 

Online Premium service 

You’ll apply, pay, and book an appointment online. The earliest you can get an appointment is two
days from when you apply. You’ll get your new passport at your appointment. Appointments can last up to 30 minutes. It costs £193.50 (or £204.50 for a 50-page frequent traveller passport). You can only use Online Premium to renew an adult passport that was
issued after 31 December 2001. 

If you’ve already applied for a passport and have not received it yet, do not use the Online Premium
service – you will not get your passport sooner. You might be able to upgrade your existing application instead. 

What to bring to your appointment 

You need to bring your old passport.

You can ask someone else to go to your appointment for you. They’ll need to bring: 

• your old passport 
• a signed and dated letter from you, naming them and giving them permission to collect the passport
• their ID (for example passport or driving licence)

Featured Photo by CardMapr.nl on Unsplash