皇冠体育app

皇冠体育app surge in demand led to unprecedented numbers of counter applications for the Passport Service to process and customers facing delays to their summer holiday or missing out altogether.

Figures show that parents applying for passports for their children and young people aged 16 to 20 were the two biggest groups to submit a last-minute application.

Despite extra staff being employed by IPS during summer months, there are limited numbers of appointments at passport offices for a fast-track service and customers cannot always rely on a last minute call to the Passport Service to beat the rush.

To avoid a disappointing summer, IPS is urging customers to apply before April to ensure they have their passport in time. 皇冠体育appy could receive it quicker than the advised three week period and save up to 拢55.50 by avoiding having to pay for a premium service for a standard passport.

Sarah Rapson, Chief Executive of the Identity and Passport Service, said:

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp Identity and Passport Service works hard each year to process more than 5.5 million applications to ensure customers can travel abroad for business or on holiday.

鈥淏ut to ensure passports remain one of the most trusted and secure documents in the world, each application takes time to process.

鈥淎ll too often people plan every other part of their holiday and forget one of the most important things - their passport. 皇冠体育appy are then forced to apply last minute, running the risk of missing out on the holiday altogether.

鈥淎pplying early and outside the busy summer months will help ensure customers receive their passport in good time and could even save them money.鈥�

More than 100,000 Londoners applied for a passport in July alone last year. This compares with 65,000 in January. Customers from boroughs in South East London made the most applications last year and parents applying for passports for children and young people up to the age of 15 were the highest group of applicants.

聽Passport applications in January聽Passport applications in July
Greater London (total)聽65,000聽100,000
South East London聽5,575聽10,054
South West London聽5,585聽8,638
North West London聽3,499聽5,875
Parents applying for a child passport聽19,000聽40,000

Raquel Brooks, 37, from Croydon, was one such customer who booked a fast track appointment with IPS earlier this month after realising her son鈥檚 passport had expired just days before they were due to go on holiday to Portugal.
Ms Brooks said:
鈥淚PS gave a very good and quick service and I would definitely recommend applying at this time of year.
鈥淚 would also encourage people to check their passports are valid before booking, especially if they have children, as we could have missed out.鈥�
Those aged 16 to 20 are the most likely to leave it until the last minute for an adult passport, with more than 10,000 applications submitted in July last year compared to less than 5,000 in January.

From September 2012 it became even cheaper to apply for a passport with a standard adult passport dropping in price by 拢5 to 拢72.50. All other application types also reduced in price.

Notes to editors

1.聽皇冠体育app breakdown of passport applications for the London area by postcode in January and July 2012 can be found below.

聽January 2012 Adult聽January 2012 Child聽January 2012 total聽July 2012 Adult聽July 2012 Child聽July 2012 total
BR聽1482聽588聽2070 (16)聽2265聽1396聽3661 (16)
CR聽1482聽801聽2579 (12)聽2739聽1759聽4498 (12)
DA聽1870聽740聽2610 (11)聽3059聽1825聽4884 (11)
E聽3759聽2190聽5949 (1)聽5793聽3700聽9493 (2)
EC聽166聽40聽206 (19)聽188聽115聽303 (19)
EN聽1585聽631聽2216 (15)聽2364聽1646聽4010 (13)
HA聽2351聽1013聽3364 (8)聽3183聽2108聽5291 (10)
IG聽1468聽838聽2306 (14)聽2297聽1546聽3843 (15)
KT聽2595聽1103聽3698 (5)聽3699聽2458聽6157 (6)
N聽3862聽1803聽5665 (2)聽5313聽3972聽9285 (3)
NW聽2372聽1127聽3499 (6)聽3368聽2507聽5875 (7)
RM聽2082聽904聽2986 (10)聽3544聽2182聽5726 (8)
SE聽3770聽1805聽5575 (4)聽6131聽3923聽10054 (1)
SM聽921聽439聽1360 (18)聽1537聽986聽2523 (18)
SW聽3949聽1636聽3297 (9)聽5226聽3412聽8638 (4)
TW聽2319聽978聽5646 (3)聽3229聽2225聽5454 (9)
UB聽1607聽842聽2449 (13)聽2382聽1609聽3991 (14)
W聽2365聽1007聽3372 (7)聽5207聽2162聽7369 (5)
WC聽118聽37聽155 (20) 聽174聽94聽268 (20)
WD聽1258聽532聽1790 (17)聽1765聽1212聽2977 (17)

2.聽Customers can renew their passport in one of three ways:

• fill in the form online - the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) will post it back to you to check and sign;
• collect a form from a Post Office that offers the Passport Check & Send service
• ask the Passport Advice line to post you one.

3.聽For further information on applying for a passport and fees, go to /browse/citizenship/passports

4.聽For media enquiries, please contact Home Office press office on 020 7035 3535.