New warning over ‘ruse’ used by desperate travellers to avoid passport delays

DESPERATE holidaymakers have been rumbled after staging an elaborate ruse to try and avoid passport delays.

But travel experts have warned Brits the sneaky tactic won’t actually work and instead is piling even more pressure on HM Passport Office.

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In a bid to surpass the lengthy wait to secure the legal document, people are booking cheap one-way flights to con their way further down the queue.

Tricky travellers have spotted a loophole in the application process, which allows them to “upgrade” their request to a high priority.

By stumping up an extra £102, Brits receive much quicker consideration if they can prove they need a passport within a fortnight.

But after being bombarded by applicants claiming to be heading on a last-minute holiday, The Passport Office are “getting wise to it.”

Andy Anderson, who runs the independent Passport Waiting Time website, told the Mail on Sunday: “It’s something I have definitely seen people doing.

“The Passport Office have started to ask for information about when people booked the flight as they’re getting wise to it.

“But there’s still so much inconsistency – it [the ruse] is working for some people but not for others.”

Employees are still wading through a huge backlog amid an influx of holidaymakers post-Covid, while battling staff shortages.

The agency now have a wait of up to 20 days for the majority of in-person appointments for emergency fast-track and premium services.

They typically don’t allow standard applications to be upgraded once the process has begun, but make exceptions for Brits who can prove they are travelling within two weeks.

The applicants who bag an “upgrade” will then be moved to the premium one-day service.

This means they then have to book an in-person appointment to receive their passport – dwarfing the waiting time of up to 10 weeks.

But this has led to fierce demand for face-to-face visits at The Passport Office, causing further chaos for their booking system.

And those who paid for the premium service from the get-go are getting bumped further back.

PASSPORT PANDEMONIUM

Mr Anderson continued: “There just aren’t enough appointments and people are really struggling to book them.

“Even if you do qualify for an upgrade, you may be unable to secure an appointment to get your passport.

“I think we could definitely see worse to come, especially with the approach of the school holidays.”

Holidaymakers have even been sharing their so-called “hack” on social media after successfully beating the queue.

One wrote in a Facebook advice group: “My tip is if you can’t take the stress and anxiety of waiting 48 hours until your actual holiday then book a cheap flight (I found one for £18 to Dublin) and email upgrade team.”

Another added: “On Saturday I purchased a one-way ticket to Ibiza with Ryan Air for £16.99 to fly on 17th July, as we intend to fly around 25th July… this obviously worked as we got an email to say it had been approved.

“I would say, if you applied over six weeks ago (and definitely more than ten weeks ago) and you fly in over two weeks, book a cheap flight to anywhere within the next two weeks to use as your flight date.”

The Passport Office said staff were processing around 250,000 applications a week, with 98.5 per cent completed within ten weeks.