Australian passport delays: Sydney dad Josh Davis said errors on application almost halted Bali trip
A family’s wedding trip to Bali was almost completely derailed thanks to two tiny errors on their passport application.
Sydney dad-of-two Josh Davis has been a courier for 22 years and has seen some odd names with the error made on his daughter Sienna’s passport application joining the group.
Mr Davis said he lodged passport renewals for his two children on April 19, six months before they were due to fly to Bali for an October wedding.
‘I saw a bit on Facebook about delays because of everyone travelling, so being a worrywart I thought we’ll get the kids done now so we get it over and done with,’ he told Yahoo News Australia.
Josh Davis said he lodged passport renewals for his two children on April 19, six months before they flew to Bali for an October wedding
Towards the end of August, Mr Davis said he had only received one email about his son’s passport being processed but nothing about his daughter.
When he rang the Australian Passport Office (APO) he was told he entered the email wrong on his daughter’s passport, a claim he disputed because he said his wife wrote it all out and ‘she’s got very neat writing’.
When Mr Davis’ son’s passport arrived, there was no sign of his daughter’s so he called the Passport Office again.
When he asked where his daughter Sienna’s passport was, he was told, ‘that’s not the name I’ve got here’.
Finally on September 10, the passport office realised its mistake.
‘It was spelt Siwnna, which is nothing like Sienna’, he said.
‘But as I said to my wife and friends, surely there’s got to be some sort of security check, you know someone does that, and then it gets ticked off by someone else, considering it’s a pretty important document.
‘Unless they’re busy and desperate and they’re just going, “yep quick flick it through, yep that’s good.”‘
Passport delays have been at an all-time high since international borders reopened, with some citizens waiting more than three months, and some claim they have had to wait up to six months
To fix the mistake, Mr Davis took the day off, lining up for three hours to bring his daughter’s documents to the passport office.
Yet again he had heard nothing until a week later when he called the office once more where he was told the email was still incorrect but he could come and collect the passport.
He finally was able to pick up his daughter’s passport on Tuesday, much to his relief.
Passport wait times have been causing massive headaches for Aussies wanting to travel overseas.
Delays have been at an all-time high since international borders reopened, with some citizens waiting more than three months, and some claim up to six months, to get their first passport or have their passport renewed.
The Australian Passport Office has worked overtime to try and keep up with the ‘unprecedented demand’.
More than 160,000 applications have been lodged in September alone with delays longer for adults and children applying for their first passport due to extra security checks and the supporting documents that need to be verified.
The APO does have a $225 service for a passport to be priority processed in two days, but those who can’t afford the fee have an extended wait.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said the Australian Passport Office has multiple checkpoints in the passport process to ensure all details are correct and checked before and after printing.
DFAT advised holidaymakers to allow six weeks for their new passport in a statement released last week.
‘APO strives to ensure that every passport issued is error-free through rigorous quality and assurance checks as part of the processing of applications,’ a spokesperson for DFAT told Yahoo News Australia.
‘In a very small percentage of cases, where an error is detected, the APO engages directly with the customer and makes every effort to ensure that the issue is promptly rectified.’