Trouble before the vacations - Delivery of new passports takes up to eight weeks
At the beginning of the vacation season, there are larger delays in issuing passports, causing frustration for those affected, according to the German City Council. "In pass and ID offices across the cities," Hauptgeschäftsführer Helmut Dedy of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND/Sunday) is quoted as saying.
The report in RND states that it now takes up to eight weeks for passports to be delivered - normally it takes approximately two weeks. Many citizens have been caught off guard that their passports have not arrived on time before their vacation. The reason for this, according to Dedy, is logistical issues at the Federal Printing Press.
Record-breaking Passport Orders
In response to an inquiry from dpa, the Federal Interior Ministry stated: "Since March, production times have exceeded the contractual delivery time of 12 working days and have currently reached an average of 21.8 working days." Since the beginning of 2024, application numbers for passports have been unusually high, according to a ministry spokesperson. "Within four weeks, a record number of over 600,000 passports were ordered for the first time in the history of the Federal Printing Press GmbH, and new daily record numbers for order intake were set up to May."
According to the RND report, Dedy sees the cities as the distribution centers in a difficult situation: "The logistics problem lies with the Federal Printing Press, which receives justified criticism from applicants but the city employees." If the new passport no longer comes on time, many people are choosing to submit a second application with express processing, Dedy said. Citizens then end up sitting on double the cost.
The press spokesperson for the Federal Interior Ministry states that the Federal Printing Press will increase its production capacity by purchasing new production machines. Procurement measures for this have been initiated. "For express orders, the passport is still ready for pick-up in the authority after three days." Citizens can also be issued a provisional passport for travel to most countries ad hoc, to prevent their travel from being postponed. Upon return, the provisional passport will be returned once the regular passport is available.
The Federal Interior Ministry confirmed that record-breaking passport orders since the beginning of 2024 have resulted in logistical issues at the Federal Printing Press, causing delays of up to eight weeks. This is a significant increase from the usual two-week delivery time, as mentioned by the German Association of Cities and highlighted in a report by Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.
During this vacation season, the Federal Printing Office's delayed passport delivery has led to frustration among many, forcing some citizens to submit second applications with express processing, as suggested by Hauptgeschäftsführer Helmut Dedy.
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