Passport Office tells teenager: ‘We’ve kept your application so long that you owe us more money’

Exclusive: 11 weeks after requesting a new passport, teenager Rosie Burt was asked for extra cash

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Eleven weeks after Rosie Burt submitted her passport renewal application, she turned 16. The UK Passport Office promptly demanded an extra £26.50 – even though there was no sign of the travel document being processed.

Rosie had applied for a replacement passport on 3 April.

Her 16th birthday was on 17 June. At 8am the following day, she was asked to pay the difference.

A message from the Peterborough office said: “The fee for a British passport is £75.50 (as you are now classed as an adult) but you paid £49.00.

“To pay the balance, please send us a payment of £26.50.”

Rosie’s mother, Alison Burt, says she attempted to do so: “I phoned the number several times to be cut off so eventually used the callback system.”

Two hours later, she was called back “from a chap who is working from home so can’t take the payment”.

He promised to email another department. Ms Burt was eventually called back in the late afternoon and payment was taken. But there is still no estimate of when the passport might arrive.

“This is not a complete disaster as she will now have a 10-year, not a five-year passport,” said Alison Burt.

“But it has been way too long with no idea how long it will take. Others have had their applications turned around in ‘normal’ timeframes.

“There seems to be a whole raft from mid-March to end April that seem to have been delayed.

“My daughter desperately wants to be riding her motorbike now she is 16 and getting her provisional licence without a passport takes weeks.”

Passport offices around the UK closed to the public on 24 March, when lockdown began in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since then more than one million passports have expired – many them belonging to children.

At present, the Home Office advice to travellers is: “Do not apply unless you need a passport urgently for compassionate reasons, for example if a family member has died, or for government business.”

The family decided to apply for a renewal, thinking it would be straightforward, because Rosie Burt had a placement volunteering in the Philippines in early July.

Her mother said: “It is like it was sat on someone’s desk and the morning after she turned 16 they thought ‘better get on with that one now’.

“The lack of transparency and inconsistencies are causing many people huge stress.”

The Independent has asked the Home Office, which is responsible for the UK Passport Office, for a response.

Previously a Home Office spokesperson said: “Her Majesty’s Passport Office is continuing to process standard passport applications, but they are taking longer than usual as a result of changed working practices designed to keep both staff and customers safe.

“We are prioritising those who need our services most, especially applications for compassionate reasons. We would encourage those who can to apply at a later date.”