Hundreds of Scots have had their summer season vacation plans plunged into chaos over a “mountain” of unprocessed passport purposes.
The Residence Workplace is known to have put as much as 4000 purposes for the journey doc from a number of months in the past to the again of the queue – processing new purposes first. The Each day Report has heard from scores of Scots who consider their passport purposes have been misplaced in a black gap.
A whole lot have been turning up on the Passport Workplace in Glasgow to desperately search a final minute reply to their prayers, with some taking suitcases forward of flights on the identical day.
Phil Lennon travelled to Glasgow’s Passport Workplace, at Northgate, with daughter Ellie, 15, after months of pleading for assist. Contracts supervisor Phil, 43, from Wishaw, utilized for passports for himself, Ellie and companion Michelle Grey, 43, in February.
Their flight to Menorca departs from Newcastle on Thursday morning.
The Each day Report listened as Phil referred to as a helpline - and was instructed Ellie’s passport was being held “in examination” in Glasgow - yards from the place they have been standing - nevertheless it may take ten weeks for it to be authorised.
In the meantime, his personal passport was despatched to be processed in Durham and Michelle’s was despatched to Newport in Wales. Extremely, Phil and Michelle paid £169 every to fast-track their purposes in February.
Their purposes have been then misplaced and no refunds got.
Phil mentioned: “You couldn’t make this up. We've spent two hours a day for weeks on finish making an attempt to get some progress and we stored getting instructed it’s getting sorted - however nothing does.
“Our solely hope now could be that a wise particular person in Glasgow will situation Ellie’s passport and I can both get mine couriered from Durham or go to that workplace tomorrow (Wednesday) and choose it up.
“The entire expertise has been demanding and exhausting and it’s laborious to think about that it may have been worse dealt with. It’s very irritating to see individuals who apply in Might and June get sorted out throughout the ten weeks the Passport Workplace guarantees.
“For the individuals who utilized in good time there most actually is a black gap, which is wrecking our summer season vacation.”
Ellie suffers from scoliosis, a curving of the backbone, and can quickly bear an operation.
She mentioned: “I haven’t been overseas for 3 years and I’ve been trying ahead to this, as I shall be unable to journey once more for an additional yr. It simply doesn’t appear honest to be handled like this.”
The household vacation was saved on the eleventh hour after the Passport Workplace relented.
Simon Park was one other stressed member of the queue - hoping desperately to get a final minute passport for 14-year-old daughter Grace.
They're amongst a household group of 18 individuals, who've shelled out greater than £40,000 for a visit to Mexico to have fun Simon’s fiftieth birthday and mark different household milestones. The household was solely in a position to fly out on Wednesday after Simon spent two days within the final gasp queue.
Simon mentioned: “We've to get to Edinburgh Airport for 9am, so that is our final likelihood. It has been a catastrophe from begin to end and I spent 4 hours on this similar queue on Monday solely to be instructed to return again as we speak.
“I don’t blame the employees right here - they’re nearly as stressed because the punters within the queue and it’s not honest on them.”
Simon mentioned he has tried to pre-pay for an specific one-day passport after being fortunate sufficient to get a gold-dust appointment - however the cash had not been taken from his account.
Do not miss the most recent information from round Scotland and past - Signal as much as our every day e-newsletterright here
READ NEXT: