Families waiting for news on British passports fear planned holidays to the United Kingdom will be upended by processing times and delivery delays.
By Gill Bonnett of RNZ
In three weeks' time, all UK citizens in the world will need to travel with a British passport or an endorsement (COE) when they visit there - previously dual citizens could choose to use a different passport.
Sue Sands, of Te Kuiti, left Britain with her parents when she was one and was returning there for the first time with her partner next month, to see her half-sister and other relatives.
"I was born in England and came out here as a baby. And so consequently, I've never thought about being a British citizen because I already had my New Zealand citizenship and passport.
"And so this is the first chance in 67 years to go back and see what family's left over there. So we're going to London for about a week, and then Jersey for a couple of weeks where my half-sister lives."
Those plans all depended on getting her first British passport in time. Otherwise, she may fly to France, and cross to Jersey from there using her NZ passport and an ETA (electronic travel authorisation) - having to miss out on seeing an uncle in London, who is 88, and other family in the UK.
Insurance cover
Changing flight destinations and dates also costs money.
Earlier this week, the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman warned travellers to check both the new UK passport rules and their travel insurance.
"Travel insurance usually won't cover situations where a traveller doesn't meet passport or visa requirements and can't travel," said ombudsman Karen Stevens.
"We commonly see travel insurance claims declined because of this. If someone can't board a flight because they don't have the correct passport or visa, that can turn out to be a very expensive situation."
New Zealanders with no British citizenship also needed to be aware of the requirement for an ETA before flying, which has been in force since last year, and the upcoming changes to European Union (EU) requirements, which had been delayed but were expected by the end of the year.
"These are new, unfamiliar requirements, and it's understandable travellers may not be aware of them," Stevens said. "Airlines won't generally make their customers aware of entry and passport requirements, it really is the responsibility of the traveller to make sure they know what they need."
New Zealand-based Britons have been rushing to get passports, and noticed their applications were taking time to get to the UK via an NZ Post express tracked service.
Delivery times
They had shared NZ Post tracking information with RNZ, which suggested the $121 fast-track service had been held up in Auckland.
Other people reported good experiences, with one man saying his renewal application sent away on 15 January took 16 days door-to-door.
"I understand that many people are in a more difficult situation with a looming travel date and/or children without passports, but my advice would be don't waste time, just get the applications away."
Sands, who found out about the border rule change three weeks ago and had to get a copy of a marriage certificate, sent her passport application with documents to the UK on Friday, 23 January. It got to Auckland's outbound depot swiftly, but remained there until the following Friday.
"Once in the DHL system it was quickly in the UK," she said, reporting it was delivered to the UK passport office by Monday. "I'm told there is about a four-week [passport] processing time, then of course I need to rely on getting it back. I wonder how many others are also in limbo."
If the passport processing estimate was accurate, and the delivery time was similar to the outward-bound one, she would potentially get the passport back a week before they were due to fly.
NZ Post did not answer questions about its current international delivery timeframes or whether it was dealing with a surge in demand. It said Customs declarations were sometimes not fully filled out, though no-one who had contacted RNZ about delays reported getting queries about missing information.
"Sensitive documents like passports and passport applications are treated as restricted items when being sent overseas, including to the UK," said a spokeswoman. "This means passports and passport applications must be sent through our express service, to make sure these important documents remain as safe as possible throughout the journey. This is our most secure service with regular tracking notifications provided and the cost to send reflects this.
"We're focused on getting these documents delivered safely, as quickly as possible. However, in order for us to do this it's essential that customers correctly complete their customs declarations and provide all the information required - including a recipient phone number and an accurate contents description. Unfortunately, incomplete customs declarations can cause delays, as NZ Post needs to contact senders to make sure the correct information is captured."
NZ Post was reminding its stores about the specific requirements for international mail to help minimise delays, she added.
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