A surge in the number of passport applications has left people having to wait for more than a month for an appointment or face hours-long queues at the Marsa passport office.

The rise in applications is down to renewed confidence in travelling after two years of pandemic-linked staycations.

A spokesperson for the Home Affairs Ministry said the number of applications processed last month almost doubled that of June 2019 – the summer before COVID-19 hit.

It has left hopeful holidaymakers struggling to get hold of their passports.

Mark Micallef arrived at the passport office at 7am last week to renew his children’s passports and found that there were already 30 other people in the queue before him.

Despite arriving half an hour before the offices opened, he waited over three hours to be seen. 

With the ease of travel restrictions, now there is a greater sense of urgency to renew one’s passport

“At one point in time, there were at least 50 people waiting in the room and, from what I could see, there were only four people processing the passport applications,” he said.

Another woman decided to leave and come back with her laptop so that she could work while waiting for her turn.

“I was out by 9.30am, which I consider lucky, seeing how many people there were,” she said.

Four hours in line

A father waiting in the queue told Times of Malta he had come prepared for a long waiting time.

“I went last Friday without an appointment with my sons and waited for about four hours,” he said.

“However, I was aware there would be a wait and we were prepared for it. I took work with me and the children took books and card games.”

He said the waiting room was crowded but not so bad once applicants managed to find a seat.

A Home Affairs spokesperson said the delays were due to people putting off renewing their travel documents.

“With the ease of travel restrictions, now there is a greater sense of urgency to renew one’s passport,” he said.

Identity Malta has launched an online appointment booking system to help “manage the flow of people” but when Times of Malta checked, the next availability for an appointment to apply for minor’s passport or a first-time Maltese passport was August 18.

The Public Registry Office has also been relocated to another floor in the same building to make more space for the passport office and the public will soon be able to make use of self-service kiosks, according to Home Affairs.

Micallef, however, suggested the issue could be resolved with more personnel to handle the applications.

“It is not the staff’s fault; they are actually very helpful and are doing their best in the overwhelming situation they are in. The issue is there are too many people needing their service and too few staff members,” he said.