How to speed up your Australian passport renewal

Time to get your Australian passport renewed? The Australian Passport Office suggests would-be travellers “allow at least 6 weeks from lodging your application” to receiving a new passport.

Can’t wait that long?

You don’t need to pony up $300 for Priority service (on top of the standard $412 for the passport itself) which reduces the passport processing time to a zippy two days.

Here are a few tricks to minimise the wait so you can be on your next trip sooner.

1. Choose ‘streamlined passport renewal’

Most Australians with a current or recently-expired passport qualify for the ‘streamlined renewal’ process, so the Australian Passport Office doesn’t need to begin from scratch with an all-new application.

Under the streamlined renewal scheme you only need to submit an application checklist form, two new passport photos and your most recent passport.

Streamlined renewal is available for adults (not children) provided your Australian passport:

• was issued when you were aged 16 or older, and
• had a validity, when it was issued, of more than two years, and
• was issued in your current name, date of birth, place of birth and gender, and
• expired less than three years ago (or is still current), and
• hasn’t been reported lost or stolen, or been cancelled for any other reason.

With far less paperwork to be done, applications for a streamlined passport renewal will zip through the system.

To apply online for streamlined passport renewal, begin by creating an account at online.passports.gov.au and you’ll be guided step by step through the process.

2. Lodge your renewal application at the GPO

It’s not possible to lodge your passport application in person at the passport office without making an appointment – and appointments are available only “if you need to travel urgently for unforeseen compassionate or compelling reasons.”

Instead, passport applications must now be lodged at a participating Australia Post outlet, and from there it can take a few days to reach the passport office.

But here’s a little-known trick: the GPO (General Post Office) in each capital city has a daily courier run which takes all passport applications submitted by noon straight to that city’s passport office, where processing can begin that afternoon.

So if circumstances allow, handing in your passport renewal application at the GPO can shave days off the total turnaround time for your shiny new passport.

3. Visit the passport office

You don’t need to wait for your new passport to be posted to you.

If you live or work in the city, or can easily get to the CBD, consider the option to pick up your passport from the passport office.

How to take advantage of this? When completing your application for streamlined renewal, tick the box to collect it from the city passport office.

Those offices are open for in-person passport collection every weekday until 4pm.

4. Consider the $104 fast track service

The Australian Passport Office offers a fast track system which will have your passport processed within five business days.

This costs $104 on top of the standard $412 passport fee, but that still trumps the nominal six-week period.

Unless there’s a really urgent need for a new passport, the first three tips here – applying for streamlined renewal, dropping off your application at the GPO and collecting your passport from the passport office – combined with the fast track service offers a very speedy turn-around.

That can be very handy if you suddenly realise the expiry date of your current passport is less than the three or six months required by many countries.

Also read: Australian passport applications are going online