Hi All
Just looking to renew my passport…am planning on travelling in 7 weeks time and realised that whilst my passport expires in 6 months I should renew it.
It states that the process takes at least 6 weeks. Which is ridiculous how much we pay and how long it takes.
Anyway ppl who have applied ..did they get it before 6 weeks or longer?
Thanks
When nobody was allowed to travel?
When EVERYONE who wanted to travel all applied for passports at exactly the same time.
@jv: I do wonder how long he's going to live rent free in some people's heads. The man hasn't been in power for two years.
@[Deactivated]: He will if he keeps popping up on red carpet events for authoritarian states. Keep him in mind if you need connections in those places.
@OZBargainer in SA: He doesn't have any power anymore. Why do you care? Why would anyone keep him in mind for anything?
@[Deactivated]: No mate, Victorians are still paying his rent.
And all his expenses.
And his trips to China to suck chinese c…
@[Deactivated]: Personally I care that he's somehow still on the payroll - should be top of the list for a governmental cost-cutting intiiative…
@BobLim: Lmao of all the government waste in Victoria this is extremely petty and small minded. He doesn't get a cent more than any other former premier is entitled.
petty and small minded
Indeed - quite apt i think.
No premier who's left the job should be gifted - let alone entitled to - any payment or benefit from public funds beyond their tenure IMO
@BobLim: Cool. Well watch as the job gets even less desirable and more prone to bribery then. We pay politicians well, including long-term, in order to encourage people who can earn more outside the role to consider it and to minimise the risk of bribery.
But sure, get hung up on a payment that represents an indescribably small portion of the budget and is pretty easily justified.
@[Deactivated]: Sure you're not thinking of pubic servants? Politicians have merely won a few popularity contests, and we get exactly the sort of people you'd expect with such a selection process.
If you feel ongoing large payments in perpetuity are justified then feel free to send him gifts yourself - I'm not willing to support that.
@[Deactivated]: Yes that's why we've gotten so many amazing people in the past 20 years…
(this is blatent sarcasm… google corruption in Australian poilitics and sit back and admire the high caliber of "leader" we keep attracting).
@SJDR: Sigh. Australia is one of the least corrupt countries in the world according to every report written on the topic. This "baseless cynicism about everything" nonsense is so exhausting.
@[Deactivated]: Maybe because of all the connections he would still have after being in such a high ranking position as well as any inside information that can then "get leaked" to foreign powers.
@lonewolf: Sounds like vague allegations with zero foundation to me. Probably predicated on a persistent obsession that you should let go of.
@[Deactivated]: So a person in a high standing position does not make connections and have inside information? You should first learn the definitions of words you use.
@lonewolf: Your implied allegation is misuse of those connections or information. Merely having either is not actually a problem.
@[Deactivated]: Like i said, you need to use a dictionary to understand the words you use as you dont seem very good at comprehending what you have written yourself. my response was directly related to your statement " He doesn't have any power anymore. Why do you care? Why would anyone keep him in mind for anything?" .
@[Deactivated]: " let go of" not until he faces justice on the appalling bike "accident".
And we won't mention the litany of others that will be buried in government procedure
@Clickbait: You mean the one that was subject to both a police investigation and an anti corruption investigation? Or is it only justice if it's the result you are hoping for?
I work in the same building as the passport office in Melbourne and man, it was somewhat entertaining at how long that line got
What does 2022 have to with 2025?
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it
;-p
My sister did her passport renewal a couple of months, and it was about 2 weeks
Second this, did a few last year - all renewals and was max 2 weeks. Just make sure you have everything in order before your passport book if doing it a Auspost etc.
Yep, just did mine two weeks ago and it was back in 2 weeks.
states that the process takes at least 6 weeks. Which is ridiculous how much we pay and how long it takes
How long do you think it should take to process, if somehow 6 weeks is a ludicrous timeframe?(Chances are you'd get it under 6 weeks, but I assume they quote reasonable average times so people don't order them last minute)
I don't know the answer but 6 weeks is way too long for an item that is constantly in production and costs so much and is a necessity for traveling which might be urgent. (Unless there is some vetting process in the background, but even then…)
Plus they should be free, or at least cheap. $400 might be fine for those who use it multiple times over its life, not so much for those who need it once for a "trip of a lifetime" to Bali.
That 6 weeks also includes the shipping time to and from (regardless of where you are in Aus).
And if your travel is urgent, they have a way to pay $ to jump the queue/rush job.
I agree that our passports are too expensive, but complaining about the processing time (which as you can see from plenty of anecdotal feedback, is much less than 6 weeks) seems like a strange one
It's never free, it's only about who pays. Having a cost recovery approach for something that is only useful to relatively privileged people makes total sense.
Like with everything, you can't just look at the cost of the manufacture of the product. We have one of the most high tech passports in the world, and we have a large number of public servants doing checks to ensure eligibility.
If the private sector was providing this product they would charge double the price.
If the private sector was providing this product they would charge double the price.
No. They would make a much shitter version, make it only last one year, and charge 90% of the current price.
It's a profit centre and a complete disgrace to charge so much.
@Daabido: Lol. Show me a citation for it being a 'profit centre'. It's administered on a cost-recovery basis which is subject to a number of tests to ensure it is not a 'profit centre'.
@[Deactivated]: Citation? Yes. Public Services wages are included in the GDP as income. so Joe Blow earns $100K and pays $30K in taxes to pay public servants.
So our GDP is $130K.
Makes perfect sense. Employ more public servants and grow the GDP
@Clickbait: I understand what you're saying. Although it's wrong because GDP isn't measured that way. It's measured by Joe Blows output not his pay, so you can't just "pull this one trick economists hate". Governments can juice GDP, but they do it by going into debt. Not by simply taxing and spending.
But even if what you said was true, it still wouldn't make any sense to refer to passports as a "profit centre".
$400 may be justifiable for a travel document for most people but some, especially the elderly with no desire to travel only need it as a form of identification for basic living purposes like banking and there is simply no substitute Category A document with a photo which provides the necessary 70 points. This is a gap a government issued national identity card could fill. But privacy nitwits pipe up every time the topic gets raised.
Isn't a proof of age card cheaper
@Tleyx: Proof of age cards only in low points category. Rather pointless for anyone other than young drinkers. Passport is the only document I know of in category A with a photo and many financial institutions now demand it regardless what other category A document is presented. At least that's been my experience.
@genus: You raise a very good point regarding the passport as a form of identification document.
I did not realize that the passport is the 'only' document, with a photo, that tends to be favoured over any other document, and I undergo all kinds of identity checks annually.
If the passport, which is only a document for the purpose of travel (ie. foreign country to acknowledge you, as a visitor), is to be used as a form of verification, then this is discriminatory to say the least.
I thought a drivers' licence would suffice, but you are right, that elderly do not always have a valid drivers' licence nor should they be required to get this identity document JUST TO appease an identify check.
A government issued national identity card, is the norm in many, many countries around the world, but just not a big thing here in AU.
The thing is, with the imminent enforcement of a Digital ID to start using some Internet services (from December 2025), a national ID card is going to rub people the wrong way.
4 days
and realised that whilst my passport expires in 6 months I should renew it.
Can't transit through Singapore if < 6 months… Probably other countries too…
Not entirely true about transit through SG.
I have travelled through SG in 2018 with Passport validity of 4 months. Only issue I had was that I wasn’t allowed to web check in and can’t leave Airport.
My destination country didn’t have the min 6 months rule, so I managed to complete my journey.
That was the first time I got to know that many countries require min 6 months validity on Passport for foreign travelers.
many countries require min 6 months validity on Passport for foreign travelers
There was a major kerfuffle about this in Britain. Some airlines were refusing to carry outbound passengers who didn't have 6 months validity on their passports. Turned out that they were applying the rule even when those countries didn't have any such a rule.
Not saying no countries have that rule, but the fact was it was being applied to passengers even when the country itself didn't have any such rule.
The fun occurs in the other direction. Coming back to your home country if your passport has expired while you were away.
Well airlines make mistakes all the time.
The main problem with British passports was that the government was trying to be helpful. If your passport expired in September 2015 and you submitted your renewal in January 2015, the passport office would have added the extra time on to the new passport so it didn't expire until September 2025. So your passport could be used for 10 years and 9 months.
However after Brexit the EU would not recognise British passports that are more than 10 years old. So some airlines decided to just implement a 9 month rule for all passports, but that confused staff even more.
I have travelled through SG in 2018 with Passport validity of 4 months.
Try it now…
Dodged the bullet first time due to not knowing of such requirements. Not going to risk it knowingly 😀
Australia leads the world in passports !!!
https://www.comparethemarket.com.au/travel-insurance/feature…
It's actually $3.61/month
Don't forget you can only use it for 9.5 years
what does it matter just do it now
What is this logic?
Feb 2025, took 1 week delivered to my door. Didn't pay for any expedited processing
I had the same last year. I think a renewal with nothing weird going on is crazy fast
Feb is normally the fastest month to apply/renew passport because most people will do it before end of the year to travel, and most of them come back by end of Jan. Not many people go for overseas holidays in Feb.
You can just renew it normally and then if it starts to get too close for comfort, pay the express fee.
This
Took 1.5 weeks for myself in mid-2024.
The 6 weeks is just a cover-all in case there's complications/delays. You'd have to be unlucky for that to happen.
But also, ultimately it's on you for not being more organised.
Passports are so annoying. I wish they'd just take our word for who we are when travelling.
Same when I go to the bank. Why can’t I just withdraw money from my account?!
Why can’t I just withdraw money from my account?!
That's what I do… Don't you ?
This is why I'm changing banks.
I tried to do a $1500 direct deposit to pay a tradesperson's bill. Even though I was logged onto my account my bank wouldn't let me. They told me I needed a secure access code. Still logged on I tried to send them a message asking how I got one those. They told me that sending them a message required a secure access code. Too much security.
So I went to my bank to get $1500 cash to pay it that way, and they just handed over the money on production of my card. They didn't know it was really me. The card could have been stolen. Not enough security.
Which bank?
Like people did before WWI?
Would you believe that before passports (I think early 1900s), you could just get on a ship, and just land in a new country…and that was it ?
That's how people used to travel, ie. no documentation needed….just arrive onto a new country, and start 'sight seeing'.
After James Cook, people came to Australia that way too !
I guess the Gweagal tribe that Cook came across at Botany Bay had to take his word for it too.
Take his word for 'terra nullius' ?
Just renew it
An excellent meme for my collection
I did mine last month.
Submitted on the Saturday, received, approved and printed by the Passport office the following Thursday (could've done a Passport office pick up that day). Delivered by registered post the following Wednesday. So all up, 11 days from a suburban post office. Could've expedited it by going to the GPO and picking up (probably within 3 days).
Lucky to be 2 weeks.
Took 1 week for me in Jan 2024
Our 2 passports were back within 7 days including the weekend……
5 working days from submission to passport being received when doing it a few weeks ago.
Get it renewed. You old one is still valid until the new one arrives.
I did mine last month. Pre-filled the forms online, submitted all the forms at the post office late Friday, had notification new one was sent on Tuesday, arrived by registered post to my regional city on Thursday.
I did not pay for priority or express approval.
I renewed my 8yo son's at the same time, it took an additional 3 weeks.
When i renewed mine few years back, the auspost staff cut off the machine readable code when I submitted my application.
This. I was told it's cancelled effective immediately when I submitted mine (alas, not cutting)
Took a week to receive mine when I renewed it in August. I was surprised how quickly it arrived.
We renewed last year, 1 passport came in a week, another passport came in 2 weeks. Both lodged at the post office at the same time.
Jan 2025, renewal took 4.5 weeks. Lodged at Post Office, delivered by registered mail to door. Sydney.
So yeah, within the 6 weeks, however if you need your passport number to organise other travel related things, it's not much time up your sleeve.
Highly recommend that you get in there and renew it now. I did mine a couple of years ago and it took just over a week. The 6 weeks is the outside timeframe, and could happen if you complete your documents incorrectly.
It states that the process takes at least 6 weeks
Where?
Their processing estimate page says "up to 6 weeks" and the actual timeframes for August are:
"TRAVEL DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE WITHIN 6 WEEKS: Above 99%"
I recently applied for mine on 20 August, and it was ready for pickup on September 11
It says "up to 6 weeks".
And it should be noted some applications are very complicated. Especially children with separated parents. There is sometimes complicated court orders to work through. Also think about human trafficking and other issues that may need thoroughly investigation and cleared prior to issuing.
A standard Adult passport renewal (as opposed to a first application) will be much quicker.
7 weeks is still relatively safe if you renew it ASAP, but it could be a risky gamble if you don't get it in time.
Pay for express/priority if you get nervous and want complete peace of mind. I did when I renewed mine last year and my passport was ready within 2 business days. I opted to collect it myself (Melb CBD) so I probably saved another day or two when accounting for postage time.
I ran out of visa pages on my current passport, my renewal was done at an Australia Post RAPID location and paid for priority processing. Lodged, Received and Approved on the same day - got it in 2 days.
Goto Darwin and apply there you might get it sooner.
Did it in September. Took about 2 weeks. Auspost staff seemed to be in the know with time frames too.
Wifey did her and got hers back in 2 weeks (literally just got it back last week).
I got mine done in August and it took 2-3 weeks (I live in Canberra)! So fast. My passport was set to expire in March 2026 and I thought it was going to take ages but it was fine. I didn't pay extra for faster processing. Australian post were saying that if your passport is current (i.e. not expired) - it's usually a quick turnaround. I think it's for people getting a passport for the first time or trying to get a passport renewed where their current one has expired.
Wasn't it around a 3 month wait in 2022?