Waiting period for issuing of passports gradually normalising
passports
27 Oct 2021
/ 12:51
CORFU. The passport office has been operating all day since 25 October.
The long waiting periods for passport appointments are gradually being reduced following the extension of working hours at the Police Passport Office.
Up to now applicants had to wait over a month for an appointment to present the necessary documents for a passport to be issued! There were a lot of complaints about the long waiting periods before an appointment time could be found.
The problem was especially serious over the last two or three months, when the Passport Office was receiving a large number of applications. According to the police, the number of applications over that period was at 2,000 - which was more than they could immediately cope with.
Open all day
Todeal with the increase in applications and to serve the public better, Corfu Police decided to keep the Passport Office open all day from Monday 25 October. The office is now open to the public Monday-Friday 07:30-22:00 (applications accepted until 21:30) and Saturday 08:00-15:00 (applications accepted until 14:30).
According to the President of Corfu Police Employees Union Nikos Bozikis, employees from other departments have also been temporarily transferred to better serve the public. According to the Police Department, all of the 2,000 applications have been dealt with.
"There are some applications that have been processed now, which were due to be done by December," Nikos Bozikis told Enimerosi. "Measures have been taken to increase the number of hours we are open to the public so that a solution can be found."
Delays
According to Corfu Police, the delays were due, on the one hand, to the fact that, following the exit of the UK from the EU, Britons who are permanent residents in Corfu have to change their resident permits to new biometric cards, and also the increased number of Greeks who wanted to go to the UK to work. This resulted in an overload of work for the responsible departments. Some UK citizens have said that the waiting period for appointments to get their biometric cards has been 6 months and more in some cases due to the large number of applications.
Add to this the fact that, because of the special Covid measures, the number of people that could be served at the same time was reduced.
Since 14 March, 2020 the issuing of passports and ID cards can only be done by booking an appointment due to the measures in place to avoid overcrowding in indoor spaces in order to protect both the public and the police.
Additionally, appointments are required for each application - in other words, a family of three, for example, will have to book three appointments.
Once the necessary documentation has been submitted, the passport is usually issued within 5-7 days.
Up to now applicants had to wait over a month for an appointment to present the necessary documents for a passport to be issued! There were a lot of complaints about the long waiting periods before an appointment time could be found.
The problem was especially serious over the last two or three months, when the Passport Office was receiving a large number of applications. According to the police, the number of applications over that period was at 2,000 - which was more than they could immediately cope with.
Open all day
Todeal with the increase in applications and to serve the public better, Corfu Police decided to keep the Passport Office open all day from Monday 25 October. The office is now open to the public Monday-Friday 07:30-22:00 (applications accepted until 21:30) and Saturday 08:00-15:00 (applications accepted until 14:30).
According to the President of Corfu Police Employees Union Nikos Bozikis, employees from other departments have also been temporarily transferred to better serve the public. According to the Police Department, all of the 2,000 applications have been dealt with.
"There are some applications that have been processed now, which were due to be done by December," Nikos Bozikis told Enimerosi. "Measures have been taken to increase the number of hours we are open to the public so that a solution can be found."
Delays
According to Corfu Police, the delays were due, on the one hand, to the fact that, following the exit of the UK from the EU, Britons who are permanent residents in Corfu have to change their resident permits to new biometric cards, and also the increased number of Greeks who wanted to go to the UK to work. This resulted in an overload of work for the responsible departments. Some UK citizens have said that the waiting period for appointments to get their biometric cards has been 6 months and more in some cases due to the large number of applications.
Add to this the fact that, because of the special Covid measures, the number of people that could be served at the same time was reduced.
Since 14 March, 2020 the issuing of passports and ID cards can only be done by booking an appointment due to the measures in place to avoid overcrowding in indoor spaces in order to protect both the public and the police.
Additionally, appointments are required for each application - in other words, a family of three, for example, will have to book three appointments.
Once the necessary documentation has been submitted, the passport is usually issued within 5-7 days.
