Delays in issuing passports in major cities in Saxony

According to some major cities in Saxony, the delays in issuing passports could continue for a while yet. "On the one hand, this is due to the discontinuation of the children's passport and, on the other, to the need to make up for long-distance travel outside the EU, which has not been possible in the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic," the city of Dresden told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. At the moment, it is not possible to predict when the situation will ease again.

Long waiting times are causing frustration

"The production time for passports is currently around eight weeks," said a spokesperson. Normally, the production time is two to four weeks. Accordingly, 1,493 passports are currently being processed in the state capital.

The city of Chemnitz also currently has around 1,500 passports in production at Bundesdruckerei in Berlin. "This also includes document orders that were submitted seven weeks ago," said a spokeswoman for the city. Here, too, a production time of up to eight weeks must currently be expected. In Leipzig, processing also takes up to eight weeks. This means that around 5,600 Leipzig residents are currently waiting for their passports. Saxony's major cities expect that delivery times will only slowly return to normal at the end of the German summer vacations.

Hope in sight

"Since the first weeks of 2024, the number of applications for passports has risen exceptionally sharply," said the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). Within just four weeks, more than 600,000 passports were ordered for the first time in the history of the Bundesdruckerei. "The number of orders has fallen slightly from a very high level." Nevertheless, more passports are still being requested than Bundesdruckerei can produce. Additional machines are expected in winter, which should ultimately lead to a sustained reduction in production times.

According to the BMI, citizens can still collect their passports from the authority after three days with an express order. A temporary passport can also be issued. Upon return, the temporary passport will be returned as soon as the regular passport is available.