Tuesday 7 June 2022 11:58 PM Passport wait times: Sydney office's computer system crashes, adds to delays trends now
Thousands of holiday-starved jetsetters may be forced to wait even longer for their new passport due a major technical glitch.
A computer system crash at the Sydney passport office caused chaos on Tuesday with massive lines snaking more than 150 metres back to Central Station the entire day, with some told to come back on Wednesday.
Eager travellers are taking time off work and study to join the lengthy queue at the crack of dawn, hours before the passport office opens its doors.
At 6.30am Wednesday, the queue was already at least 200 people long, two hours before the office opened.
It's on top of unprecedented demand as Australians around the country have joined massive queues outside passport offices in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth in recent weeks to renew their expired documents.
Sydney university student Ed Andronicus has been waiting nine weeks for his new passport which he needs when he travels to Bali next month.
Around 100 people were already waiting outside the Sydney Passport Office at 6.30am Wednesday, two hours before the office opens its doors
He spent four hours in the massive line at the passport office on Tuesday when his long wait came to an abrupt halt due to the technical difficulties.
'One of the ladies in the queue went in to ask what was happening and they said the system had crashed and I wouldn't be getting in till 6pm,' he told 2GB's Ben Fordham on Wednesday.
'I've got uni and assessments to do so I couldn't wait around all day so I'm just going to have to go back next week.'
'Everyone in the queue was pretty down and wondering what was happening as no one was really telling us what the story was.
'We had to find out for ourselves.'
Long queues have already formed on Wednesday morning.
'At least my line neighbours are friendly,' one woman captioned the photo.
Another woman arrived at 6.40am to find the queue around the block around 200 people long.
But Tanya told Fordham the office was 'super organised' and already have two queues running.
Mr Andronicus wasn't the only frustrated customer on Tuesday with many others took to social media to vent their anger.
'Been waiting at Sydney passport office for almost nine hours today. No communication about what is going on, people being turned away who have been waiting all day with flights tomorrow, because the printers have been turned off now (they were meant to close at 4pm). Appalling,' one woman fumed.
Australians around the country have joined massive queues outside passport offices in Sydney. Melbourne and Perth to renew their passports (pictured, lines in Sydney)
The demand for new passports follows two years of international border closures, with holiday-starved Aussies finally looking to make an escape.
With 2.4million passports expiring over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, processing times have doubled since October 2021.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) advised holidaymakers to allow six weeks for their new passport, however many say they have waited longer.
Citizens can choose to pay an extra $225 on top of the $308 application fee for
