Source: Radio New Zealand
Dual citizens face having to get both passports and keep them up to date – and to get a UK passport soon if they want to travel from the end of February. Gill Bonnett
NZ Post customers say the company should offer refunds and be more upfront about increased demand and slower timeframes for international mail.
UK border changes mean that British citizens – by birth or descent – are mailing documents to the UK for new passports. From 25 February they will have to use a British passport or a certificate of entitlement to fly there.
It’s prompted a surge in mail, and waits of up to two weeks for express mail items to be put on a plane in Auckland.
Customer Annie Jefferson said NZ Post should be more transparent.
“So what sort of volume are they talking about? Are they talking 1000? 10,000? 100,000? And there’s no communication. I just assumed that [the passport application] was on its way. It’s about communication and understanding why it’s taking or taken so long.
“I think I was told seven to 10 days when I actually went and sent it. You’re paying for what you believe to be an express service. So clearly if it’s not going to be an express service, people need to know that up front.
“If I’d known that it would take this long, then I would have looked at other courier options. You know, even if it had cost a little bit more, it would have given me a bit of peace of mind.”
NZ Post’s website gave no update on delays to UK-bound mail. Screenshot / supplied
She had to get a copy of her father’s birth certificate and her parents’ marriage certificate from the UK as part of her application, and they arrived within 10 days.
Jefferson said it was strange having to apply for a UK passport at all, as her last passport expired in about 2001 and the UK had no record of her. She was having to prove her citizenship by descent, when all she wanted to do was travel on a New Zealand passport, she said.
“How would they know [I was British] if I were on a New Zealand passport with an ETA? But I’m not prepared to take the risk of getting there and getting turned away.”
RNZ questioned the British High Commission about that issue.
“If someone is a British citizen, the rule is that they must travel as a British citizen,” said a spokesman.
“Because citizenship status can be complex, anyone who may have British citizenship should check their status in advance and not rely on an ETA. The safest approach is to confirm status early and ensure the correct passport is held before travel.”
Jefferson said people were dealing with the expense of passports and worry about imminent flights.
“If they’re having thousands of people applying from New Zealand, multiply that across the world, you know, how many applications is the British government getting and how long is it going to take to process? I mean, the money is one side of it. In total, to get my application for my British passport, it’s cost $1000 – $400 for my documents – and then you add your passport application and your shipping fees from here, and I’m just under $1000 so far.
“And we’re lucky we’re not going to the 23rd of April, so we’ve still got a bit of time, but yes, I am nervous.”
Another customer who used the express service said his sister had just been diagnosed with cancer in the UK, and the border rule change and postal delay left him feeling in limbo, as he would need a British passport to visit her.
Partial refund
He said he was told by an NZ Post staff member his passport application was one of about 2000.
In an email after he complained, NZ Post apologised for the stress and offered him a partial refund.
“Earlier visibility of the underlying issue would have been ideal,” it wrote. “Unfortunately, the scale and nature of the congestion affecting UK-bound passport freight only became clear once the full volume of items entered the joint network, alongside a significant surge in applications and renewals.”
His application was posted on 29 January and now has an estimated delivery date of 20 February.
He was offered half of his express mail fee back as a refund for the delay, and said other affected customers should be offered it, too.
The man, who asked not to be named, said he was not taking the refund, but noted that if he did it would bring the price more in line with the amount Britain charges for posting the tracked passport package back to New Zealand (£20/$45).
“Money is not going to get my passport to me any sooner,” he wrote to NZ Post. “For the number of passports we are talking about, surely you would increase your capacity to deliver.”
NZ Post was approached for figures on how much demand had risen this year, how many passport applications it had been handling and whether it would offer refunds.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
