'No summer backlog' on passports

10 June 2006

Holidaymakers will not be left waiting in a summer backlog of passports due to new rules which have come into force, the Home Office says.

It denies claims that strict rules, which ban smiling in photographs, would lead to more rejected applications. It comes as the Passport Service gets ready for its first peak season since the new standards came in in September. The rules were brought in so that photographs can be electronically read for biometric anti-forgery efforts.

Rejection rates

It means applicants must look straight at the camera with a neutral expression and their mouth closed. Following the introduction of the new standards, rejection rates leapt to 13% with more than 15,000 forms sent back because photographs did not meet the standards in the first 11 weeks. Officials claim rejection rates have now fallen back to 5.4%, a similar level to that before the new rules came in, saying the public has become more aware of the photographic standards.

The UK Passport Service issues around 7 million passports a year with as many as 190,000 applications a week at the peak of demand.