Sydney Passport Office

To be clear, the 1 star has nothing to do with the staff, they were amazing under the circumstances, it's a review of the system itself which is fundamentally broken.I waited 13 hours in the rain to be told to come back 48 hours later and wait another 5 hours!This was after waiting 4½ months for the passport to come through and we were travelling in 4 days time.Again, the staff were amazing but just massively underfunded and under-resourced.Get your applications in early people!

This review is mostly for the establishment and not the service. Despite the massive crowd I reckon they did manage the show pretty efficiently. Allowing just enough people to the 7th floor. up in the 7 floor too the crowd management is decent. This biggish bloke, bit loud part of the security to ensure some peace and calm is hilarious... Shout out to you mate... Don't remember the name... Coffee shop at the entry.. Coffee ain't that bad either

To the Australian Passport Office, I plea,With utmost urgency, hear my plea,For my passport processing has been delayed,And my travel plans have been waylaid.I submitted my application weeks before,But still, no word on what I'm waiting for,My hopes of travel are fast diminishing,As the delays seem never-ending.I understand the need for checks and balances,But my patience is wearing thin and my hope less,I've paid extra for the expedited service,But the delay is causing me to lose my nerve.My passport is the key to my adventure,But the processing has become a misadventure,Please act swiftly to alleviate my pain,So that my travel plans won't go in vain.In conclusion, I earnestly request,That my passport processing is given its best,And expedited with all due haste,So my travel dreams aren't forever misplaced.

Applied in April and like many people did not receive it within 6 weeks. At the time thinking i had over 2 months to go i didn’t pay extra for express, wasn’t aware of backlog, and neither was the post office person saying it would take six weeks.In the last few weeks i called customer service everyday over 50 times around 8am and when i could get in would generally end up with automated message that hangs up.This week i went to the office at 6am on Wednesday June 22nd and lined up in the enquiry line for 9h before i could speak with someone. As i was travelling two days later, my passport was prioritised and overnight i got an email to come and pick it up. Again went in at 6am and after 2h30m this time i got my passport.My recommendation if you haven’t received a confirmation that your passport is ready to collect is to come 2 days before your flight, early and then flag that you’re flying within 48hours, the staff and people lining up will be very supportive and fast track you so you either get it printed on the day (especially if flying on the day or day after) or the day after. If you come early, rug up. It’s cold and windy. For the inquiry line you might be standing up 5-6h in the cold/ shade before it warms up. Beanie, scarf, multiple layers of bottoms and tops. Bring a small stool or foldable chair if you can. Make friends with people around you and if you need to go to the toilet, they’ll save your spot.It sucks to have to line up once or twice for so long to get your passport right before flying and the stress that comes with it. Many people are in the same boat, and i was happily surprised to see everyone being calm, orderly, with many people chatting with one another. And the staff are doing everything they can to help. If you’re flying soon, or have little ones, you’ll be prioritised. If your request isn’t as urgent, be kind, don’t be this person trying to jump the queue or thinking because you paid extra or have been waiting long or dont want to wait you should skip the lines, people come from far and super early to get their passport. Be kind.

Was a fast and effective service when lodging my application. There was almost no line when I arrived for my appointment and was even seen early.The person serving me was friendly, informative and efficient and expedient.It was just over 1 week that I received notification my passport was ready for collection.The collection was a pleasant experience with no wait whatsoever when I arrived (around 9am). I was in and out in less than 5 minutes.

Quick and smooth collectionApplication Date - Last week of AugPassport ready for collection - 28 OctI had to call the support center twice and the team escalated the request. Happy with the overall experience considering the volume of apps in last few months.

The passport office is currently inundated with applications. Despite this their staff have been friendly and helpful when you can get a hold of them. Having visited recently I arrived at 630am to line up in the enquiry line. There was about 50 people in front. By the time they opened at 830am there was about about 50 people behind. Once the line started moving, it was actually very effective. By 930am I was served and my passport was put into the priority pile to be actioned. By that afternoon at 4pm, I received an email to pick up my passport. My advice would be - if you aren’t urgently travelling (like tomorrow or the day after) but want to speak to someone at the passport office - come by later in the day as the queue subsides.

My husband and I were scheduled to leave for the Philippines on 23 April 2023. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find his passport the night before. We had to reschedule the flight to 26 April 2023 as we need to be in the Philippines before the 27th of April for my sister’s wedding.We checked online to see if there’s anyway we can process his passport urgently. At first we booked an appointment with QVB GPO and it said they can process the passport in 2 business days. It was ok until we realized that the 25th is Public Holiday (Anzac Day).After another quick look on google, I came across the website of Australian Passport Office and read 1 review that he was able to get his passport on the same day. We tried our luck and came here today. We arrived at 8:15AM and there were only a few of us waiting for the office to open.The lady downstairs was very kind and kept us informed as to what time we will be able to go to level 7.At 8:35AM we were sent upstairs and my husband was served right away. The lady at inquiry desk was very helpful too and understood the urgency of our situation. She gave us the instructions as to what we need and we should do. We came back at 11:30 with all the necessary documents and the other guy at the inquiry desk received our application. The lady that was was we initially spoke to was there as well. They processed my husband’s application right away.In less than 10 minutes, my husband was called out to complete the application. The processing fee was $562 ($325 for the passport and $237 for the priority process fee) The lady was kind enough to advise us that the photo we submitted might be rejected by the system as it was a bit blurry. She asked us to get another photo just in case and submit it so if ever the original photo gets rejected we have another one ready, and she was right. Luckily we already went to the nearest post office to get a new photo.At 2:30PM, they sent us an email that the passport is now ready for pick-up. And here it is.Thank you so much for all the staff of Australian Passport Office for going an extra mile in assisting us today. We are forever grateful.

I have been here twice for the authentication service and passport service. Both were extremely helpful and efficient. Authentication service was done in less than two hours which is much faster than I expected. There was some problem with Rapid passport service as Auspost staff's messed up the pick up info, but the lady at the passport counter help expedited the passport. Super helpful!