I'm one of those parents worried about my child's passport arriving on time
There are always worries in the back of my mind when I'm due to travel.
What if I forget to pack underwear? What if the flight is delayed? What if they lose my luggage?
Usually, these are irrational fears, but this travel time around I have a worry and it's very real.
My daughter and I are due to travel at the end of the month but her passport has not arrived. Even more frightening is that when I check on the passport tracker they tell me that it will arrive by post...in August!
What really annoys me is that I contacted the passport office before I put in my daughter's application two months ago because I knew there were delays.
I asked if I would be better off making an appointment to come in to apply in person, but was told not to because I still had plenty of time to receive it on time via post.
On this advice, I sent her passport application off by Passport Express and received a tracking number to see when it was due to arrive.
You can imagine my horror then when I popped in the tracking code only to see my child's passport would not arrive on time after all. In fact, it would not even arrive in the right month!
I got back in touch with the passport office immediately and asked what could be done and at first got no reply to my two emails.
When I tried to call I couldn't get through because there were so many other callers trying to get through.
Eventually, I received a reply to my third email asking for my flight details and passport tracking number.
After I sent this information I was told that her passport would be fast-tracked but that was over a week ago and the days are ticking away and getting closer to our travel date.
I've heard a lot of reassuring stories from parents who found themselves in the same position but that doesn't stop me from being stressed.
I have no idea what I'm going to do if our travel date arrives and it still hasn't come.
I seriously regret not just going with my gut instinct and applying for an in-person application appointment and would recommend any parent worried about their child's passport arriving on time to make an appointment rather than chance it with a postal application.
You'll save yourself so much stress in the long run.
Has this happened to anyone else? If so, what was the outcome for you?
