How long is it now taking to renew a Swedish passport?
The average waiting time to get an appointment at police passport offices around Sweden is 11 weeks, down from 17.6 weeks last week, according to the police's passport offices.
According to the Expressen newspaper, the first free spot in Stockholm is now around July 8th, while in Gothenburg, you can't get a spot before about August 4th.
Unfortunately, getting an appointment is not the only problem. It's currently taking as long as three months for the police to print passports even once the application has been made.
If you thought far ahead and managed to get a time to renew your passport back in the first week of May, you might get your passport this week. If you applied for a passport on June 1st, the police are advising you not to expect to receive it, before the first week of August. You can see the full list of likely delivery times here.
The upshot of all this is that if you didn't manage to apply for a passport before the first couple of weeks of May, you're not going to get one, either for yourself or any Swedish children, before the summer holidays are over.
Why are there such delays in renewing Swedish passports?
During the pandemic, many people did not renew their passports when they expired, meaning the police's passport divisions are dealing with a backlog of about half a million delayed passport applications on top of their normal load.
To make matters worse, one of the machines that prints Sweden's passports broke down at a factory in Finland in March, and was only fixed at the end of May, leading to the long wait for passports to be delivered after applications are left in.
Is Sweden the only country facing this problem?
Unfortunately for individuals and families with dual nationalities, the situation is not much better in a lot of other countries, meaning you can't rely on travelling on you or your children's other passport.
There are an estimated 500,000 applications currently waiting to be resolved in the UK, with the Home Office advising people to allow 10 weeks or more for a renewed document to be returned, more than double the normal wait time.
Norway, which uses the same passport manufacturer as Sweden, Thales, is also struggling to deliver passports on time, with long waits to get an appointment and a ten week wait from then to receive a passport.
What can I do if I've missed the window to get a passport?
You should still be able to get an emergency Swedish passport for yourself or for your children, although at 980 kronor, it's expensive, and at present means queuing for twelve hours or more.
How do I apply for an emergency passport in Sweden?
To apply for an emergency passport, you need to be able to provide documents that prove:
- that you are travelling
- where you are travelling
- when you are travelling
- how long you will be away
You also need to come with valid identification that proves you are a Swedish citizen, even if the passport is for your children.
A passport costs 980 kronor and only lasts during the journey for which it has been requested.
Where can I apply for an emergency passport?
You can apply for an emergency passport at:
- Stockholm-Arlanda airport. Tullvägen 7A
- Göteborg Landvetter airport. Flygfraktsvägen 3
- Karlskrona police station. Järnvägstorget 5
- Karlstad police station. Infanterigatan 22
- Malmö police. Drottninggatan 18
- Luleå police station. Skeppsbrogatan 37
- Skavsta airport. General Schybergs väg 27
- Sturup - Malmö Airport.
- Umeå police station. Ridvägen 10
- Västerås police station. Västgötegatan 7
When can I apply for an emergency passport?
You can only apply for an emergency passport 72 hours before you are due to depart on your trip.
How long will I have to wait?
People have been sleeping in the queue outside Stockholm Arlanda's passport office, arriving in the middle of the night in the hope of getting an emergency passport in time for their trips.
People in Malmö were last week having to wait as long as 24 hours outside the passport office before getting an emergency passport.
Good luck!
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