Priority Processing
Priority processing - Australia, London and Washington
Applicants may elect to pay the Priority Processing Fee (PPF) which guarantees the issue of a travel document within 2 working days (48 hours). A priority processing application will not be approved unless all requirements are met for the issue of a travel document. This includes full validation of birth and citizenship certificates, confirmation of entitlement and full and positive confirmation of the applicant’s identity.
For applications lodged at Australia Post outlets the PPF turnaround time is calculated from the time/date the application form is scanned into the passports system and receipt of all necessary information to permit a travel document to be issued, to when the document is ready for collection by, or posting to, the applicant.
For applications lodged at a Passport Office, the PPF turnaround time is calculated from the time/date the fee is receipted.
In all cases any ‘Hold’ period attributed to client omission will not be counted in the 2 working days (48 hours).
Overseas applicants who lodge their full validity application direct to the London or Washington Passport Office can elect to pay the PPF. The PPF service is not available at other overseas missions.
Priority processing - Emergency passports issued at overseas missions
As the priority processing service for a full validity travel document is not available at overseas missions other than London and Washington, the issue of an Emergency passport (EY) may be considered by the Authorised Officer.
Where an EY is applied for, a priority processing fee (PPF) must always be charged (except when the fee has been waived by the Minister following a crisis) and the travel document issued within 2 working days. See ‘ Processing fee:Emergency Passport ’.
Collecting the priority processing fee
The priority processing fee (PPF) must be paid at lodgement of the application by all eligible applicants requesting to use this service (for refund provisions, see ‘ Priority processing fee refund ’).
It is permissible to accept a PPF if an applicant decides to upgrade his/her application to PPF after interview. In such cases the applicant is encouraged to pay the PPF via the passports website (www.passports.gov.au) or via APIS. The turnaround time starts from the time the fee is receipted.
In cases of genuine need an applicant may pay the PPF on collection of the document. The turnaround time starts from when the applicant requests the priority service.
Ineligible for priority processing
Applications that do not qualify for PPF
In view of their complex nature, priority processing is not offered or accepted for:
- Children’s applications where full parental consent has not been obtained.
Note: once the Approved Senior Officer has approved the issue of a travel document to a child where both parental consents have not been obtained the lodging parent may be offered the priority processing option.
- Applications where the required proof of identity combination 3 is used or where the approved proof of identity combinations cannot be met.
- Indeterminate sex applications - see ‘ ’.
- Applicants who have had three or more passports issued in three or more different names in the last three years.
- Applications for a Certificate of Identity (COI) or Convention Travel Document (CTD) - see ‘ COI and CTD priority processing ’.
COI and CTD priority processing
No priority processing fee is to be accepted for an application for a COI or CTD (PC5 form) at interview. In the case of an emergency issue of a COI/CTD any expedited processing must have prior approval from a senior officer and only in exceptional circumstances where the applicant can prove that there is a genuine need for urgent travel (i.e. death/serious illness of an immediate family member).
The client must provide documentary evidence to support their claim (i.e. a letter from a doctor/hospital).
In all such cases a PPF is chargeable once urgent processing is approved.