The Australian Passport Office (APO) issued a public notice on 16 January urging travellers to allow at least six weeks between lodging a renewal and their departure date, citing persistent seasonal surges despite routine processing now averaging three weeks. (visahq.com)
During the March 2025 peak, 28 % of standard applications breached service standards, forcing thousands to pay the AU $252 priority surcharge. The APO fears a repeat ahead of Easter and the northern-hemisphere summer.
For travellers and mobility managers seeking extra certainty, VisaHQ offers an end-to-end passport and visa management platform that tracks Australian passport renewals, flags upcoming expiry dates, and arranges secure courier hand-offs to and from the APO. Its dashboards integrate with corporate mobility systems and provide real-time status updates—full details are available at https://www.visahq.com/australia/.
![Passport Office Tells Australians: Lodge Renewal Six Weeks Before Departure]()
For global-mobility programmes, expired passports can invalidate linked visas and derail right-to-work checks. Large employers are already scheduling on-site “passport clinics” to collect renewal applications in bulk, while mobility suppliers integrate APO processing times into assignment timelines and automate expiry alerts.
The notice also reminds dual UK-Australian citizens that the United Kingdom’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) goes live on 25 February 2026. Those without a valid UK passport will otherwise face a £30 ETA fee or a £600 Certificate of Entitlement.
Ignoring the six-week rule can trigger flight reticketing, quarantine costs and missed project start dates, so organisations are embedding the guideline into pre-travel checklists and budgeting for priority fees where needed.
During the March 2025 peak, 28 % of standard applications breached service standards, forcing thousands to pay the AU $252 priority surcharge. The APO fears a repeat ahead of Easter and the northern-hemisphere summer.
For travellers and mobility managers seeking extra certainty, VisaHQ offers an end-to-end passport and visa management platform that tracks Australian passport renewals, flags upcoming expiry dates, and arranges secure courier hand-offs to and from the APO. Its dashboards integrate with corporate mobility systems and provide real-time status updates—full details are available at https://www.visahq.com/australia/.
For global-mobility programmes, expired passports can invalidate linked visas and derail right-to-work checks. Large employers are already scheduling on-site “passport clinics” to collect renewal applications in bulk, while mobility suppliers integrate APO processing times into assignment timelines and automate expiry alerts.
The notice also reminds dual UK-Australian citizens that the United Kingdom’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) goes live on 25 February 2026. Those without a valid UK passport will otherwise face a £30 ETA fee or a £600 Certificate of Entitlement.
Ignoring the six-week rule can trigger flight reticketing, quarantine costs and missed project start dates, so organisations are embedding the guideline into pre-travel checklists and budgeting for priority fees where needed.
