Increase in applications for passport and ID card renewal

The National Identity Data Service (RvIG) is seeing an increase in the number of applications for renewing a passport or ID card. A passport peak is expected this year because the validity period of a travel document was changed from five to ten years in 2014. According to the RvIG, it remains to be seen whether municipalities have taken sufficient measures to limit waiting times, but major problems are not expected.

According to the passport service, the increase they see corresponds to the numbers they took into account in advance. The number of applications has returned to the level before 2019. That year there was a decline because the last documents with a validity of five years were replaced in the previous period.

The RvIG already warned municipalities last year to prepare for a passport peak from 2024, as the first documents valid for 10 years are now expiring. The RvIG does not know how long the waiting times will be for the municipalities due to the increasing number of applications.

This depends per municipality "on the extent to which preparation has been successful and how many people want to apply for a passport or ID card at the same time". The Dutch Association for Civil Affairs (NVVB) also confirmed this.

According to the RvIG, municipalities have attracted additional staff, expanded the counters and opening hours and trained other employees to help out. "Whether this is sufficient will become clear soon." The advice to people is not to wait until the last minute with their application. The NVVB also advised Dutch citizens to keep an eye on information on the municipal website.

Dutch citizens abroad are already having great difficulty renewing their passports. The Stichting Nederlanders Buiten Nederland (SNBN) explained earlier this week that waiting times can be months and that it is almost impossible to get an appointment at the embassy in Spain, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that it does not share the view that it is impossible to apply for a new passport abroad. "Various steps are being taken to ensure that the flood of passports is managed as well as possible. Some offices have adjusted their counter hours. And we have been urging Dutch citizens for months to renew their travel documents on time," the ministry claimed.

The ministry reminds Dutch citizens abroad that they can also contact the border municipalities in the Netherlands and the counter at Schiphol.