When the corona restrictions eased, many wanted to go out and travel again and the appointments with the passport police were quickly booked. In addition, one of the machines that manufacture the passes broke down, which has further extended the waiting time.
But now the police in Helsingborg have problems with people not picking up their new passports.
– Our drawers are overflowing with passports and ID cards. We thought that many were in a great hurry and should go out and travel, but it is slow, says Torben Pedersen, passport officer at the police in Helsingborg.
Takes time to find the right passport
He cannot answer how many passes it is about, but last month 12,000 booking times were posted in Helsingborg and in June 11,000 were posted.
– We have had to get more cabinets to fit everything. It also takes longer to search through and find the right passport when people have to pick them up, says Torben Pedersen.
Why do you think it looks like this?
– Since the delivery time is ten weeks, which is extremely much, many come and look for passports even if they are not going out and traveling.
The passport is saved at the police station for a maximum of three months and then the person receives a reminder. If it is not retrieved then it is shredded.
Notices some saturation
The pressure is still high in Helsingborg but Torben Pedersen has noticed a certain saturation.
– We post times regularly but before the times disappeared in half an hour and now it can take a day before they are booked, he says.
Due to long waiting times, many have queued for temporary passes in, for example, Malmö and Karlskrona.
Ebba Jarnhag from Helsingborg was one of those who earlier in June spent the night on the street in Karlskrona: