Rush of passers-by: Many don’t keep their appointments

Many passes expired last year, and there was talk of a “super pass year”. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the unsafe travel situation, many were not extended. With the new freedom of travel this year, the rush on the passport offices started. Longer opening times are still necessary to cope with the rush to the passport offices, says District Office Manager Eva Schantl-Wurz.

100,000 passports already issued this year

But it guarantees that everyone who needs a pass gets it on time. “If customers cannot find a free passport appointment on the Internet, please contact us by phone – we always have a remaining quota.” So far, around 100,000 passports have been issued in Vienna this year. This number will double by the end of the year.

What is particularly annoying, however, is that more and more deadlines are booked – and then not kept. “We looked at the first two weeks of July and 2,000 appointments were skipped,” explains Schantl-Wurz. The passport service points in the district offices urgently request that appointments that are not required are canceled. This is the only way to reassign them.

At the moment, extra shifts are sometimes even carried out and the passport services are open twice a week until 5.30 p.m., on individual Saturdays there are appointments from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Incidentally, passports can not only be applied for at the local district office, but you can also go to any passport service in Vienna.

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