 Five out of eight people failed to fill out the form correctly |
Applying for a passport should be easy - but when Breakfast got eight people together to apply - five forms were rejected. Many people find it so difficult to complete the application form, that the Post Office now employs a checker, who for �7 will make sure you have crossed your 't's and dotted all your 'i's.
Our reporter Tim Muffett got our volunteers together to fill out the forms. Five out of eight applications failed the test because;
They didn't initial any mistake or change made to the form. They used blue ink instead of black ink Their signature strayed outside the signature box. Breakfast asked this morning whether all these rules were really necessary.
 Bernard Herdan: "It is a trade off between good customer service and security." |
We spoke to Bernard Herdan from the Identity and Passport Service and Lyn Hughes, Editor in Chief of the travel magazine, Wanderlust. We put many of the points raised in your emails to Mr Herdan, who said many of the rules about filling out the forms were necessary for security reasons. He said there were problems with around 12% of forms.
He said: "We don't do these things just to be awkward. It is about confirming identity. It is a trade off between good customer service and security.
"We are trying to make it as customer friendly as we can."
The UK issues seven million passports a year - higher than any other country other than the United States.
Lyn Hughes said her magazine received many complaints from people complaining about passport applications. One of the biggest gripes was problems with passport photos.
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