Brits abroad warn migrants could exploit lax passport security

Brits living abroad have warned that lax security around passport deliveries could be exploited by people looking to enter the country illegally. His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) is facing pressure to tighten its overseas guidelines to require proof of identity on delivery, with current rules only mandating a signature. LBC has been told some Brits living abroad have not even been asked to provide a signature for their documents - a breach of HMPO guidance.

DHL, the courier responsible for international passport deliveries, is facing calls to be stripped of its £65m contract if it is found to be falling short of its obligations. The Home Office insists that robust checks are in place, but pledged to act quickly to address failures in the security of international passport deliveries. Christopher Long, 78, a British national living in Normandy, northern France, was shocked at the procedure when he received his documents last month.

“A very rusty ancient-looking rental van turned up and a chap jumped out, a cheery chap, and he said ‘parcel for you’, and handed it over, ask[ing] me to sign on his phone,” Christopher recalled. “I expected somebody to ask me who I am - after all, the passport is one of the most essential, vital documents that any of us possess. And I wasn’t [even] asked to say who I was.” Christopher lives on a busy farm, where people come and go “all the time”.

When the document was delivered, there were several people working on the renovations at the property, as well as holidaymakers in the gîte. He believes his experience raises wider national security concerns, warning that the lack of checks could be exploited by people looking to enter the UK illegally. “Only a very short distance from where I am, there are big rubber boats crossing the Channel from Omaha Beach towards Portsmouth and all along the coast,” he observed.

“These are people to whom a passport would be absolute gold dust. “If I wanted a passport, if I was dishonest, I think I would just follow a DHL van around the place and jump out wherever they get out and say, ‘yes, I'm Christopher Long, thank you.’” Christopher contrasted this process with the security measures in place when he recently collected his French identity card, for which officials took his fingerprints to confirm his identity.

“To France, [security] is important. It doesn't seem to matter very much to Jo White, the minister responsible for the Passport Office - and I think it should.” Concerns around the delivery process coincide with a surge in overseas applications. Since February, British nationals with dual citizenship have required either a UK passport or a certificate of entitlement to travel to the UK. Without one of these documents, they risk being refused entry to the UK.

It is believed this new requirement may have fuelled an increase in overseas applications. In the first half of 2026, there were nearly half a million applications from abroad - a rise of 70% on the same period in 2025. Andy Anderson, who runs Passport Waiting Time UK, a community Facebook group monitoring issues with HMPO, told LBC he has seen an uptick in people having issues with their deliveries. “Our users are reporting that in some cases their passports are just being left in like a mailbox at the end of their long drive,” he told LBC.

“There's been no one signing for it… Sometimes they're just leaving it. “In some places it does work well: they are actually doing as they should do. They're asking for ID at the door and getting them to sign for it. But it just seemed a little bit hit and miss, depending on which country it is, whether they actually do ask for ID.” Home Office guidance insists that every passport delivered by DHL must receive a signature upon delivery.

There is, however, no requirement for ID to be shown for passport deliveries. Former immigration minister Kevin Foster told LBC that ID should be required to minimise the opportunity for fraud. He added that the government should strip DHL of its five-year £65m contract if standards are not being upheld. “In the wrong hands, a passport can be used to impersonate people… It can be used to falsely present yourself as a British citizen or altered to make it look like it is a genuine document in your name.

“The Passport Office guidance is very clear: DHL must get a signature. Not they might, not they should. Not they may, it's a must. If they're not fulfilling that obligation, Home Office ministers need to come down hard on them to make it very clear that we will not accept both a breach of contract and a potential breach of our national security. “It's too important to just sort of say, ‘well, we think this is going on, but we hope they'll do better in future’.

They need to be absolutely clear that if DHL isn't meeting the standards it should be meeting, then they will lose the contract. A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “His Majesty’s Passport Office takes the security of the delivery of British passports extremely seriously, and places robust requirements upon its delivery partners to ensure that passports safely reach the recipient. “Should any new threats emerge that affect the delivery of British passports, HM Passport Office would work with its partners to ensure that these are tackled effectively and proportionately.”

DHL declined to comment.