The Passport Service has issued over 430,000 passports to date this year. Virtually all complete passport applications are being processed within or ahead of advertised turnaround times.
All passport applications require supporting documentation to some degree, whether it is a photo uploaded online for an adult's renewal application, or documents necessary to validate the identity and entitlement to Irish citizenship of a first time applicant. In the cases of children's applications, witnessed identity and consent forms are required to ensure that guardians have consented to the issuance of a passport for the child.In cases where insufficient or incorrect documents are received by the Passport Service, every effort is made to let the applicant know as soon as possible. Applications enter a queue and are checked in order of date received. It is Passport Service policy that all issues that may arise with a passport application are flagged to the customer following the initial check. On occasion, an additional issue may be identified on the second check and the Passport Service may have to contact the customer again. The Passport Service has a system whereby applications do not go to the back of the queue following a request for further documents. When the Passport Service receives the required additional documentation from the applicant, the application is prioritised for checking.Online applications for which additional photos are requested are processed within a maximum of 10 working days of the receipt of the new photo. All other requests for further documents are processed within 15 working days of receipt of the additional documents, for both paper and online application types.
Overall, a very small number of applicants experience issues which delay the application process. The vast majority of applicants who renew their passport online will receive a new passport in the post within two working days.
The Passport Service takes its responsibility to protect the integrity of the Irish passport very seriously. The Irish passport has a strong international reputation due to the strength of the security features within the passport book and the robust processes involved in its issuance. The Irish passport was recently ranked 2nd in the Henley Global Passport Index as it provides our citizens with visa-free access to 193 countries. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place to verify the identity and citizenship of applicants.
Should assistance be required with an application, our Customer Service agents are available through phone and webchat services from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. They can be contacted at +353 1 671 1633, or via the WebChat service: www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/passports/contact-us/#webchat.
The Passport Online service offers Irish citizens the ability to apply online for their passport 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is a user-friendly, efficient service that consistently offers processing times up to 4 times faster than paper-based passport renewal applications.I would ask the Deputy to encourage his constituents to apply for their passports through Passport Online, as the quickest, easiest and most cost effective way to apply for a passport.
