The total number of Foreign Birth Registration applications submitted on behalf of minors that are waiting to be processed by the Passport Service is 7,176. A breakdown of this figure is set out in the table below.
Applicant Details
|
Numbers
|
Grandparent born in Ireland
|
4980
|
Naturalised parent
|
634
|
Parent already entered on FBR
|
1484
|
Adoption
|
47
|
Post nuptial Declaration
|
31
|
My Department operates a clear and transparent general policy of processing FBR applications in order of receipt. However, we will consider urgent requests to expedite an application on a case by case basis. During Level 5 restrictions, applicants can make contact with the Passport Service through the WebChat service.
The delivery of the FBR service has been paused under Level 5 restrictions of the National Framework for Living with COVID-19 since 24 December 2020. This service will resume to full operations once Level 3 restrictions of the Framework are in place. However, it should be noted that given the loss of output in this service due to Level 5 restrictions in the last year and given the continued large volume of applications received over this period, it is anticipated that it will take approximately eighteen months to process applications.
The Passport Service is planning to increase resources, once the service is resumed, to clear all arrears and to make efforts to return to a six month processing time.