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. It is currently not possible for the Passport Service to address issues with applications earlier in the process due to the volume of applications that are being received. Applications enter a queue and are checked in order of date received.
The turnaround times outlined on my Department's website apply to fully complete and correct applications, and that they are estimates based on current average processing times. Applications that are incomplete or incorrect will take longer.
The Passport Service has a system in place to ensure that when an application is incomplete and further supporting documents are required and requested, these applications are prioritised once the supporting documents have been received from the applicant. The Passport Service aims to process these applications within 15 working days of receiving the supporting documents.
The Passport Service has been scaling up resources to deal with anticipated demand for passports since June of last year. A major recruitment drive has been underway for several months which has seen the Passport Service taking on over 560 new staff since June 2021.
This recruitment drive has directly contributed to the significant reduction in turnaround times for online first time applications. Turnaround time for these complex applications has been reduced by 40% since March, down from 40 working days to 25 working days currently. The Passport Service is focused on reducing this turnaround time even further in the coming weeks. These additional staff are also helping to reduce the overall processing time for incomplete applications that require additional supporting documents.
In addition, the Passport Service has taken the following steps to deal with the unprecedented demand seen so far this year and to improve processing times:
- The Passport Service has worked with senior management at An Garda Síochána (AGS) to develop a system for verifying Garda witnesses on passport applications in cases where the Garda signature cannot be verified by the Passport Service directly with the Garda station. This new system assists in reducing the number of passport applications that are delayed due to a failure to verify witness details.
- The Passport Service released new video guides in May to assist citizens in submitting the correct photos and consent forms for children’s applications. These short videos provide tips to ensure that photos and children’s consent forms will meet the Passport Service requirements. The videos are available on the Department’s website and social media and are attracting encouraging numbers of views.
- Intensive training of new staff and upskilling of existing staff is ongoing to increase the resources that can process complex applications.
- The Passport Service is prioritising first time applications and directing increased resources to processing these complex applications with a view to further reducing the current turnaround time.
- Passport Service staff are working overtime with a focus on prioritising first time applications.
These recent service improvements further enable the Passport Service to provide this essential citizen service in an efficient and effective manner. I am confident that the increase in resources allocated to the Passport Service will continue to improve customer experience and the provision of this service.
