Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
911. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will list the most reoccurring errors when applying for first-time application children’s passports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39872/22]
View answerThe Passport Service is currently seeing a steady demand for first-time passports. Out of a total of 91,199 online passport applications received in the month of June, 20,501 (22%) were for first-time applicants. Half of these first-time applications were for children.
In recent months the Passport Service has reduced the processing time for first-time applications from 40 working days to 25 working days. This 40% reduction in processing time is as a direct result of the staffing and resources my Department has invested in the Passport Service. The Passport Service remains focused on reducing this processing time even further in the coming weeks.
First-time passport applications take longer to process than renewal applications and there are a number of reasons for this. First-time applications are necessarily complex to process, since, in many cases, they are applications for Irish citizenship. The Passport Service must validate the identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm the applicant’s entitlement to Irish citizenship. It is the statutory responsibility of the Passport Service to protect the integrity of the Irish passport. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place to verify the identity and citizenship status of first time applicants.
In the case of first-time passport applications for children, the consent of guardians must also be thoroughly validated.
The most common recurring reasons why the Passport Service has to request further documents for first-time applications for children include the following:
- Incorrect or insufficient documentation received. Applicants must submit the required evidence to prove the child's identity and their entitlement to Irish citizenship, and unless otherwise stated, submit original documentation only. Required documentation varies depending on a number of factors, including whether or not one of the parents was an Irish citizen at the time of the child's birth, and the guardianship status of parents.
- Issues with Identity and Consent forms. Common errors include the date of the witness' signature not matching the date of the guardian's signature, using a witness whose profession does not fall under the list of acceptable witnesses and fields on the form being left blank.
- Issues with photos. Whilst the Passport Online photo uploading facility does have a photo checking feature, there are certain issues that are only picked up by the human eye. Applicants can be requested to submit a new photo for a number of reasons, including poor picture quality and incorrect background type.
In May, the Passport Service released public education materials in the form of video guides with a view to assisting applicants to complete their application correctly. The videos include instructions on submitting photos and completing consent forms for children. They are available on the Department's website and YouTube page. The videos can be found at the following URLs:
www.dfa.ie/passports/photo-guidelines/
www.dfa.ie/passports/consent-for-children/
There are also a number of other resources currently available to applicants and parents of first-time applicants in order to ensure that their application is submitted correctly.
The Passport Service encourages applicants to check the requirements for their type of application carefully on my Department's website. The recently updated website includes a new Passport Service section where applicants can easily find out what additional documents are required for their type of application. This is available at www.dfa.ie/passports.
The Passport Service makes every effort to provide clear and comprehensive instructions for applicants, using plain English. In 2019, the Passport Service won the National Adult Literary Agency (NALA) award for Plain English for the Passport Online Renewal service.
The Passport Service Customer Service Hub is available to respond to customer queries by phone and webchat. In recent weeks, the additional allocation of staff to the Hub has significantly increased the call handling capacity in the Hub. The Passport Service webchat is operational and customers should refresh the page if the icon is grey. A webchat operator is available when the icon is green. The Hub is currently handling an average of 3,000 queries a day.
