Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications are currently being processed within the normal turnaround time of 9 months from receipt of supporting documents. Applications that require further supporting documents will take longer to process.
Foreign Birth Registration, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation relating to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions. Such documents take considerable time to validate. A significant proportion of FBR applications are incomplete on initial receipt and require additional supporting documents in order to allow the Passport Service to progress the application. The Passport Service contacts applicants to request required additional documents. Applications that are still with the Passport Service since 2021 may have required a number of contacts by the Passport Service with the applicant in order to ensure the application is correctly completed. Given the complexity of the applications, it can take some time for applicants to submit all of the required documents. These applications will progress to FBR Certificate issue once the applications are fully complete and correct.
My Department has put in place a number of measures that have addressed the volume of FBR applications over the past year and has made significant progress in reducing the processing time for these citizenship applications. The processing time has reduced from 18 months to 2 years in 2022 to under 9 months in 2023. The Passport Service will continue to invest additional resources in the FBR unit with a view to further reducing the processing time by end of this year.
The Passport Service has dedicated agents to deal specifically with a person’s Foreign Birth Registration application query. The contact number for Foreign Birth Registration queries is +353 1 568 3331.
In October 2021, the Passport Service established a phone line to respond to Oireachtas Members' queries on urgent passport cases. The phone line was established during a time of extraordinary demand for the Passport Service as a result of pent up demand following the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting interruptions to the service. It is important to note that this channel does not function as a means of expediting passport applications. In each case raised by an Oireachtas Member, the Passport Service reviews the application in question and provides a status update to the Oireachtas Member. Where the estimated issue-by date has been exceeded the Passport Service will follow up on this internally. Where an applicant requires their passport for a genuine emergency such as a need for urgent medical treatment overseas or the death of a family member abroad, such applications are expedited through the Travel Emergency service. There are currently no plans to extend the service provided to members of the Oireachtas through the Oireachtas Line to cover status update requests on FBR applications given that FBR applications are generally not urgent or subject to emergency situations.
With regard to the specific FBR application about which the Deputy has enquired, the FBR team contacted the applicant on 6 December 2022 requesting further supporting documentation which was required to finalise the application. Further contact was made by the Department in response to a query from the applicant on 15 August 2023. To date the requested documents have yet to be submitted. Once these are received a FBR certificate will be issued. The Passport Service will contact the applicant again to ensure they are aware of what is required to progress their application.
