The Passport Service is successfully meeting high demand for passports with turnaround times at or well-ahead of target, and no backlogs. So far in 2024, the Passport Service has issued over 200,000 passports.
Passport Online is by far the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to apply for a passport. The Passport Online service offers Irish citizens the ability to apply online for their passport 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is available to 99.9% of all applicants across the world.
The Passport Service remains committed to offering a range of application channels, including a paper-based service, to our citizens. Due to the nature of the paper application process, it will always be a slower service. The advertised turnaround time for all paper applications is 8 weeks. Paper applications are currently being processed within 7 weeks. Given that just over 5% of all applicants now use the postal paper service, it is not the priority for the Passport Service in the context of strategy and resources.
First time applications take longer to process than renewal applications since, in many cases, they are applications for Irish citizenship. The Passport Service must validate the true identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm their entitlement to Irish citizenship. In the case of children, the consent of their guardians must be verified. Due to the extra measures undertaken by highly trained and experienced staff, first-time online applications take 20 working days to process.
The turnaround time for processing an application where a new photo been requested is 10 days and 15 days where new documents have been requested. The Department's website provides information and videos on how to submit passport applications correctly.
The Passport Service is in an excellent position to meet the demand forecasted for this year.
