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PARENTS WHO HAD to submit their own passports as part of the application for their child to get a passport may have to wait as long as six months to receive their own back.
Furthermore, anyone who had to submit additional documentation as part of their passport application process may not have these documents returned to them at present, with the exception of emergency circumstances.
This is because the Passport Service has paused most of its operations in line with Level 5 restrictions currently in place in Ireland since late December.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has said that it will not resume operations until restrictions are eased, and this means it cannot retrieve these documents until then.
With the government previously signalling that it may not begin to ease restrictions on a wide basis until May, it could mean that applicants who submitted documents in late December may not get them back until June.
TheJournal.ie has spoken to a number of parents – both Irish and overseas nationals – who submitted documents such as their own passports and their child’s birth certificate as part of the application for their passport.
In one case involving a non-EU national who’s been living in Ireland since 2014, he was unable to return home following the death of a family member as he was unable to have his passport returned to him.
He and his wife submitted their documentation to the Passport Service for their son’s application in December.
“We did lose family which was mentioned to [the Passport Service], and we can’t even plan a trip without our documents,” he said. “Also, I need my GNIB [Irish residence permit] to send together with the statutory declaration for my citizenship, which I can’t do since I don’t have it.
“At this stage, I’m considering contacting a solicitor to get my documents back.”
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said it’s “not really good enough” that people are going without such essential documentation as their own passport while they wait for the service to resume.
“Some documentation is vital,” he said. “A lot of people would need it for doing any sort of serious work. They might need it for a mortgage application, a rent application.
“I think that’s something that should be looked at again by the minister. It’s something that should be reviewed.”
In a notice on its website, the Passport Office said that while it paused operations, for now, any applications will be processed as soon as it resumes.
“If you have submitted supporting documentation to us, it will be held securely,” it said. “However, we cannot retrieve supporting documents at this time.
We expect to return your supporting documents within 20 working days of resuming operations at Level 4.
For people who submitted documents in December, it’ll mean that under this policy they may not have their documents returned until late April at the earliest.
If Level 5 is extended further at the beginning of next month, that could delay this further and bring it into May or June.
In response to recent Dáil questions on the matter, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said that the Passport Service has a “comprehensive plan” in place to resume all services in line with the government’s Living with Covid plan.
He also said that all applicants are contacted on the next working day after their application to request that they do not submit supporting documentation “as it cannot be processed or returned to them until Ireland returns to Level 4 on the National Framework”.
However, in the section on documentation needed to progress a child’s passport, it specifically mentions the requirement for parents’ passports. In the case of non-EU nationals, it states that their GNIB card may also be required.
Coveney said: “When operations resume at Level 4, all applications received via Passport Online will be processed.
“The Passport Service has a great deal of experience in dealing with peaks in demand, and we are confident that any backlog will be cleared quickly. When the Passport Service resumed operations in June 2020, the backlog was cleared in four weeks. It was similar in December 2020 with the majority of the backlog cleared within three weeks.”
TheJournal.ie has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs for comment.
Other countries who locked down have continued passport processing, is it not an essential service?
Total banana republic.
@Local Ore: You know, the man to email to ask why there is no processing of passports currently is the Minister for Foreign Affairs – simon.coveney@oireachtas.ie
The Journal should start including these details in their articles.
@Local Ore: I get mine here today in Germany and tomorrow I am off to Namibia. Took the usual 4 weeks.
By the way Namibia…: How come it is on Irelands top 20 list while hardly any infections there? They are not even considered high risk here. And the best seems to us that you are not allowed to travel….. unthinkable here
@Local Ore: you can still get your passport application processed and issued to deal with emergency travel, you just contact them via their web-chat to flag your application as emergency.
@Local Ore: Are we to presume then that all employees who would normally be processing the passport applications, have been collecting the PUP instead of their normal wages? If passport applications are not being dealt with, what is going on in the offices?
@George Vladisavljevic: you know the answer, same as it ever was
@Johannes Baader: Because we just copied the UK’s list, god forbid anyone in government here would have an independent thought.
@George Vladisavljevic: no they’ve been sent to other public service departments
@TonySuperSaints: not entirely true. Some are off on full pay and not expected to work from home.
@George Vladisavljevic: they are not in the office!
@Local Ore: what a mega whinge. Are you not one of those going on about stopping all travel?
@Local Ore: there’s a general issue. My wife needs a Public Service Card and their offices are all closed so that’s not possible either. Given how essential we’ve been told along that they’re essential you would wonder why they’re currently impossible to get.
We now live in a society where having a cup of coffee is considered higher priority than having your passport…
This is not good enough , surely they can do better than this or is it a case of ‘you are going no where for a long time to come ?
Joke. Put the staff on reduced wage and they wouldn’t be long coming back
@Kieran Hayes: staff redeployed to other departments such as social welfare
@Kieran Hayes: staff did not make the decision to shut up shop they have been transferred to contract tracing. And by the way Civil Service pay is hardly more than PUP anyhow
@Eadaoin Pollard: Depends on what grade you are or how long you’ve been there. You’re right, mostly, when it comes to Clerical Officer or similar level not long in the service, though there are plenty of civil servants on fairly good wage for doing little to nothing. And yes, I worked as a civil servant for a time.
Another shameful removal of personal freedom. Utterly disgraceful. Why is there so little anger towards our government?
@Jason Shortt: for fear of getting branded far right probably.
@Jason Shortt: Thats what baffles us here in Germany. Your borders are literally shut down for its own citizens and everybody seems ok with it. Or the 5km rule…. whats the point there? The students find craigh within 5km it seems :-)
@Johannes Baader: no ones okay with it here Johannes. We know how we’re being run is a joke, anyone with a bit of common sense can see that. We’re a shambles. No need to rub it in :)
@Johannes Baader: troll
Absolute joke of a service, I did online renewal, took my money, claiming 4-5 day service as I applied, 6 weeks later no passport or even a status update. Still claiming target date of feb despite the fact it’s March now.
@Keith Troy: Same here – applied in Dec money taken within 24 hours and 3 months later Im still waiting for an update whilst my money is safely in their account
Passport office should be open. Are they working from home, no. But they are on full pay. Also GNIB cards are very important.
I can understand many non essential services being closed but many are operational on a staff rotation basis as well.
My own opinion in that it is a government or management failing. They need to reconsider what work can be done from home and what needs people in attendance. Getting a passport might be more essential for some people than watching RTE soaps.
It would seem that on line renewals should have little or no human intervention and should be able to be processed by home working and, maybe, one person on site for printing and posting.
Out side the box thinking needed. I normally side with the Public Service but there seems no excuse to close the passport office in the manner described.
Shambles of a country !!!
@Locutus Of Borg: Feel free to leave!
@sean o’dhubhghaill: probably waiting on a passport
@sean o’dhubhghaill: Someone didn’t think that one through!
Smokescreen to stop everyone heading to Belfast for flights this summer!
No problem with car tax, tv licence and home tax. All those essential bills arrived. Got certs for tv and car. Car has barely moved in the last year.
Will we all get an extra year put onto our passports, since this year is going to be a write-off.
Is anybody surprised? Iam not.
Total incompetence. But what I’ve come to expect from the passport office. No reason to close. Work from home like most other public servants.
@Mary Fitzsimons: or just work from the office-if GDPR is a factor-and put screens between each person like we do in Retail. Provide hand sanitiser and masks. I don’t understand why this is a problem for them. Absolute joke.
What about people who need passports for work? Seafarers and airline crews?
@Cóilín O Maolain: they can be obtained, you just contact them via the web-chat to have your application processed as required for emergency travel or work. For all the people condemning the passport office on here if they just reviewed the passport website they’d see passports are still being issued, but they are prioritising based upon requested need.
@D. Memery: Not true, unfortunately. They are processing a tiny number of emergency applications. But the rest are held. This one borders on a resigning matter for Coveney (a pity, one of the better ministers) – there was no reason to stop processing at least renewals (as someone above said, little personal handling involved), which for kids, for example, are needed as often as every three years. And to hold important supporting docs, such as passports and GNIB cards, is disgraceful and totally unreasonable. This is Covid being used as an excuse for nonsence, and notably almost no other country on earth stopped handling passport applications / renewals.
@JW Doyle: nonsense, I got mine a month ago in two days. No priority, normal online application.
@D. Memery: I hope you are right. Seafarers are going through enough during covid, been stuck on ships for extended periods due to travel restriction etc..if one seafarer cant get a passport means another is simply stuck onboard. This is one industry who cannot unfortunately just decide not to work or work from home.
Shambles
Renewed my passport online last week. Applied on Monday and had it 2 days later in the post. Unbelievable service. Even though the website said it’s suspended. No idea how I got it so fast. Cheers lads. Sorry to hear about those affected.
@Mark: not sure if your a bot or what but their website, web service, web chat and the communications team says:
The Passport Service has paused operations in line with the move to Level 5 of the Government’s National Framework on Living with COVID-19 from 24 December.
So, either you have an emergency, that you can prove, or you are are stirring it.
@Mark: Same for me, applied online from the US about 12 days ago and had the new one arrive over here yesterday. Great and incredibly surprising service
@Marlon Brando: I’m mistaken so.
@Mark: wow, that’s amazing. Why is this article saying the opposite. Very poor comms if that is the case.
@Motherofthree: the delay probably applies to new applications. Renewal has much less work involved as they are essentially just creating a new passport based on already validated information.
@Local Ore: no honestly I’m not trying to stir anything. I was as surprised as you. Don’t understand why they say emergency only on the website yet some applications are getting through. I didn’t even apply for express and had it in two days. I reckon what the others have said is right. I imagine renewals require very little processing, especially is you’re a straightforward case. Still it’d strange that they are saying one thing and doing another.
@Mark: it wouldn’t let me apply for a renewal yesterday and whoever I spoke to on the web chat wasn’t budging.
No reason for 2 or 3 of them to be processing post and online applications. There are other civil servants still going into work in different areas. This is something that is definitely wrong. Absolutey and horribly wrong. If people need to travel and get a passport then they don’t need this hassle too.
I truly thought I would never say these words ,but as a Dub’ ,I will ,ask me bollix .
Absolute joke shop..
Keep up the good work guys
Laughing at some of the comments about the passport staff working from home…! While some elements can be done at home, it’s a legal document, also how could it be printed in someone’s spare room? Would you want your birth certificate and other documents on someone’s kitchen table? Many of the staff of the dept were redeployed to social welfare to help with the processing of the pup and the ewws scheme.
Same people giving out about not being able to get passports are probably giving out about the fact our airports are open!
@Bleurgh: The passports are printed in a robot factory in Balbriggan. All staff have to do for most renewals is to review material online. There is an issue with kids though – kids’ applications require some slightly silly supporting documentation (a bit of paper witnessed by someone from a list of professions).
@Bleurgh: can’t they work from the office but just put screens between each person, and have masks and hand sanitiser? That’s what we did in Retail. It ain’t brain surgery.
@Carol Conway: let me guess, you’re not in a union.
This is totally wrong!! Similarly to the guy in the article, what if there’s an emergency travel situation. My husband just had his passport renewed in his embassy with a 7 day turnaround so this is not the norm!
Sue them, surely it’s your right to have your passport in your possession, like others have said why is there so little resistance to this government and what they have done to this country in the last 12 months, is there 1 person in Ireland who thinks they’ve done well in how they have handled this pandemic
My family and I are living in Germany, and our daughters passport expired last year. We submitted all the relevant documents to the passport office back in November, as we were making plans to return to Ireland for good. We had hoped to move by Easter but that looks like maybe Easter 2022. I am absolutely disgusted, and appalled by this, when I see private industry able to continue working, despite lockdowns. It is unacceptable in my view and makes me incredibly angry.
Can Ireland get any worse?
lol
Someone is telling porkies here or is misinformed. I renewed mine online five weeks ago and had it in two days, same as two other people above. I wasn’t even in a rush for it.
@Dermot Sexton: we are waiting since November for our daughters passport. ??????
@Tom Mc Phillips: No idea, other people seem to have no problems either, but some do. All I know is it took two days, very straightforward online. Then I have to go dancing through hoops to renew my driving license. Why the difference? (I know, slightly off topic)
@Dermot Sexton: ah don’t worry about the driving licence, sure you can drive very far at the moment anyways.
@Dermot Sexton: 95% of people are not getting their passports processed .
I have to say I ordered my passport online in October and got it back with the card and book passport it only took 6 days it was brilliant service
How is this service non-essential? Sick of public servants. They never ever overwork and yet are always underpaid!
So are all the passport office staff on the PUP payments now as their place of work is closed ?
@BOBBY McDONNELL: they are redeployed
@Niamh Hayes: why would we redeploy staff from such an essential service? I’m sure there are plenty of others in the 350K strong public service who could be redeployed.
Someone at the Journal must have tried to renew their passport this week, this has been an on going issued for tens of thousands of people for the past year and only the last 2 weeks have journalists noticed as IT article too. They need to look at all the public the backlogs being created, driving tests, CRO office, what else is not being processed, what are these people doing? Zero on PUP payments, how many can even work from home with laptops issued. The country is on it’s knees with the limited private sector working to pay it all and 25% unemployment, and yet again the public sector escapes it all.
Such a massive disgrace. I can order a takeaway pizza or anything from amazon, and get immediate delivery, but I can’t get my passport. Theres something awful wrong with that.
Maybe it’s different now, and we have been at Level 5 restrictions since Christmas, but I applied for my password on the 23rd January and had it a week later. It was a renewal as my previous passport expired September last year.
Absolutely scandalous this attempt to prevent travel rather than actually legislate and ban travel if that’s what they want to do.
Its actually pathetic and sums up the way our state is behaving right now. They wont propely manage international travel but will engage in this nonsense.
@Jess Delahunt: Roll on elections, backlog is 75,000 now. People or their families don’t forget this stuff.
They are up to no good
With viable workable alternatives such as having staff come into the office on a rotating basis to scan paper applications and supporting docs into a digital queue with the online applications to be processed as they are now, and then return the original docs to the applicant the optics on this really come across as being a covert method to curb travel.
Let’s be honest I’d bet many first time applicants either as adults or for their children are doing so with possible travel plans in the near future. While there would be other reasons anecdotally I only applied for my kids first passport when we were planning travel, and family/friends with children did the same also; none just applied for the child’s passport out of the blue.
It’s either that or this is the gov dept with the least amount of imagination & motivation (which isn’t too entirely unbelievable either)
I’ve never heard of such an antiquated system why on earth would you have to send your, passport back for your child’s passport where is the technology where you can photograph and send via email, this is totally injust
@Ron Ashenden: absolutely. But they insist that the passport documents must be submitted by post only for a child’s passport renewal. Go figure.
Absolute joke!!! Pure banana republic. Why are these people not working?? And why are Makonkys comments closed?
Waited in a room for 35 mins while car test NCT was being carried out and people coming and going casually. Nobody caring too much about current pandemic – business as usual there. Am amazed at other more important government offices shut
Strange rules with this lockdown.Intel in Leixlip have construction working and buses going in and out every day.Crowds standing at bus stops with no masks.I thought construction was stalled??
I renewed my passport before Christmas and it was very fast. I’d be willing to bet there’ll be “delays” processing passports until after the summer.
@D. Memery: I currently have no valid ID which I need for important issues, it’ll probably be a year before I get one, this is a disgrace,
@Alan Watts: Its quite bizarre that this isn’t classed as an essential service. Lots of people now with no form of valid ID. madness.
Good to see our heroic public servants deciding that passports are not essential and that they will all remain at home instead of working out how to organise a covid safe office. Does anyone know if they are home on full pay or are they on pup payments while they stay home telling us that they are unable to work at home and it’s too dangerous to go to work.
@Sara Davis: Yes its a disgrace. Irish citizens treated like infants. Unconstitutional. 75,000 people backlog now.
Would not be surprised if half or more of them passports are lost with the circus that’s running things
My wife applied for a renewal passport on line last Sunday, Passport arrived post Wednesday … brilliant service … what’s the problem?… thank you DFA good job
@Kevin50: 99% of people are not getting them. 75,000 backlog now.
Just another way to stop Irish going anywhere but still allowing people from around d the world in
Whole I feel for the non irish resident losing a family member but as we have a ban on travelling why should a non irish person be allowed to travel thousands of irish people living abroad have not been able to travel home for a mother father or any family members funeral a relation of mines mother funeral last month they had to watch funeral on webcam, there was a story in Jan about a cluster caused by someone travelling to the UK to see a sick relative, we are only allowed 10 family members at funeral , I really think if people feel need to go back home during lockdown they should not be allowed return until lockdown ends or at least have to go into isolation on return
@nelliekel:
there is no ban on Irish (or non Irish) people traveling to Ireland to attend a funeral.
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