Passport Services Update
Announcement
15 November 2021PASSPORTS
The Passport service is currently working through all the applications received during the period of suspended service due to COVID-19. Most paper applications submitted via the Consulate during this period should now be trackable at Passport Tracking - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (dfa.ie) using the application number. While the status information provided here is accurate, the issue date may not be accurate, but your application will be processed as quickly as possible. All paper applications submitted to us with documentation are held securely at our offices until your passport is received here, at which point they will be returned to you with your new passpport.
The Passport Service has rolled out an online passport application system for all applicants- including children and 1st time applicants- applying from the US. This went live on 29 April and the link is www.dfa.ie/passportonline/
We are no longer sending out or taking in paper application forms. If you currently hold a paper application form and you have not yet sent it in to us, please instead apply through the online system. Paper forms received in will be returned to applicants.
Passport Online is a faster and simpler way to apply for your passport. Once you upload a photograph, it takes about 10 minutes to complete the online application form and pay with a credit card. If you are an adult renewing your passport with the same information, you normally won’t need to submit any supporting documents. If you are a first time applicant, renewing for a child or changing the information on your passport, Passport Online will e-mail you a list of documents which you need to submit directly to the Passport Service in Ireland. When your passport is printed, it will be posted back to you directly from Ireland by registered mail and will need to be signed for on receipt.
If you wish to apply for an Irish passport for the first time, please check whether you already hold Irish citizenship. If your connection to Ireland is through a grandparent born in Ireland (i.e. if your parent was not born in Ireland), you must first be entered on the Register of Foreign Births and have received your Foreign Birth Registration certificate, before applying for your passport. This is an online application process centralised in Dublin.
The processing of Foreign Birth registration has resumed on a phased basis from Monday 15 November. Applications that have been sent to the FBR team have been securely held and will now be processed in strict date order. At present, due to the complex nature of Foreign Birth Registration and the pause in the Service due to the Covid-19 restrictions, please allow approximately 2 years for the processing of applications.
Details are available here: https://www.dfa.ie/about-us/contact-us/contact-foreign-birth-registration-citizenship/.
The Consulate has no involvement in the FBR process and thus is not in a position to advise on individual queries.