Parents who order a replacement or the first passport for their children experience constant delays before the summer holidays.
TD Emer Higgins announced yesterday her campaign to change the name of the passport office Express passport what reflects long periods of waiting has been successful. However, this does not involve any changes to the system, and it seems reasonable to keep waiting a long time.
Family blogger and laureate of travelers Karina Stone says the best approach is to apply online.
“Applying with a paper form through An Post is not clear, contrary to opinion. It doesn’t work, it’s an old system. It takes much, much longer than applying online.
“People should also know that when you apply online, especially for a child passport, they start applying for it only after receiving all the documents from you. So even if you filled it out online and you think, “Well, well, I applied last Thursday and let’s finish the paperwork,” the processing didn’t start at all until they got them physically in the office. “
Karina says a large number of passports are delayed.
“It’s like they put them at the end of the line. It’s funny, and it’s unfair to many parents if they make a simple mistake, like a spelling mistake or an incorrect date, it can cause a real passport delay. Triple check your forms if you insert them, and three times check the necessary documents, that you have the correct documents and you send them with the correct signatures in the right places.
“Actually it’s all online, if you apply online, it’s very convenient. It will guide you step by step and at the end you can print out a checklist of what you need to send along with it. So make sure you place everything your And and cross all your T, making sure everything fits ”.
It is also important that the photos on your passport match the application.
“I’ve always taken my homes, and I’m lucky they’ve always been accepted. Photos have been taken online lately, but then it will take a week, two weeks, maybe longer, when the passport office comes back and you really say, ‘You know what “No, we don’t.” .
Karina says it will take more than 30 days to obtain a passport.
“They keep telling people not to book vacations until they get a passport, but if you look further, such as the October breaks, and you decide to book it, thinking it will come on time when it’s first -Passport time you’re on a shaky soil, especially now with backlogs in the passport office. “
One of the updates in the system: you no longer need to send an expired passport when re-applying.
“At the moment the passport office doesn’t want you to send your old passport, and that’s great. That’s changed. You used to have to send a passport, or if it’s your child’s first passport, you used to have to send a passport. Now you don’t have to send one. passport, a photocopy of the passport will do. So, if the parents had to go to work or on vacation in the middle of applying for a child’s passport, you will not be left without it. ”
Asked if the local Garda station was the best option for identification, Karina said she did not think to go that route.
“I really need to renew one of my child’s passports by the end of the year, and I’m thinking about not going to the local Garda station.
“I always went to the local Garda station and I never had a problem. Nowadays I see again and again in our Facebook group that the passport office calls the station to check and when they call to make sure that, like mine, it is the local small provincial Garda station that only works at certain hours , they get no answer. They will then come back to you and tell you “no, sorry, you need to go again”. .
“However, to apply for children for the first time you need to have Garda’s signature as a witness for their parents and guardians, so just choose Garda Station wisely. Make sure they work during business hours when the passport office will be open. Bell.”
Karina advises that if you decide to go the route of using a school teacher or secretary, remember about summer vacation
“Only do this if they are willing to give out their personal cell phone number, and many of them may not want what I really understand.
Corina says there is a whole list of people who can verify passports.
“People like doctors, dentists, nurses, physiotherapists, speech therapists and pharmacists have a whole list, it’s all online in shape for you, so make sure you recheck everything.”
Karina also urges people not to forget that if you want to travel to the UK, you are in a common travel area.
“If you are a UK or Irish citizen, you are in the general travel area. If you want to travel to the UK and do not have a passport, you can travel by ferry and some airlines, not including Ryanair. If you are over 17, you will need a state identity card, such as a driver’s license or service card, and if you are under 17, a birth certificate will work. “
