The passport office is recording increased demand for Irish passports and there are currently more than 50,000 passport applications queued in the Passport Office.

The average application is taking 20 working days to process (this includes Passport Express)

Those lucky to be planning to travel abroad should double check that their passport is in date and has more than 6 months remaining as this is a visa requirement for some countries.

If you are a first time passport applicant, please be aware extra time is needed to process the application.

Staff in the Passport Office have advised that passports will only be rushed in cases’ of “immediate family bereavements and/or medical emergencies”. They will require proof before accelerating an application.  

Applicants are asked to monitor the status of passport applications on the passport tracker.