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** ALL ** Passport Related Questions in here! Please Read Post#1 first!
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My recent experience (May/Jun 2013) renewing an Irish Passport, hopefully it'll put some of ye at ease.
First of all, *APPLY EARLY!*, even if you're not travelling soon. You'll save yourself a lot of stress. (Not that I listened to that advice!) You can't travel beyond the UK without a valid passport.
Passport Express will be the only postage option from Sun 30th Jun 2013 so this may lengthen the time taken if all applications become first come-first served. (Previously regular/registered post applications took 4-6 weeks). It's actually more expensive to apply at the public counter.
At the time of writing this, the Passport Express Turnaround Times page hadn't been updated since mid May. My application took exactly 10 working days from posting the application to new passport being issued, add a day or two for postage.
I called during the process and was told that pretty much only the day before the Issue Date is when everything starts (checking etc.) If there's anything wrong they'll call you. It's *VITAL* to keep the Application Number that peels off the application form if you want to check on progress!
Progress:
Thu 30th Apr 4:30pm: Submitted application via Passport Express at the Post Office.
Fri 31st Apr: Passport tracking status updated to Application has been received and has been registered.
..no updates until... (bear in mind Bank Holiday of Mon 3rd Jun)
Thu 13th Jun 1:45pm: status updated to Application has been received and is being checked.
Fri 14th Jun 1:45pm: status updated to Your new passport has been posted in An Post envelope reference no. PX PPXXXXXXXXXIE
Some useful info...
Documentation:
- I didn't need to send my Birth Cert to renew my passport, just the previous passport.
- Wait until you're at the Garda station or wherever you get the photos witnessed to sign your application (if you already have it signed, they'll probably just ask you to write your signature on a piece of paper).
- They accepted my photos as they came out of the passport photo machine without being cut into 4, but the site advises this could be a problem possibly chopping the witness signature when they cut them out (neither the Garda station nor post office had a scissors!) Cut them if you can, it'll save them time processing.
- I forgot to write my application number on the back of the photos, again this wasn't an issue but I'm sure would have helped if they got separated from the application itself.
Phone:
- If you're calling the Passport Office, you might need to try a number of times to actually get through. "... Unfortunately due to the high volume of calls we are unable to answer you at the moment". Keep trying and you'll get into the queue eventually.
- Once you're in the call queue ("... Please hold ..."), you could be waiting around 20-40 minutes to talk to someone. The hold music isn't the worst but put the phone away from your ear before the saxophone starts! Just before you're answered, you'll hear a brief ring so you're safe enough leaving the phone down on speaker.
Application Status:
- The status page is only updated a number of times during the day (1:45pm, 6:45pm, I'll update with the other times as I find them).
- As soon as the application is marked received and registered, you'll get an indicative Issue Date. Provided there are no mistakes on the application or issues with photos, this is the date that it'll either put in the post or (if you called to arrange it, which I did) available for collection from the Passport Office after 2:30pm. (I never got a call to say it had arrived there, and the status on the site said it was posted, but the An Post tracking number didn't work 'cos they had indeed sent it straight to the Passport Office, guy on phone and girl at desk were a bit confused but very helpful).
The Advice Page 8) states "Customers who have made arrangements to collect their passport, should not call to the public counter until they have confirmed on the website that the relevant passport is ready for collection". Unless your application actually says Your new passport is ready for collection (mine didn't), I'd suggest calling the Passport Service ( 016711633 ) to confirm it's arrived at the office before you go.
Office:
- The Passport Office on Molesworth Street is open until 4:30pm, not 5pm as the site states.
- I only had to wait around 20 minutes to collect from the office around lunchtime Tuesday.
Random:
- Passports are printed in Balbriggan (applications sent to the Dublin address at least)
- You get your old passport back, stamped CANCELLED and with the cover pages snipped at the corners.
- Apparently, according to the Advice Page 1) "The Passport Service will only accept photocopies in respect of passports with six months or less validity on the date of application". This would seem to indicate that you can continue to use your nearly-expired passport while/until your renewal is processed. I'd suggest calling to confirm they'll let you do this and how to proceed if you think you might need to go this route.
Obvious:
- Your passport number and validity date (obviously) will be different, so take that into account when checking in to your flight online, use the details of the passport you'll have at the boarding gate!
I have to say that for the number of calls they must get every day, I found the people on the phones to be really helpful and courteous considering how many people probably lose the rag with them so be patient!
(All of the above is based on my experience and stuff I wish I could have found in a single place when I went through the process, so please use it as a guide, not an absolute definition. I'm open to correction or addition.) If anyone has useful info on how problematic applications/refused photos are handled and any other info it'd be great to let us know.
Hope that helps, happy travelling!It is what it's.
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