Exact date by which you must apply for the Irish Child Passport before the summer holidays

Passport renewals must soon be made for Irish children in time for the summer holidays.

Renewals of child passports are considered “complex renewals” because consent from all legal guardians must be verified.

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According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, additional documents must also be sent in order for children to receive a new passport.

The current average processing time for complex online renewals is 15 business days and 30 business days for first-time applicants.

And if you use An Post’s passport mail service, the waiting time for both children and adults is about eight weeks.

In Ireland, the school summer holidays usually run from 1 July to 31 August.

That means parents and guardians must renew their child’s passport online on or before June 10 if they plan to travel by July 1.

The ministry explained that complex and childish renewals are when “you need to submit additional documentation or change information in your passport.”

They added: “This could be, for example, a name change or a lost or stolen passport. All applications for children are complex extensions.

“Because the consent of all legal guardians must be checked.

“Shipping time is not included in the average processing time. Shipping will be longer for applicants outside of Ireland.”

And officials warned that people planning to travel within the next three months should use the Passport Online service because the postal service takes “significantly longer.”

They said: “This application will take significantly longer than Passport Online for renewals.

“You should use Passport Online if you have travel plans within the next 3 months.

“Current estimated processing time is 8 weeks, but this is not a guarantee of service and you should not book flights until you have your passport.”

ONLINE SERVICE

They added: “Once you’ve made a paper-based application, it usually can’t be expedited and we can’t send your supporting documents back to you.”

The Department said most Irish use the online service and almost 90 per cent of all applications are issued within advertised processing times.

When using Passport Online, people submit an online application and then mail all the required supporting documents.

Once the documents are received you can use the passport tracking option to receive updates on the status.

Most applications consist of five steps as described by the FDFA:

• Application Received: The Passport online application has been received. It cannot be processed until you have mailed the required supporting documents.
• Notification: Application received. You must submit your supporting documents in order to proceed with the application.
• Application processing: Evidence has been received. You are now being verified.
• Edit application: Your application is being processed.
• Print: Your passport book will be printed. Submitted documents will be returned separately.

Officials are also urging people not to book travel until passports are received, as applications cannot be expedited.