Irish children’s passports can now be renewed online and Irish Passport Cards are available to children for the first time. The online renewal fee for an adult passport book has been reduced to €75, compared to €80 plus postage (€9.50) for a Passport Express renewal via An Post, and a child passport book costs €20. A passport card costs €35, but if you apply for book and card at the same time the combined rate is €105. First-time applications for passports cannot be processed online.
In order to verify the identity of the child and receive the consent of guardians when using the online child passport renewal service, a Child Passport Identity and Consent Form will be generated for printing and witnessing at the end of the online process. This form can be printed at home and your signature can now be witnessed by a wider range of people, including gardaí, doctors, school secretaries, creche managers and public health nurses.
Passports now last five years for all children aged 18 and under. The three-year infant passport is no longer available.
The application process will take “approximately 10-15 minutes”, provided your digital photos are ready to upload. Payments can be made by credit or debit card, and passports will be delivered by express post. According to the Passport Service, applicants can expect a turnaround of eight-10 days, but 50% of renewals are returned within five days, and 12% within a single working day. Renewing via Passport Express with An Post can take 15 working days.
For details of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ guidelines to its photo requirements, see: passport photo guidelines
