Parents who have submitted their passport for their child’s passport application will have to wait for it to be returned
DUBLIN: The Ministry of External Affairs has clarified that parents who have submitted their passports as part of their application for their children’s new passports will have to wait for at least six months to get their passports back.
The Ministry is of the view that any additional documents submitted as part of the passport application process cannot be returned to the applicant, except in emergencies.
Passport services have been suspended since the end of December in accordance with Level 5 restrictions in force in Ireland.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it would not resume operations until Level 5 restrictions were eased and that the documents could not be returned until then.
Many parents had approached the passport offices requesting them to return their passports and documents submitted with the application, as the children’s passport application process will be delayed. Due to this issue, people with relatives abroad and non-EU citizens are unable to leave the country even for emergencies.
The passport office told the media that even applicants who submitted documents by the end of December would not receive their passports or documents until June, as the government indicated it was unlikely to ease restrictions until May.
A Labour TD said it was unfortunate that people had to wait without essential documents such as their own passports. They may even need it for a mortgage application or rent application. The TD urged the minister to take immediate action to avoid such situations.
At the same time, the passport officer informed the clients through a notice on their website that the operation has been suspended and applications will be processed as soon as the office resumes after the restrictions. The website also mentions that if the documentation is submitted, it will be kept confidential.
However, there is also the warning that the documents cannot be recovered. The department has announced that documents can only be submitted within 20 working days of the resumption of operations at level 4.
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