New changes for online Irish passport applications speeding up first-time applicants including children who had often faced long waiting times.
What Is The Change?
The Passport Service can now access information directly from the General Register Office (GRO), negating the need for parents to attach physical documents such as birth certificates.
“Over 90 percent of citizens now apply for their passport with Passport Online and this additional enhancement to the system will greatly improve the application journey for citizens,” Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin vowed, announcing the move on Friday.
General Register Office (GRO)
The Department of Social Protection runs GRO and holds all records of births, marriages, and deaths. Passport officials will now have access to this information in real-time.
Following a data-sharing agreement between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the GRO, the Passport Service can access birth certificates in cases where the applicant is a child, born in Ireland, seeking their first passport. A PPSN number will have to be provided beforehand.
A child applicant must also be under joint guardianship as outlined in the birth certificate, or where single guardianship has been granted through a court order.
The service will be able to provide a custom-made list, of the documents an applicant is required to submit. An Eircode feature has been introduced that will help people accurately complete address fields as part of their online application.