How long does it take to get a passport?

fontdor

Hello everyone. My friend became an Irish Citizen through Natrulisation. On the 26th of January he sent his passport application using passport express. Then he tracked his passport application on dfa site. And on the 28th it said received and registered. Then on the 2nd of February it said received on the 28th and is being checked. But today it says received on the 18th of February and is being checked. He has been still waiting. How long does it usually take for the passport to be posted to him? As in how long does each step usually last? Thank you.

goz83

Normally 10 days if it was done via the post office service as far as I know. Your friend should call them, but I would imagine it will resolve itself in a day or so.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Victor

There was a comment on the news during hte week that passports are taking longer than usual to issue.

Zimmerframe

It takes as long as it takes, but they hope to do it in 10 working days.
It's supposed to be 10 working days, unless they are busy.
Note :If they are too busy to issue the passport in 10 days they are also too busy to answer the phone or to answer any emails. Their "online status" update system, will tell you something useful like "being processed".
The first you will know about you not getting your passport in 10 working days, is on the 10th working day when you find the postman does not have your passport.
You should be OK this time of year, but beware in May/June.

slimjimmc

They must be busy, current turnaround is 15 days.

https://www.dfa.ie/passports-citizenship/passport-express/current-turnaround-times/

Passport Express - Current turnaround times
For the week ending 18 February 2015, Passport Express services is taking at least 15 working days to process. Delays in the delivery of these services therefore remain since the last update. The Passport wishes to apologise for this. Measures including the recruitment of temporary staff are being used to improve service turnaround periods and clear any arrears.

Zimmerframe

slimjimmc wrote: »

They must be busy, current turnaround is 15 days.

yeah, typical peak period, everyone off on their holidays in February.

athtrasna

As has been pointed out first time passports take significantly longer and do not come under the regular passport express timelines.

Processing times also increase after citizenship ceremonies due to the massive influx of first time applications.

Carawaystick

The whole passport express scheme seems to tread on very thin ice.
An Post advertise a 10 working day turnaround, but when you go to a post office, you find out its longer, a bait&switch approach, and definitely misleading advertising.

The Dept of foreign affairs are complicit in this moneymaking scheme, as they will delay applications received in the ordinary post, inconveniencing users of other postal companies.

Miaireland

Zimmerframe wrote: »

yeah, typical peak period, everyone off on their holidays in February.

It a time of year where lots of people book their summer holidays and many people renew their passport now so not to get caught up in the summer rush.

Zimmerframe

Miaireland wrote: »

It a time of year where lots of people book their summer holidays and many people renew their passport now so not to get caught up in the summer rush.

The passport office themselves ask that you apply between October and March as that's when they are NOT busy.

"From the period of October to March a larger amount of applications are processed with a turnaround time of 3 to 5 working days. We would therefore advise applicants who are looking for a quicker turnaround time to apply during these months"

It just shows up the incompetence of the procedure/department involved. We keep hearing that we have too many public servants, well maybe they should get some more for the Passport office.

My own passport took 15 days in May, because it was too busy then too and my wifes took even longer in June because it was so busy and they were both justrenewals.

Timberrrrrrrr

I was in the Passport office the other day as i applied for a new one for my young lad on 4th Feb and needed it for next week. Three thousand people received citizenship recently and the Passport office has been flooded with requests so it's taking longer to process even renewals.

efb

I'm sure there are stringent checks that need to happen. 15 days is the advised processing time from date of receipt

Zimmerframe

Plus the only time one would be likely to to contact the passport office by phone would be because due to a delay in processing the passport.
Well typical, the delay means they are really busy, so they have nobody to answer the phone. I just tried it a second ago and got the same message as when I last rang in May 2014.