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There were apparently long waits for passport cards to be issued this summer.
PASSPORT CARD APPLICANTS complained about months-long waits, confusing updates and issues related to a new type of card being issued this summer.
The complaints were released to The Journal under the Freedom of Information Act, and document Irish citizens’ issues with the card over the months from May to September.
Ireland’s passport service is generally praised for its service and the speed with which people receive renewals, often in less than a week.
However, the passport card seems to have been repeatedly delayed over the summer and a number of applicants who wrote to the office reported that they were told about a problem with the machine that makes the cards.
One applicant only got their card three months after they first applied for it; another received the card one month after they needed it for a trip.
The passport card can be used for travel within the EU, European Economic Area, Switzerland and the UK. It can be obtained in addition to the more conventional passport book at a cost of €35, though it expires after five years.
Some complainants who wrote to the Passport Office about the card this summer said they needed the card to travel while their passport book was being held for a visa application.
In a complaint dated 2 June, one applicant living abroad said they had applied on 23 April and expected their card to be issued on 8 May.
“My passport card has been showing as printing for about 2 weeks now. It is nigh on impossible to get through to an actual human being on the phone,” they wrote.
“I have tried a handful of times this morning and can’t even get into the queue. As I don’t live in Ireland, every time I call I am incurring international charges! The webchat never works. This is a simple, standard adult renewal.”
They added: “No additional documents have been requested. The published timeline is 10 working days. Even allowing a buffer for workload, today is the 28th working day! This is an appalling process and the turnaround times seem to be a work of absolute fiction!”
The records list the card’s issue date as 10 July – almost three months after the complainant first applied for it.
Another applicant, who complained on 29 May, said they needed their card to travel to races during a qualification window while their passport book was away for a visa.
They said they had been given an estimated issue date of 20 May, but were subsequently told there were delays until the end of June because of production equipment upgrades and the launch of new books and cards.
“I applied for this passport card so that I would have the required documents to travel to races during the important qualification window when my passport is taken off me,” they wrote.
“Due to these ‘essential upgrades’ and agonisingly slow turnaround times I will be left with no way of travelling and no control over it.”
Their card was recorded as issued on 9 July.
A separate complaint, dated 6 June, described receiving different explanations for a delay after three phone calls and a visit to the passport office.
The applicant said they had been told the printing machine was broken, cards were unavailable and there was a backlog of orders.
When their local TD Simon Harris’s office enquired, they said, the complainant was told machines were undergoing maintenance.
The complainant also alleged that an agent ended a call after their partner raised concerns about customers not being notified of delays.
“When he raised the concern that customers should be notified of delays, the agent responded ‘Fair enough, bye’ and ended the call. No apology or sympathy was offered. I find this completely unacceptable and unprofessional.”
Their passport book had been surrendered for a US visa application, and they had intended to use the card for a trip departing on 9 June.
“I am now at risk of missing this trip and incurring financial loss arising from missed flights and accommodation,” they wrote.
The records list their card as issued on 9 July.
Other complaints concerned tracking updates and delays returning original documents.
On 12 June, one applicant said the tracker had changed from indicating their card was being printed to saying it was being processed.
“This feels like a backwards update,” they wrote.
“Is my passport card being printed or not? My biggest concern is that my original documentation has not been sent back to me. You have my original driving licence, which I need back as I need to hire a car.”
They added: “I wish I hadn’t bothered to pay for a passport card.”
Another person, who complained on 13 May after applying in January, said their card had never arrived despite postal tracking marking it as delivered.
They said they had checked with neighbours and household members, but had been told no replacement would be issued because the item was recorded as delivered.
“I have now spent several months attempting to resolve this matter and feel I am being redirected between organisations without a clear solution,” they wrote.
The FOI release reflected the complaint, giving the date of their card’s issuance as 4 February despite the person contacting the Passport Office more than three months later.
Not all complaints criticised the staff handling them.
One applicant, whose photograph was repeatedly rejected by the online system, praised the people they had spoken to while seeking help.
“While they were all very nice and sympathetic they were unable to provide any assistance. Unfortunately this issue is outside their control but I would like to thank them for listening to my rants and trying to find a solution.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said that a new passport book and card “featuring world-first security technologies” was launched in June, leading to a pause in passport card production for a number of weeks.
They said that applicants could continue to apply for a passport card at the time, and that notice of a “temporary extension in turnaround times” was published online.
The spokesperson added that all card applications that had been temporarily paused were issued by early July.