Have you applied for your Irish Passport card? I have.
A while back I mentioned I was going to apply for the new Irish Passport card. Well after a few months of procrastination, I finally did so today. Hurray 🙂
One reason for my application is to do some research for the community here. I'm testing how long it's going to take for them to process the application, and deliver it to me here in the USA. Immediately after applying I received a confirmation email, with tracking information, so I'll be able to update this blog post as they begin to review my application, and process the card.
To apply for the card, which you can do so at https://passportonline.dfa.ie/, you need to meet a number of pre-conditions. Among other things you need to already be in possession of a valid Irish passport book, you need to be age 18+, and you need to be ready to be pay online. It's actually quite a simple process really. Once I had the picture out of the way (that was the hardest part of all this), it probably took me less than 5 minutes to apply.
How much did it cost?
You have a number of options to choose from on the passport application website. You can pick the passport book, card, or the bundle. If you pick the bundle option, you save €10, plus whatever the shipping savings might be. The card on its own, is currently €35. To ship to the USA, it was an extra €5.
The Photo
I mentioned above that the photo was the hardest part of all this, but I must also add that you can do this part quite easily with basically no cost. I say that because you can have someone take a picture of you with your phone/tablet/camera, and upload it digitally. That's right, you can avoid going anywhere special to have your picture taken. The problem I ran into was finding the right place to take the picture. The background has to be the right color, and there can be no shadows. Check out the 'links' section below for the various options for submitting your picture.
The catch!
If you have an Irish passport book, you do not need to apply for the card. It's totally optional. Your passport book is good for travel anywhere you'd like it to take you to. However, if you want one of these credit card size passport cards, which are very convenient to carry, then you need to know that is only good for travel within the European Union member states, the European Economic Area (EEA) countries, and Switzerland. This currently (2017) adds up to 31 countries.
LINKS
Apply for an Irish Passport
Track your passport
Photo guidelines
I'll be back with updates as they become available...
***update 1****
Literally one day after I had submitted my application, there was an update on its progress online. Using the passport tracking website, I was able to see that the application was ‘complete’. It’s taken me a few days to put this update on here, but now it seems as though my passport card has been ‘dispatched’ which means it’s out for delivery. Using the AnPost tracking service, I can see that the package has been received in the US, so I guess it’s a matter of days before I should have it hand.
I’ll be back with a new update when I hear more.
***update 2****
Well that was fast! Just 9 days after applying online for my Irish Passport Card, I have it in hand. Now that's good service 🙂
Here's a pic for you of the card and accompanying letter. Sorry, all the juicy bits are blurred out, haha. This is the internet after all.
Playing in the background
Irish rock band, The Script, have a brand new album out. That's what I was listening to today via the Amazon Music Unlimited service. As of now, I've only had one listen to the album Freedom Child, but so far so good 🙂
5 Comments Already
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Liam, this is helpful. My passport will expire in August, and I’ve been wondering if I could go the route you did with the photo. The digital photo standards for the passport must be the same as for the card. I plan on getting the bundle, as we are likely to be traveling in the EU. Your experience and success and the time I have to figure out the right background and lighting should be sufficient.
Cheers Tom. Let me know how it goes. Have you researched the booklet photo requirements? I wasn’t aware that you could use a digital photo for that. Is that the case?
Yes, Liam, any photos taken with a phone are digital and the link in the online booklet indicates that you can have someone take the photo with your phone. https://www.dfa.ie/passportonline/onlinephotoguidelines/
Liam, Taking a photo with a shadowless background was the most difficult part of the process, but once we found the right part of the stairwell, it was a snap. (My first photo was not accepted, but the reason for that was supplied, which was exactly what I needed to have.) In less than 20 minutes my application was submitted and eight days later, the new passport was in my hands. The card will probably be here today or very soon. I am so impressed with the online system. My partner applied for renewal of his US passport, which reached the office in Philadelphia the same day I submitted my renewal application online. It will be interesting to see how much longer it takes for his to arrive.
Yeah, it’s pretty impressive how easy it is. Certainly beats having to go to an Irish embassy, or to a passport office in Ireland for renewal.
Thanks for the update!