Irish passport holders planning on heading away this Bank Holiday weekend should be warned of the lesser-known passport rules that could see you turned away at the departure gate.
The four-day break away from work - thanks to Good Friday and a Bank Holiday Monday - will see many people and families booking swift breaks away for a long-awaited return to the sun.
Coming up to the summer months, if you have something booked you’ll want to be organised and make sure everything is in date as the passport office often warns of a seasonal influx of people applying for their new and renewed documents.
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The wait times are currently as follows:
Simple online renewals - 10 working days
Complex online renewals - 15 working days
First time online applicants - 20 working days
Post Passport (paper) Application - 8 weeks
Simple adult and child renewals have the quickest turnaround and despite the high volume of applications, there have been no major delays.
However, passengers are warned that if they haven’t travelled in a long time - and therefore have not looked at or used their passport - they need to check how long ago it expired.
You can renew online from anywhere across the globe, as long as your previous Irish passport is no more than five years out of date.
If it expired longer than five years ago, you will be treated as a first-time applicant and will see your wait time jump from 10 to 35 working days.
As well as this, if you reside in Ireland but hold an international passport, to travel to a Schengen member country you must ensure that your passport is valid for at least three months.
This must be calculated from the date of departure from the Schengen member country. You can be turned away from the gates if your passport expires within a short period of time.
You should also check the condition of your official travel document before heading to the airport.
According to Citizens’ Information, if your passport is in any way damaged, you can be turned away at the airport - this includes water damage, severe scratching on the identity card page, faded pages, loose binding, tearing on the cover, and so on.
Anything that can hinder identifying the passport as legitimate and belonging to the holder is considered enough damage to be turned away by airport staff.
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