Renewing your child's Irish passport

This page explains how to renew your child’s Irish passport. Information about applying for your child’s first Irish passport is also available.

Your child must be an Irish citizen to be eligible for an Irish passport.

Irish passports for children are valid for 5 years. For your child to continue to travel abroad after this time, you will have to apply to renew their Irish passport.

If your child’s most recent passport expired more than 15 years ago, you need to apply on their behalf as a first-time child applicant. If your child is now 18 or over you should read the page on applying for your first Irish passport as an adult.

You may also wish to apply to renew your child’s passport because:

• Their passport was lost, stolen or damaged
• They have changed their name

You can renew your child’s passport at any time. If you apply for a new passport before your child’s current one has expired, the new passport will run from when you apply.

You can renew your child’s Irish passport:

• Online, through Passport Online
• By post, through Post Passport
• In person, through the Passport Office’s counter service

You can renew an Irish passport online, following the step-by-step instructions provided. You can renew online from anywhere in the world, as long as your child’s previous Irish passport is no more than 5 years out of date.

You will need to send your child's previous passport if it has more than 6 months validity on it.

Digital photographs

You must include a digital photo as part of your application. You can do this in 3 ways:

• Have your child’s photo taken at a participating photo provider, who will give you a unique code to include with your online application.
• Have your child’s photo taken at a photo provider, and ask them to email it to you, or save the photo on a USB device, or other storage method. You must have access to the photo when completing your online application
• Take a photo at home using a digital camera or smartphone. The photo must capture your child’s image from the waist upwards.

You can read more about photo requirements for the Passport Online service.

Identity verification and consent

At the end of the online form you will be asked to print a Child Passport Identity and Consent Form. You should bring this form to a witness who will confirm your child’s identity.

Our page on applying for your child’s first Irish passport explains more about guardian’s consent.

Post Passport is a service provided by An Post.

If you are an Irish citizen living in Ireland, you should fill in form APS 1. You will find this form at Garda stations and at any Post Office. It is not currently possible to download the paper application form.

You will need to send your child's previous passport if it has more than 6 months validity on it.

Photographs

You must include 4 recent identical photographs of your child with your application. Two of these photographs should be signed on the back by the person who witnesses the application. The witness should also write the form number shown in Section 9 of the application form on the 2 signed photographs. If you are applying for your passport in Ireland the witness must be a member of the Garda Síochána.

More detailed information on passport photographs is available from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Post Passport abroad

Several UK Post Office branches in Northern Ireland provide the Post Passport service (pdf).

The following post offices in the UK also offer Post Passport:

• Cardiff Post Office, 83 - 85 Queen Street, Cardiff, CF10 2NX
• Glasgow Post Office, 140 West Nile Street, Glasgow, G1 2RD
• Liverpool Post Office, 1 – 3 South John Street, Liverpool, L1 8BN

If you are applying abroad, suitable categories of witness are listed on the application form. The witness should enter their daytime contact number on the application form as this may need to be verified by the Passport Service or the relevant embassy or consulate.

The counter service at the Passport Office is mainly designed to accommodate people who need their passports urgently, and don’t have enough time to apply in the other ways. In these cases, you should book an appointment with the Passport Office in Dublin, Cork or London. More information on the Urgent Appointment Service is below.

If you live abroad and you are unable to use Passport Online, you can renew your child’s Irish passport in person or using ordinary or registered post to your nearest Irish embassy or consulate. You use form APS 2.

You cannot download the application form. You can get the application form from the Irish embassy or consulate in the country where you live (or the closest embassy or consulate).

The fees for renewing your child’s Irish passport are:

Passport Online - €20, plus €5 postage fee

Post Passport - €30, plus An Post’s fee of €9.50.

Counter Service (in person at the Passport Office) - €45. An additional appointment fee of €150 (same day renewal) is charged for the urgent appointment service.

Complex online renewals take around 15 working days to process. All children applications are considered complex renewals, as consent of all guardians must be verified.

If you are applying by post, you should allow at least 8 weeks for your application to be processed (not including postage times). This period may be extended at certain times of the year due to increased application numbers.

Check the Passport Service website for current processing times.

Urgent Appointment Service

The Urgent Appointment Service offices are located in Dublin, Cork and London. You must book an appointment before attending the office. There are 3 types of appointments and a fee will apply to this appointment service relative to how quickly your need your passport.

• Same day renewal service. These appointments can be booked 3 days in advance.
• 4 day renewal service. These appointments can be booked 3 weeks in advance.
• 5 day renewal service (London only). These appointments can be booked 3 weeks in advance

Emergency travel documents

In cases of genuine emergency, the duty officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs can issue an emergency travel document of limited validity. Examples of such emergencies are:

• Situations of substantial distress such as the deaths or funerals of immediate family members abroad
• Urgent medical attention abroad

It is not possible for an emergency travel document to issue to minors (except in extremely limited circumstances), to first time applicants or in cases that do not involve a medical emergency or family bereavement.

Emergency travel documents may also be issued by Irish embassies or consulates, to replace a passport that is lost or stolen abroad.

If you are the sole guardian, you have to provide an up-to-date affidavit (AFF 1) stating that you are the sole guardian each time you apply to renew your child's passport.

The application form will provide guidance on exactly what documents are needed in your situation.

You can contact the Passport Service by phone or webchat.