Over the last few weeks, all of our staff have been delighted to welcome back appointments in our main office, it's been lovely to see you all once again.

We understand that it has been quite a long time since we last opened our office doors, so we thought that it would be helpful to provide a refresher to passport applications in this month's edition of our newsletter, with everything you'll need to know and bring for your appointment with us.

If your appointment is dated after the 1st June 2021 and you will be driving to us, it's really important to check if charges need to be made for your vehicle, 6 days prior to your appointment date. To check if your vehicle is due charges, or to pay charges, please click here. 

On the day of your appointment, please visit us at our Digbeth office, behind St Anne's Parish Hall at 45 Alcester Street, B12 0PH. Limited free parking spaces are available on-site, but there are various public car parks surrounding our location too.

You'll also need to bring the following items with you: 

• Proof of address (very recent, an original letter (not printout) of a bank statement, bill, HMRC or tax letter, or any government letter)
• Proof of name (same as above but needs your full name as in your birth certificate)
• Photo ID (An in date English UK passport or driving license, of which a photocopy will be made instead of sending the document. Original photo ID will not be sent)
• £6 in change for our photo passport booth, as we will be taking certain photos for an Irish passport that meet specific Irish passport application requirements
• £15 in change for our witnessing service, should you wish to use it. This service should be booked prior when making a phone call for your appointment, to ensure certain members of staff can be present. 
• A credit or debit card to take payment online for the passport itself. At the moment, the exchange rate works to around £78 for one standard, adult, ten year passport. 
• Your mobile phone, as many banks are now asking for a code through SMS or email to verify the bank transaction made for the passport application. If this cannot be authorised, we will not be able to continue with application in your appointment. 
• All original birth, marriage and death certificates in long form which are specifically needed for your application, to show lineage of Irish heritage within your family.

For further advice on certificates needed, please call our team on 0121 604 6111, Monday to Friday, between 10am and 3pm: 

- If you are born in Ireland, you will only need your birth certificate. 

- If your parent is born in Ireland, you'll need your birth certificate, Irish born parent birth certificate and parent marriage certificate if applicable. 

- If a grandparent was born in Ireland, you'll need your birth certificate, parent marriage certificate, parent birth certificate, grandparent marriage certificate and grandparent birth certificate along with your Foreign Birth Registry Certificate to prove Irish citizenship.

We also want to let you know that all applications will be completed online as paper forms are still not being accepted by the Passport Office. In your appointment, a member of staff will work with you to complete the online application. For first time passports, documents will also need to be posted to the Irish Passport Office, and our staff will complete thorough checks to ensure everything is present and ready, before handing the sealed envelope back to you to put in the post.

As the Irish Passport Office has only been open for just one week, please know that they may be experiencing a backlog, and due to this, we are anticipating a 4 week turnaround time for all passport renewal applications and a 6 to 8 week turnaround time for all first time passport applications. Supporting documents for first time applications will follow several weeks after your passport arrives in the post.

We hope you have found our refresher helpful and it answers all your questions about your appointment with us. However, if there is still something further you would like us to confirm, please call us on 0121 604 6111 between 10am and 3pm, Monday to Friday as our staff are more than happy to help.

We look forward to seeing you at your appointment very soon!

Links you may find useful:

Passport Service Updates Page - www.dfa.ie/passportonline  
General information regarding passport applications - www.dfa.ie/passports/questions
General information regarding Foreign Birth Registrations - www.dfa.ie/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth

Welcome to another Birmingham Irish Association news update

We publish news and project updates keeping you up to date with details regarding our services and events, as well as other local developments and other news that will be of interest to our clients as well as other visitors.