Here is just a few words about my experience with the Irish Embassy in Berlin and the experience of getting :

• new biometric passport
• an emergency passport

Overall I must say that I am extremely happy with how I was dealt with in a fast manner by the helpful staff, and I do encourage you to call them if you have any questions or worries.

The background

Stupidly I washed & dried my passport, and it was in pieces afterwards. As it was expiring later this year I didn’t really mind so much, just I knew that it would take a bit of time to get one because of the strike in Ireland. And with plans to travel to a few places this summer I knew I needed a new one ASAP.

Passport forms

After doing some quick research I realised that I needed to get the forms for a renewal from the Embassy. A quick phone call to the staff was all that was needed and I had the forms by post on the following day. You can’t download the forms, and I guess this is probably a security precaution.

I realised on the following Thursday afternoon that I need a passport to go to Italy on the subsequent Monday. In a panic I filled out the forms, got passport pictures taken and got it all witnessed by my bank, and sent it off at 6pm on the Thursday. As I needed an emergency passport for the Monday, I included the copy of my flight booking, and the destroyed passport.

On Friday got a call from the Embassy to check some details, and the temporary passport landed on my door on the following day. Thank God for postage on Saturdays in Germany. So it literally took 65 hours to get an emergency passport. If I was in Berlin I guess this could be done almost on the spot, but due to commitments in Munich I couldn’t do the 1,200km round trip (plus I don’t own a car).

Emergency Passport

The emergency passport is good for 12 months, and looks different to the other Irish passports (it’s green). As far as I know you can travel to most places on it, but you might get some questions if you go to the USA with it. Once your full passport is ready, after being processed in Ireland, the Embassy will contact you, and ask you to send the temporary one, or your old one, back to them in Berlin. They will chop off a corner from them and send them back to you, along with your new passport. I’ve found that they are really quick with postage turn around, and in my case it was done with the return of post the following day.

New Biometric Passport

The new passport took just under 8 weeks to get to me, from sending the completed forms to getting the new one delivered. While it’s not quick, I do understand that these things take time. It certainly isn’t the embassy’s fault it takes 2 months to get a passport, they always seem to react to things as fast as possible. More about obtaining a new passport is on the Embassy’s website.