Passport Service aims to double staff numbers as backlog rises to 113,000

The average turnaround time for first-time applications on Passport Online is 40 working days, and eight weeks for An Post’s mail-in Passport Express service. File photo: Collins

The Passport Service is recruiting “significant numbers of additional staff” in the coming weeks, as it seeks to deal with a surge in demand and clear the backlog with 113,000 applications currently in the system.

Demand for passports is expected to surge in the coming months as people begin to travel internationally in much greater numbers. The passport service hopes to have doubled the number of staff compared to June 2021 levels once the recruitment drive has been completed.