Certified colour copy of passport

[juanpurple]

Hi all,

The new requirement says the following

"Then stamp and initial all of the colour copy pages (All pages to be photocopied, even if blank) and provide a short letter confirming that the colour copy pages are a true copy of the applicant’s passport and that the passport is that of the applicant."

I have contacted several solicitors for quotes and most of them told me that there is no need to do all pages although that what it states in the form.

I have 2 passports to certified and the price is nearly €200, mad. Anyone who has already done it?

[shk1000]

Hi,

Dont they have to just fill and sign the page 17 in the application form. Yes they do have to stamp all pages but certified signature is only on Page 17 right?

would be keen to hear how you get on, I am also trying to submit this month.

[littlerr]

That’s the new requirement. Proper madness to be honest. I guess it depends on the prospective. Some people may be willing to pay that amount of money to have their passports by their side at all times; others would prefer to just send their passports away for a few months:

Most solicitors have not followed them through yet.

All pages need to be stamped and initialled.

[Vorona]

Most solicitors are still unaware of the changes. An entire passport, even blank pages must be colour copied and each copy must be certified. If you have more than one passport, same must be done with that passport as well. If you don't follow the instruction, your application may be refused as invalid, and you will lose the fee. Alternatively you can send the original passports with certified copies of bio-data pages of each passport. This will save you a lot of money.

[Nala2021]

Most solicitors are still unaware of the changes. An entire passport, even blank pages must be colour copied and each copy must be certified. If you have more than one passport, same must be done with that passport as well. If you don't follow the instruction, your application may be refused as invalid, and you will lose the fee. Alternatively you can send the original passports with certified copies of bio-data pages of each passport. This will save you a lot of money.

Where did you see that about the option of sending the original passport with the certified copies of the bio-data pages?

[juanpurple]

That’s the new requirement. Proper madness to be honest. I guess it depends on the prospective. Some people may be willing to pay that amount of money to have their passports by their side at all times; others would prefer to just send their passports away for a few months:

Most solicitors have not followed them through yet.

All pages need to be stamped and initialled.

The point 2 in the form says a full colour copy. I guess they scrapped the option of sending the actual passport.

[littlerr]

Yes they have scrapped the option of sending the original passport. That doesn't mean you can't send them though. It would be unreasonable to just refuse your application if you have submitted your original passport. INIS can be utterly stupid sometimes, but they very seldom refuse one's application outright. It's more than likely that they would just ask you to submit a full certified copy if they really want it.

Having said that, I think the idea of not submitting the original passport is so that they don't have to act promptly. God knows how much backlog they still have. It might take them months before they open your application envelope, so you may be out of your passport for a significant period of time.

[juanpurple]

Yes, at this point it could be problematic to send the original passport as it seems they don't want to deal with all the administrative task of sending it back (what if it get lost or something, getting emergency queries to return it in a pandemia, etc), they probably want to get rid of that responsability altogether.

I guess at this point sending the original when it's not stated could delay the application even more. It's not mentioned in the form at all.

[meself2]

Yeah. It's mentioned they might request the original passport if they would need to (and it'll be 10 percent of all applications by their estimates), but I don't think they'll be fine with just sending a passport like that when not asked.

[Vorona]

The notice from 31 of December 2021 advises the following:

"From 1 January 2022, new applicants for citizenship will not be required to submit their original passport with the initial application. Instead, they can provide a full colour copy of their entire passport"

Neither the notice above nor the revisited form contain any advice or instruction for not sending the original passports. In fact the form provides that the original passport can be requested if necessary. It is clear to me that the new process was introduced for the convenience of applicants who may have travel plans, and to reduce the number of request for the passports to be returned before verification is completed.

Shop around and find a cheaper solicitor, or send the original if waiting for it to be returned doesn't bother you. It will be returned with acknowledgement letter.

[Vorona]

Not to mention that original passport on it's own will give you 150 points right away according to the table on the page 18 of the form for adults.

[OneWorld2122]

Sending an passport ( or if everyone do that ) will completely fail the objective of a new system, clearly ISD don’t want to deal with this administrative task and won’t be happy with this practice of sending passport, no where ISD said it’s ‘optional’ as they need to review passport , return passport and emails on passport return all together will cost time.

[Nala2021]

The notice from 31 of December 2021 advises the following:

"From 1 January 2022, new applicants for citizenship will not be required to submit their original passport with the initial application. Instead, they can provide a full colour copy of their entire passport"

Neither the notice above nor the revisited form contain any advice or instruction for not sending the original passports. In fact the form provides that the original passport can be requested if necessary. It is clear to me that the new process was introduced for the convenience of applicants who may have travel plans, and to reduce the number of request for the passports to be returned before verification is completed.

Shop around and find a cheaper solicitor, or send the original if waiting for it to be returned doesn't bother you. It will be returned with acknowledgement letter.

The grammatical structure they have used for the passport issue, is just a typical language to announce a new directive without sounding like dictators - not to leave it up to interpretation for the applicants to pick and choose whether or not they will deviate from the clear instructions that the department is giving on this particular matter. For crying out loud, applicants were starved for such clear instructions, and the moment they arise, individuals cannot actually get it - and for what reason, I fail to see. It seems that for some, and perhaps applicants who already have their naturalisation sorted, the new instructions from INIS have provided a sort of playground for who will get their leg over quicker enough in order to pull some sort of rank regarding their so called knowledge and ill application of presumptions and cliches.

[mentalmind]

I think it would be better and safer to just send an email to citizenship department and ask. They responded in 2 hours when I sent them an email last time.

[littlerr]

As I said, if you send in original passports, your application won't be rejected, but it will take an even longer time for them to return the passport to you, and there is a chance that they will still ask you to send in certified copies at that time. With the new approach in place, they very likely won't accommodate any urgent request for the return of your passport.

[meself2]

Not to mention that original passport on it's own will give you 150 points right away according to the table on the page 18 of the form for adults.

I think full color stamped copy will give you 150 as well since they don't have a separate table for this?

[mentalmind]

You need to satisfy 150 points for Identity (aka your ID should be valid and not expired) and also 150 points for residence (bills, P60 etc). Valid passport will only satisfy 150 points for identity not residence.

[juanpurple]

Not to mention that original passport on it's own will give you 150 points right away according to the table on the page 18 of the form for adults.

I think full color stamped copy will give you 150 as well since they don't have a separate table for this?

They better be as I just certified them

[shk1000]

Not to mention that original passport on it's own will give you 150 points right away according to the table on the page 18 of the form for adults.

I think full color stamped copy will give you 150 as well since they don't have a separate table for this?

They better be as I just certified them

Hi can you please tell - if you did get stamp and sign on each page of passport, how much did it cost?

[juanpurple]

I sent emails to 50 solicitors in Dublin. Best offer I got from a few was 100€ for 2 passports (35 pages). Most of them quote me 200€

[idonteatanimals]

I applied for my child's application, and I printed 4 pages on a single sheet, so totaling 9 sheets. There is no reason for the department of justice to refuse that, because solicitor verified each page with corresponding passport pages.

[shk1000]

Thanks both for responses - very helpful!

[Inj]

All other documents can be certified by peace commissioner as stated at multiple places in the form in general but for passport on page 16 and 17 detail, they have only specified solicitor, notary and commissioner of oaths.

Is this a mistake and can all the pages be certified by peace commissioner, any ideas. It will save 150-200 quids