Interesting. This appears to validate my decision made back in April 2021 when I chose to submit my son's FBR application supporting documents despite the website saying not to. Someone on here told me that that was pointless. Relevant post:duffy1867 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 7:48 pmJust spotted on the DFA Website (updated) today - I know this has been discussed before on here, but don't remember it ever being confirmed officially
https://www.dfa.ie/passports/updates/
Of relevance & interesting for us
I'm not sure if the 'time range' is a hint that it might be reduced or increased...
Applications will be processed strictly in order of the date that their supporting documents were received in the Passport Service in Ireland. Applicants are asked for patience as we process applications.
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The time range is currently under process.
Given the general time ranges being quoted I guess my son's application will process sometime in mid or late 2023, sigh.FrozenTundra wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 9:43 pmSince the Irish government hasn't communicated anything about how/when they'll restart processing and in what order, your guess that they'll do it based on online application time is as good as mine that they'll do it on when physically received. Neither of us really knows and both of us are just guessing/conjecturing. If you want to maximize the chance of being first, then it would make sense to do both submit online and submit documentation would it not? We submitted online in February and our documents were "received" in late April. So I think we maximized both.MikeyMike wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 7:44 pmIn fact, it's highly likely that applications are processed according to the date that the online applications are made. Instead what you risk is that your documents might sit in a dusty corner somewhere and could disappear between now and when paperwork processing starts up again.
Loss of documentation is totally possible. But you always risk that, not sure why the amount of time between acceptance and processing would affect the risk of loss unless you think that FBR staff are rummaging intermittently through the documents, handling them in a way to possibly induce loss, and all the while continuing to not process said documents. That would be strange to me, but sure there's always a risk.
Or, and I mean this sincerely, it is possible that the Irish government simply doesn't know what it's doing and thus simply doesn't know how or when it will restart FBR services. I don't mean that as an insult to the Irish government, but merely an observation. This would make sense given that the FBR office has given almost no communication or guidance on reopening processing; if they knew what the contingencies would be they would've told us.MikeyMike wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 7:44 pmUnless someone has an urgent need to contact the FRB team, I suggest we all sit tight and accept the situation for what it is. The Irish authorities mistakenly relaxed Covid restrictions before Christmas and have since paid the price with one of the harshest lockdowns in the developed world. In such circumstances they rightly have to look first to their own citizens and unfortunately, non-essential services such as FBR have therefore taken a back seat.
Many, *many*, other bureaucracies, public and private, have figured out how to work under COVID even for certain non-essential services. It seems that the Irish government just doesn't know how to do FBR processing with COVID restrictions, which is very bizarre. They've had like a year to figure it out; things like securing a remote workspace and scanning documents aren't rocket science.
At the end of the day nobody knows anything because there has been zero communication regarding their thought process on how and when to reopen processing, so your advice to just sit tight and accept the situation is indeed a reasonable suggestion. But so is sending in documentation early, because we all have no idea.
