A passport is not a first-week essential unless you have travel booked, but it is worth understanding early, because one part of it surprises people. A child under 18 needs their own passport, it lasts 5 years, and, importantly, your child must be an Irish citizen to get one.
The short version
- Check first
- Your child must be an Irish citizen. Being born in Ireland does not by itself guarantee it
- You need first
- The birth registered, so you have the birth certificate and PPS number
- Apply
- Online through Passport Online, or by post. The old green APS forms are gone
- Photo
- A digital photo, waist up, from a booth code, a provider, or your own phone
- Consent
- Every guardian must consent, and a first-time child identity form is witnessed by a Garda
- How long
- About 20 working days online for a first passport; longer by post
First, is your baby an Irish citizen?
This is the part that catches people out. For a child born in Ireland on or after 1 January 2005, citizenship is not automatic: it can depend on the nationality or the residence history of the parents. If either parent was an Irish or British citizen when the child was born, the child is an Irish citizen. Otherwise, entitlement rests on the parents' residence, and you may need to show that.
So before anything else, if there is any doubt, check your child's citizenship position on the official pages. The passport application asks you to prove it, and which documents you send depends on how your child is an Irish citizen. This guide does not decide your citizenship; the official citizenship pages and the Passport Service do.
What you need before you apply
Everything starts with the birth being registered, which gives you the two things the passport application relies on: your child's birth certificate and their PPS number (needed if the child lives in Ireland). If you have not done that yet, see our guides to registering the birth and your baby's PPS number.
Order two birth certificates when you register. The passport application wants the original in the post, and it saves worry to keep one at home. Asking for a second copy at registration is cheaper and easier than ordering it later.
How to apply: online or by post
Passport Online is the route the Passport Service recommends, and you can use it for a first child passport from anywhere in the world. You need an email address, a printer, and a card to pay. After the online steps you post your original documents in.
You can also apply by post. Note that since 1 December 2025 the old green APS1 and APS2 paper forms are no longer accepted; for a paper application you now go through the Passport Assist Service. Post is slower, so online is the better choice if you have any travel coming up.
The photo
The baby photo is the part every parent asks about. For Passport Online you provide a digital photo, taken from the waist up, one of three ways: a participating photo booth that gives you a code, a photo provider who emails or saves it for you, or one you take at home on a phone, iPad or camera. Lay the baby on a plain white sheet, no shadows, eyes open if you can. It rarely works first try, and that is normal.
Consent and proving identity
The Passport Service must have consent from every guardian before it issues a child's passport. When you finish the online application you print a Child Passport Identity and Consent Form. For a first passport applied for in Ireland, a member of the Garda Síochána must witness it and complete the identity verification, so bring the child's birth certificate to the Garda station. The guardian who made the application must bring the child to be seen. A second guardian gives their consent too, with the same witness or another.
Documents, fees and timing
For a first-time child application you send:
- the child's birth certificate,
- the digital photo (online) or 4 photos with 2 witnessed (paper),
- the child's PPS number if they live in Ireland,
- proof of the child's Irish citizenship, the exact documents depending on how they are a citizen,
- and the fee.
Fees for a first child passport: Passport Online is €20, plus a €5 return-postage fee within Ireland (higher if you live abroad). Post Passport is €30, plus An Post's own delivery charge. A passport for a child is valid for 5 years.
How long: a first-time online application is completed in about 20 working days; a postal one takes considerably longer, at least 8 weeks before postage. If you have travel within the next 3 months, use Passport Online and apply as early as you can.
Who runs it
Irish passports are issued by the Passport Service, part of the Department of Foreign Affairs. parentready does not issue passports or decide citizenship; we set out the steps and point you to the official service, which makes every decision.
See the passport step in your plan
parentready turns the official rules into a personalised, ordered checklist, with the steps that come before the passport, registering the birth and the PPS number, in the right order. Free, private, and on your device.
Official sources
- Citizens Information: Your child's first Irish passport
- Citizens Information: Irish citizenship through birth or descent
- Department of Foreign Affairs: Passports
Facts checked against the official pages on 30 July 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, and it does not decide your child's citizenship or passport application. The Passport Service, part of the Department of Foreign Affairs, issues passports and makes every decision. Fees and rules can change; always confirm on the official pages linked above.