Ireland recalls 12,904 passports after software update error

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is recalling 12,904 recently issued passports after finding they were not fully compliant with international travel standards.

The department said passports issued between Dec. 23 and Jan. 6 may cause problems at border control because of a "technical issue with a software update." The department did not specify the exact defect; The Irish Times reported the passports were missing the letters "IRL." The Passport Service said it "sincerely regrets this issue and apologizes to affected citizens for the inconvenience caused" and has alerted border authorities worldwide, the department said.

Officials urged affected passport holders to request reissue as soon as possible. The foreign affairs department said that once the defective passports are returned to the Passport Service, a new passport will be issued within 10 working days.

It was not immediately clear how many Americans with Irish passports were affected; a government spokeswoman said the Passport Service does not keep track of applicants who hold citizenship in other countries. The article noted that Americans can apply for Irish citizenship through the Foreign Births Register in some cases, and cited the U.S. Census Bureau and RTÉ for related statistics on Irish ancestry and foreign birth registrations from the United States.

Key Topics

World, Passport Service, Ireland, Irish Passport, Foreign Births Register, Border Authorities