Irish passport
An Irish passport (Irish: pas Éireannach) is the passport issued to citizens of Ireland. An Irish passport enables the bearer to travel internationally and serves as evidence of Irish nationality and citizenship of the European Union. It also facilitates the access to consular assistance from both Irish embassies and any embassy from other European Union member states while abroad.
| Irish Passport Pas Éireannach | |
|---|---|
The front cover of a contemporary Irish biometric passport booklet (with chip ) | |
| Type | Passport |
| Issued by | Ireland |
| First issued | 3 April 1924 (first version) 1 January 1985 (first EU format) 1 October 2006 (first biometric passport) 3 October 2013 (current version) 2 October 2015 (passport card) |
| Purpose | Identification |
| Eligibility | Irish citizens |
| Expiration |
|
| Cost | Adult (18 or older)
Child
|
Irish passports are issued by the Passport Office, a division of the Department of Foreign Affairs. All Irish passports have been biometric since 2006. In 2015, the Irish government introduced the Passport Card, which enables Irish citizens who already possess a passport to travel throughout the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. An Irish Passport Card is intended for travel and identification purposes and functions similarly to an EEA national identity card.
Both Irish passports and Irish passport cards allow Irish citizens to travel, live, and work without restriction in any country within the EEA, Switzerland and the Common Travel Area. Irish citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 188 countries and territories; the international access available to Irish citizens ranks sixth in the world according to the 2023 Visa Restrictions Index.
As of 2024, Irish citizens are the only nationality in the world with the automatic right to live and work in both the European Union and the United Kingdom.