Passports Act 2008

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1.. Short title and commencement.

1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Passports Act 2008.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

2.. Definitions.

2.— In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

F1[…]

F2[‘Act of 2018’means the Data Protection Act 2018;]

“applicant”, in relation to an application for a passport, means the person in whose name the passport will be issued if the application is granted;

F1[…]

F3[‘biometric data’means biometric data within the meaning of—

(a) the Data Protection Regulation, or

(b) Part 5 of the Act of 2018;]

“certificate of birth” means—

(a) a document issued under section 13(4) of the Civil Registration Act 2004 in respect of an entry in the register of births,

(b) a certified copy of an entry in the Adopted Children Register maintained under section 22 of the Adoption Act 1952 which is issued under subsection (11) of that section,

(c) a document purporting to be a copy of an entry in a foreign births entry book or in the foreign births register, both of which are kept under section 27 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, and which is duly authenticated as such,

(d) a document purporting to be a copy of an entry in the Register of Foreign Adoptions issued under section 6(7) of the Adoption Act 1991, or

(e) a document issued in accordance with a civil system of registration of births in the place where the birth occurs;

“child” means a person who is under 18 years of age other than a person who is or has been married;

F1[…]

F2[‘Data Protection Regulation’means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016^35on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation);]

“emergency travel certificate” shall be construed in accordance with section 15;

“guardian”, in relation to a child, means a person who—

(a) is a guardian of the child pursuant to the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, or

(b) is appointed to be a guardian of the child by—

(i) deed or will, or

(ii) order of a court in the State,

and has not been removed from office;

“Irish citizen” means a person who—

(a) is an Irish citizen under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 to 2004, or

(b) acquires Irish citizenship under those Acts or any other enactment;

“Minister” means Minister for Foreign Affairs;

“passport” means a passport issued, or deemed under section 27(1) to have been issued, under this Act;

“passport appeals officer” shall be construed in accordance with section 19;

F3[‘personal data’means personal data within the meaning of—

(a) the Data Protection Regulation, or

(b) Part 5 of the Act of 2018;]

“prescribed” means prescribed by the Minister by regulations under section 4;

F3[‘processing’means processing within the meaning of—

(a) the Data Protection Regulation, or

(b) Part 5 of the Act of 2018.]

3.. Service of notices.

3.— Where a notice is required to be sent or given to a person under this Act, it shall be addressed to the person concerned by name and may be sent or given to him or her in one of the following ways:

(a) by delivering it to the person;

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for correspondence relating to the application for the passport concerned has been provided to the Minister, at that address;

(c) by sending it by post to the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for correspondence relating to the application for the passport concerned has been provided to the Minister, to that address.

4.. Regulations.

4.— (1) The Minister may by regulations provide for any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

(2) Regulations under this Act may contain such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the regulations.

(3) Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

5.. Expenses.

5.— (1) The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(2) The expenses incurred by the Minister for Finance in the administration of this Act shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART 2 Passports and Emergency Travel Certificates

6.. Application for passport.

6.— (1) A person who is an Irish citizen and is, subject to this Act, thereby entitled to be issued with a passport, may apply in that behalf to the Minister in accordance with this section.

(2) An application for the issue of a passport to a person shall be—

(a) made in such form as may be specified by the Minister for that type of passport,

(b) accompanied by such information and documents in relation to the person as the Minister may require under section 7, and

(c) accompanied by the appropriate fee (if any).

(3) An application for the issue of a passport to a child may be made on behalf of the child—

(a) by a parent or guardian of the child,

(b) where the application is one to which subsection (4) of section 14 applies, by the person referred to in that subsection who is authorised by an order of a court in the State to give consent to the issue of a passport to the child, or

(c) where the application is one to which subsection (6) of section 14 applies, by a guardian of the child or any other person who has an interest in the welfare of the child.

(4) An application for the issue of a passport to a person who is suffering from a physical or mental incapacity may be made on his or her behalf by a person duly authorised to act on his or her behalf.

7.. Information and documents to accompany application for passport.

7.— (1) Before issuing a passport to a person, the Minister shall be satisfied—

(a) that the person is an Irish citizen, and

(b) as to the identity of the person.

(2) The Minister may require an applicant for a passport to provide such information as the Minister may require for the purposes of the application and to produce to him or her such documents as he or she considers necessary or expedient to enable him or her to perform the functions of the Minister under this Part.

(3) The Minister may require that information furnished to him or her under this section shall be accompanied by a statutory declaration made or affidavit sworn by the applicant concerned to the effect that, to the best of the applicant’s knowledge and belief, the information is correct in every material respect and that the applicant has taken all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the information.

8.. Processing of personal data.

8.— (1) F4[Subject to the Data Protection Regulation and the Act of 2018], the Minister may process such personal data, including biometric data, in respect of an applicant for a passport as are required for the issue of a passport to the applicant and the maintenance of the integrity of the system for issuing passports.

(2) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make such arrangements, including contractual arrangements, as he or she considers appropriate with such persons as he or she thinks fit for the processing of biometric data in respect of applicants for passports.

9.. Periods of validity of passports.

9.— (1) Subject to this Act, the Minister may prescribe periods of validity for passports, and different periods may be prescribed for different types of passports, for different categories of applicants and for the issue of passports in different circumstances.

(2) If no period of validity is prescribed for a passport under subsection (1), the passport shall be valid for such period as the Minister considers appropriate in the circumstances at the time the passport is issued.

10.. Name in which passport is issued.

10.— (1) Subject to this section and section 11, a passport issued under this Act shall be in the name of the applicant for a passport concerned as it appears in his or her certificate of birth (whether in the English language or the Irish language) or, as may be appropriate, a certificate of naturalisation or other document produced by him or her to the Minister as evidence of Irish citizenship.

(2) Subject to this Act, the Minister may, if so requested by an applicant for a passport who is or was married, issue a passport to him or her in his or her name that incorporates the surname of his or her spouse or former spouse, as the case may be, in place of, or in addition to, the surname of the applicant.

(3) The Minister shall, if an applicant for a passport applies to have a passport issued to him or her in a name (in this section referred to as “the new name”) other than the one referred to in subsection (1) or (2) or, if appropriate, the name entered in the passport last previously issued to him or her, require the applicant to produce to the Minister such evidence as appears to him or her to be satisfactory of the use by the applicant of the new name before a passport may be issued to the applicant in that name.

(4) If an applicant for a passport in the circumstances referred to in subsection (3) produces evidence to the satisfaction of the Minister of the use by him or her of the new name for a period of not less than 2 years prior to the date of the application, the Minister may, subject to this Act, issue a passport to the applicant in that name.

(5) If an applicant for a passport in the circumstances referred to in subsection (3) does not produce evidence to the satisfaction of the Minister of the use by him or her of the new name for a period of not less than 2 years prior to the date of the application, the Minister may, subject to this Act, issue a passport to the applicant in that name and enter the name of the applicant referred to in subsection (1) or (2) or, if appropriate, that entered in the passport last previously issued to him or her as an observation in the passport and that entry shall remain there for a period of not less than 2 years.

11.. Gender re-assignment.

11.—(1) F5[…]

(2) F5[…]

F6[(2A) (a) The Minister shall not consider an application for a passport by an applicant who wishes to have a passport issued to him or her in—

(i) the new gender, and

(ii) if applicable, the new name,

unless that applicant produces his or her gender recognition certificate to the Minister.

(b) Where an applicant for a passport to whom paragraph (a) applies produces his or her gender recognition certificate to the Minister the Minister may, subject to this Act, issue a passport to the applicant in the gender specified in the gender recognition certificate and, if applicable, the new name.

(2B) (a) An applicant for a passport, who has attained the age of 18 years and to whomsection 9of the Gender Recognition Act 2015 does not apply, may apply to the Minister to have the passport issued to the applicant in the new gender and if the applicant is using a new name, to have the new name of the applicant entered in the passport.

(b) An applicant under paragraph (a) shall produce to the Minister—

(i) a statutory declaration declaring that the applicant has a settled and solemn intention of living in the new gender for the rest of his or her life and understands the consequences of the application, and

(ii) if appropriate, evidence to the satisfaction of the Minister of the use by the applicant of the new name,

and the Minister may, subject to this Act, issue a passport to the applicant in the new gender and, if applicable, new name specified in the application.

(2C) (a) An applicant for a passport who has attained the age of 16 years but not attained the age of 18 years and to whomsection 9of the Gender Recognition Act 2015 does not apply, may apply to the Minister to have the passport issued to the applicant in the new gender and if the applicant is using a new name, to have the new name of the applicant entered in the passport.

(b) An applicant under paragraph (a) shall produce to the Minister—

(i) a statutory declaration declaring that the applicant has a settled and solemn intention of living in the new gender for the rest of his or her life, and understands the consequences of the application,

(ii) each of the medical certificates referred to in paragraph (c), and

(iii) if appropriate, evidence to the satisfaction of the Minister of the use by the applicant of the new name,

and the Minister may, subject to this Act, issue a passport to the applicant in the new gender and, if applicable, new name specified in the application.

(c) For the purposes of paragraph (b) the following medical certificates are required:

(i) a certificate of the child’s primary treating medical practitioner certifying his or her professional medical opinion that—

(I) the child has attained a sufficient degree of maturity to make the decision to apply for a passport in the new gender,

(II) the child is aware of, has considered and fully understands the consequences of that decision, and

(III) the child’s decision is freely and independently made without duress or undue influence from another person,

and

(ii) a certificate of an endocrinologist or psychiatrist, who has no connection to the child, certifying that his or her medical opinion concurs with the medical opinion referred to in subparagraph (i).]

(3) The issue of a passport to a person in accordance with this section does not—

(a) confer any right or entitlement on the person that is not connected with the purposes of this Act, or

(b) affect any right, entitlement, duty or obligation arising under statute or otherwise.

F7[(4) In this section—

‘endocrinologist’means—

(a) a medical practitioner who is registered in the Specialist Division of the register of medical practitioners under the medical specialty of‘Endocrinology & Diabetes Mellitus’, or

(b) in the case of a person outside the State, a person who is entitled under the law of the place where the person is to practise medicine in the field of endocrinology in that place;

‘gender recognition certificate’has the same meaning as it has in the Gender Recognition Act 2015;

‘medical practitioner’means—

(a) a medical practitioner who is for the time being registered in the register of medical practitioners, or

(b) in the case of a person outside the State, a person who is entitled under the law of the place where the person is to practise medicine in that place;

‘medical specialty’means a medical specialty recognised by the Medical Council undersection 89of theMedical Practitioners Act 2007;

‘new gender’—

(a) in so far as it relates to an applicant referred to in subsection (2A), means the opposite gender to the gender originally specified in—

(i) the register of births maintained undersection 13of theCivil Registration Act 2004, proof of which is a document issued under section 61 of that Act in respect of an entry in that register,

(ii) the Adopted Children Register maintained undersection 84of theAdoption Act 2010, proof of which is a certified copy of an entry issued under subsection (10) of that section of that Act,

(iii) a foreign births entry book or in the foreign births register, both of which are kept undersection 27of theIrish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, proof of which is a document purporting to be a copy of an entry in that entry book or register and which is duly authenticated as such,

(iv) the register of intercountry adoptions maintained undersection 90of theAdoption Act 2010, proof of which is a document purporting to be a copy of an entry in that register issued under section 91(1)(b) of that Act,

(v) where the birth concerned is registered in accordance with a civil system of registration of births in the place where his or her birth occurred, proof of which is a document issued in accordance with that system of registration, or a statutory declaration declaring why it is not feasible to produce the proof and exhibiting other evidence of birth, that document or statutory declaration, or

(vi) where the birth concerned is not registered because there is no system of civil registration of births in the place where his or her birth occurred, proof of which is a statutory declaration declaring that there is no such system and exhibiting other evidence of birth, that statutory declaration,

(b) in so far as it relates to an applicant referred to in subsection (2B) or (2C) means the opposite gender to the gender originally specified in—

(i) where the birth concerned is registered in accordance with a civil system of registration of births in the place where his or her birth occurred, proof of which is a document issued in accordance with that system of registration, or a statutory declaration declaring why it is not feasible to produce the proof and exhibiting other evidence of birth, that document or statutory declaration, or

(ii) where the birth concerned is not registered because there is no system of civil registration of births in the place where his or her birth occurred, proof of which is a statutory declaration declaring that there is no such system and exhibiting other evidence of birth, that statutory declaration;

‘new name’—

(a) in so far as it relates to an applicant referred to in subsection (2A) means, if a name other than the one referred to in subsection (1) or (2) of section 10 is specified in the gender recognition certificate, that name,

(b) in so far as it relates to an applicant referred to in subsection (2B) or (2C) means a name other than the one referred to in subsection (1) or (2) of section 10;