Thousands of Irish passports recalled on account of printing error

Thousands of passports have been recalled due to a technical error that has seen inaccurate information being printed on the passports, notwithstanding that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has confirmed that the error occurred.

The call extends to passports that have been issued between December 23 and January 6, since it has been discovered that they were dispatched to recipients with missing letters of IRL in the passport.

The DFA has already apologised in a statement and advised those who have just issued new passports that they may have problems when trying to travel.

“The Passport Service is aware of an issue affecting passports issued between 23 December 2025 and 6 January 2026,” a DFA spokesperson said.

“Due to a technical issue with a software update, passports issued between 23 December 2025 and 6 January 2026 inclusive are not fully compliant with international travel standards, and there is a possibility that some passport holders may have an issue at eGates and border control when travelling.

“The Passport Service sincerely regrets this issue and apologises to affected citizens for the inconvenience caused.

“To mitigate against any possible travel issues, the passport service has notified border authorities worldwide through the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as well as Irish Border Management.”

The passport service has been reaching out to the affected passport holders through email, trying to get sufficient passports reissued after the mistake.

On the passport returns section of the services of its website, it writes: If your passport was issued between 23 December 2025 to 6 January 2026 inclusive, it is significant that we should reissue your passport as soon as possible. This will guarantee that you will not have problems travelling in the future. There is no need to apply again to be issued a new passport.

“Please return your passport book (and passport card if you had applied for one) to the address below immediately: Passport Return – Customer Care, Passport Service, 42-47 Lower Mount St, Dublin 2- DO2 TN83 Ireland.