Visiting Dublin’s American Embassy for Passport Renewal

It is a pilgrimage we each make at some point and this month was when we had our turn for visiting Dublin’s American Embassy for passport renewal for both our kids. The last time we did this was when Bumblebee was about 10 days old in 2016. No liquids were allowed at the time and we were still working on Bee’s latch and I had a sinus infection, so it was an exhausting day. This visit was definitely more pleasant! I’m sharing an overview of my experience this time. Your experience may be different.

Our Experience:

Arrival

We arrived to the playground around the corner one hour before our appointment to make sure we were in the neighborhood and ready. Then we approached the entrance one minute before our appointment so we could be processed by security. As there was no wait or queue, this was perfectly timed.

Belongings & Security

Our belongings were thoroughly checked. Anything with metal or electronics/chips had to go through the metal detector. Some of our things went through twice. I didn’t even try to bring my knitting. But we have AppleTags in our wallets and on our keychains, plus chips inside our passports, iPhones, etc so the only things that actually came inside with us were the paperwork for our sons’ passport renewal and a paperback kids chapter book for me to read to them. We were provided with a temporary locker for our remaining belongings. If you are driving, leave everything in the boot of your car if you can to make things simpler. If you’re taking public transport to Dublin for this appointment, try to keep electronics/personal items to a minimum because the lockers are rather small.

Wait Time & Process

Upon entering, we distanced ourselves but were the only ones there for most of the time and waited patiently for our appointment. The appointment itself was straightforward but lengthy. My husband is awesome about organising our paperwork. We were completely done in one hour and on our way. But it felt like much longer because the water fountain was not functioning and my five-year-old was thirsty. He cried for water almost the entire time. My kids were tired of sitting still after an hour. To be fair to them, it was very boring and no sense of progress during the process.

Results

The passports for both boys arrived in the mail TODAY. I’m writing this right after our appointment, but waited to post until the passports arrive so I can be thorough and accurate. We have no travel planned so that timeline is fine for our needs, but they did ask if we have immediate travel plans at our appointment. The total time between appointment and passports (and cards) arriving in our mailbox was 20 days.