Katie Carney

Passport Office, Cork

In December 2014, the Missions Section of the Passport Service was moved to the Cork office. I was put in charge of setting up and running the section. We are an extremely busy team - in 2015, we processed over 50,000 applications from our Embassies and Consulates abroad, including more than 600 applications from our Honorary Consulates around the world. My duties include delegating our applications to the Missions team, ensuring that the Missions Mailbox is staffed at all times, and prioritising the applications that come in to the team. I deal with any complex applications that come through the Mailbox.

In November 2015, I drafted the first Missions Newsletter. This monthly bulletin helps to keep our colleagues abroad up to date of any changes in passport policies/ procedures and it also gives turnaround times of applications. It’s been a great way for missions to stay up to date on what’s happening in the Cork office as well.

On average, we turn around applications in 12-18 working days. This timeframe is from when we receive the application in Cork to approval stage. The Missions Section can be challenging at times with different time zones and language barriers but I absolutely love working here. Every day is different and the section provides a great platform to build a strong rapport with my colleagues abroad.