UK PASSPORT fees are going up this week, but some people may be able to save money by applying for an Irish passport instead.
From Thursday, April 10, the cost of a standard adult will rise to £94.50, up from the current online fee of £88.50.
If you're due to renew or apply soon, it might be worth checking if you're eligible for an Irish passport, which costs just €75 (around £64) when applying online.
If you were born after January 1, 2005, your eligibility for Irish citizenship depends on your parents' citizenship and where they lived before your birth.
You are automatically an Irish citizen if you were born in Ireland to at least one Irish or British citizen.
You are also entitled to Irish citizenship if you were born in Northern Ireland to an Irish or British parent, but in this case, you must actively choose to claim it.
If your parents are neither Irish nor British, you may still qualify if one of them had lived in Ireland or Northern Ireland for at least three out of the four years before you were born.
Alternatively, your parent must have had the legal right to reside in Ireland without any time restrictions.
It’s important to note that time spent in Ireland on a or while waiting for a decision on an asylum application does not count toward this residency requirement.
If you don’t qualify for Irish citizenship through birth or descent, you may still become a citizen through .
If you were born in Ireland after 2004 and don’t automatically qualify, you can apply for naturalisation after completing five years of legal residence in Ireland.
For children, the requirement is three years of residence, and the application must be made by a parent or guardian.
If you're eligible, you can apply for an Irish passport online using the Irish government's Passport Online service.
You'll need to submit a digital passport photo, identification documents, and proof of your Irish citizenship, such as a birth certificate or confirmation from the Foreign Births Register.
Once approved, your new passport will be delivered by post.
On top of being affordable, Irish passport holders also benefit from easier travel within the EU, and the Irish passport was recently ranked the strongest in the world in the 2025 Nomad Passport Index.
This marks the first time a northern European country has claimed the top spot.
The rise in Ireland's ranking comes as a response to global shifts, particularly chaos triggered by return to the and his aggressive tariffs on EU and global trade partners.
Trump's policies have shaken international markets, pushing many US citizens to explore second citizenships.
In just the first two months of 2025, over 8,500 with Irish ancestry applied for Irish passports—a ten-year high, according to Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs.
Websites like Daft.ie, which list Irish properties, saw a spike in US traffic immediately after Trump’s re-election and again after he announced steep import tariffs.
