Foreign Birth Registration?

Update:

Called the FBR division of the DFA again today. I must have spoken to someone different, because I was informed that my application was indeed received in October and not February as I had previously been told. He said that someone is working on it now, and if I do not receive it back by the middle of April to give them a call. I'll post another update when anything changes.

Finally received my certificate today! I sent in my application September 7th. I became an Irish citizen on Feb 21 with the cover letter dated March 3 and I received it today. St. Patrick's day! And what a day to receive it....I can't stop looking at it haha.

Next will be the passport application, the pics I've taken seem to be too small so that's the next hurdle!

Good luck everyone!

That's great news Mikkey! My husband applied 4 weeks after you did, so hopefully we won't be waiting too much longer.

I just received an email stating that my application has been approved and I should receive my documents and FBR certificate within 6 weeks! For reference, my application was received on October 24, 2016 and I applied directly through Ireland mailed from the USA. I'm very happy to now call myself an Irish citizen!

My FBR application was received in Dublin on November 14. 6 months wait seems to be the norm, so hopefully I will hear something by early May! Will post when I hear anything.

Hi all, I am compiling documents for a FBR. My grandpa was born in Ireland and my mother in Australia. My mum has been married three times, twice to my dad and currently to someone else. Do I need to include all three marriage certificates and both divorce certificates? Any help would be great. Cheers, Chloe

Just wondering if FBR contacts the person who vouches for our identity on the application and if so, how long before the application is approved is the contact made? That would be a pretty good indicator that the application is being processed.

malibujohn wrote:Just wondering if FBR contacts the person who vouches for our identity on the application and if so, how long before the application is approved is the contact made? That would be a pretty good indicator that the application is being processed.

FYI

They didn't check with my "contact" for my Registration Certificate but did check with my witness for my passport.

Glad to see my thread is still being useful

Regards

W.

snapeaholic wrote:Hi all, I am compiling documents for a FBR. My grandpa was born in Ireland and my mother in Australia. My mum has been married three times, twice to my dad and currently to someone else. Do I need to include all three marriage certificates and both divorce certificates? Any help would be great. Cheers, Chloe

I would contact the Irish Consulate that services your area. They were very helpful with the many question I asked as I prepared my application. Good luck!

I applied on the tenth of december for my fbr to the london embassy. i would be interested to hear the progress of any fellow november/deceber applicants to see if they have heard anything back yet. good luck to all still waiting.

I also applied in December (21st of December) but I applied from the US and sent my application directly to the Dublin office so my timeline might be different than yours. I still haven't heard anything and they still haven't withdrawn the application fee. I'm not expecting anything until late June/July.

snapeaholic wrote:Hi all, I am compiling documents for a FBR. My grandpa was born in Ireland and my mother in Australia. My mum has been married three times, twice to my dad and currently to someone else. Do I need to include all three marriage certificates and both divorce certificates? Any help would be great. Cheers, Chloe

I am in a similar position.

I have 2 Irish born grandparents on my father's side but as I only need one I am in the process of ordering the certificates for my paternal grandmother (born 1887) but to get her birth certificate I need the given name of my great grand mother which I am trying to find out at the moment.

My father passed away some years ago in South Africa. He was married 3 times, my mother being his 2nd wife, I have ordered a copy of his birth cert and their marriage cert, I already have the decree nisi and my half sister can provide me with a copy of his death cert. So I will be able to prove my line of ancestry to my grandmother.

My father's 1st wife however is a bit of a mystery - I don't know any details at all. His third wife I can probably get some certs for from my half sister but prove nothing when it comes to my line of ancestry back to my Irish grandmother so I am wondering if this info is really needed - I mean if I didn't mention the fact he was married a third time would anyone be any the wiser unless my half sister applies for citizenship herself.

Hornet's Nest wrote:

snapeaholic wrote:Hi all, I am compiling documents for a FBR. My grandpa was born in Ireland and my mother in Australia. My mum has been married three times, twice to my dad and currently to someone else. Do I need to include all three marriage certificates and both divorce certificates? Any help would be great. Cheers, Chloe

I am in a similar position.

I have 2 Irish born grandparents on my father's side but as I only need one I am in the process of ordering the certificates for my paternal grandmother (born 1887) but to get her birth certificate I need the given name of my great grand mother which I am trying to find out at the moment.

My father passed away some years ago in South Africa. He was married 3 times, my mother being his 2nd wife, I have ordered a copy of his birth cert and their marriage cert, I already have the decree nisi and my half sister can provide me with a copy of his death cert. So I will be able to prove my line of ancestry to my grandmother.

My father's 1st wife however is a bit of a mystery - I don't know any details at all. His third wife I can probably get some certs for from my half sister but prove nothing when it comes to my line of ancestry back to my Irish grandmother so I am wondering if this info is really needed - I mean if I didn't mention the fact he was married a third time would anyone be any the wiser unless my half sister applies for citizenship herself.

I had/have this problem with my grandfather. He was married 3 times, the first being to my mothers, mother. When i contacted the embassy about it, they said i needed to provide the certificates for the two following marriages, which are completely unrelated to me, however i'm not confident i was advised correctly. I think when i get around to it (it's taking forever to receive all of the corresponding certificates ) i'm just going to chance it sending off the marriage and divorce decree for his partnership with my biological grandmother, and then if they specifically request the documentation for the other two, i'll have to order and send them then.
If anyone else finds anything out in the meantime though, i'd definitely be interested in what their consulate or embassy advises them to do.

Hi all, not sure how to reply to individual messages. I received an email from the Irish Embassy in London notifying me that I need to provide originals of the final divorce decrees for my mother's first two marriages and the original marriage certificate of her most recent marriage. I asked for clarification on this twice and received the same information both times. Hope this helps anyone. Their response time is amazing btw!

I just received my FBR Certificate and documents in the mail today! My certificate is dated March 7, 2017 (the same day my credit card was charged). The FBR department gave me a time estimate of 5 months, and having applied on October 24th that is pretty spot on.

Also, just a note for applicants from the US. My certificate was overnighted to me via FedEx from the Consulate in New York. They required a signature to deliver. I had just heard stories of it being sent through the USPS which made me nervous, so I'm very glad they're doing this now! Anyway, best of luck to all applicants awaiting their certificates. The agony of waiting is well worth it!

edit: One last thing I forgot to mention, and it's something that will hopefully help others in my situation. My grandfather didn't have a birth certificate. It just didn't exist anywhere. I was able to use his baptismal certificate from the church combined with a certificate from the HSE stating that a search was performed but no matches were found. I know it's rare for that to happen but I wanted to put that out there!

Hi everyone,

I qualify for Irish citizenship via my mother's father, who was born in Ireland.
The problem is that I am not in contact with my mother, and have no way of getting a copy of her ID. Is there any possible way to get around this problem ?

I just received my FBR cetificate today via FedEx! I am in the California. My application was received in Dublin on November 14, 2016. So about a 4.5 month turnaround. According to the Certificate I was registered on February 28, 2017 and the congratulatory letter is dated March 8, 2017. Very exciting. Off to prepare my passport application!

charlespoppy wrote:Hi everyone,

I qualify for Irish citizenship via my mother's father, who was born in Ireland.
The problem is that I am not in contact with my mother, and have no way of getting a copy of her ID. Is there any possible way to get around this problem ?

Hi charlespoppy,

Unfortunately I don't think there's a way to get around that problem. Call the office in Dublin to check and get their opinion on your specific situation. I had to do that because my grandmother no longer had a valid form of ID and they helped me go over all the accepted options. Good Luck!

charlespoppy wrote:Hi everyone,

I qualify for Irish citizenship via my mother's father, who was born in Ireland.
The problem is that I am not in contact with my mother, and have no way of getting a copy of her ID. Is there any possible way to get around this problem ?

You should be able to get everything yourself. Most is publicly available (Marriage cert, Birth cert, Divorce cert, Adoption cert, Death cert) via GRO in Ireland and your local country.

Anything else (i.e. a copy of a passport) you may be able to get an affidavit instead.

W

Hey all.

I have a quick question regarding the application form. This question is puzzling me ....

"Details of the Parent through whom Irish citizenship is said to be derived"

Is this question relating to my immediate parents or my grandad's parents?

(my grandad is a irish born citizen)

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Water_tank wrote:Hey all.

I have a quick question regarding the application form. This question is puzzling me ....

"Details of the Parent through whom Irish citizenship is said to be derived"

Is this question relating to my immediate parents or my grandad's parents?

(my grandad is a irish born citizen)

Any guidance would be appreciated.

That question relates to the parent of yours (i.e., your mother or father) who is an Irish citizen (by their own registration in the FBR, or by birth to one of your Irish-born grandparents). Bear in mind that in many cases your parent might be an Irish citizen without realising it - this doesn't make any difference to your ability to register yourself in the FBR.

Thanks so much

hi, i would be interested to hear if anyone has had their fbr rejected and if so

why it was rejected
and ho long it was after the application was sent, that you heard it was rejected
and finally what happened afterwards.
i sent mine at the start of december and am yet to hear anything

bigdogjono wrote:hi, i would be interested to hear if anyone has had their fbr rejected and if so

why it was rejected
and ho long it was after the application was sent, that you heard it was rejected
and finally what happened afterwards.
i sent mine at the start of december and am yet to hear anything

You won't have heard anything yet, especially if you've applied via the London embassy. My husband applied at the beginning of October, 25 weeks ago, and after emailing for an update on progress has been told that his application has been submitted for decision. Hopefully it should only take another few weeks. It looks like applications via London are taking over six months. It's just a matter of being patient I'm afraid.

Interesting. i am also applying via london. was yours a straight forward application or is there anything that could have made yours take longer?