Foreign Birth Registration

Koolboy wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 29, 2019 11:08 am

Just a small update!
As I mentioned in my previous post that I applied in July 2018 through London Embassy. I phoned DFA today for any update. He told me that I will receive a correspondence soon. I asked him what kind of correspondence it will be. He said I can't tell you anything about it just wait for the correspondence letter. Has anyone experience about this. I am much worried. Coz I haven't heard before that anyone received letter before approval. He also mentioned that the application hasn't approved yet.
Any guess??

I wonder why they wouldn't give you any indication about what it would be.

Seems we are having a few people getting some good news about being added - congratulations to all. It is really nice to be reading some positive news

Re-posting my timeline from the previous thread:

Online application/payment: August 23, 2018
Airmailed application, documents and copies from Washington DC to Dublin: August 24, 2018
Confirmation of receipt email from DFA: August 31, 2018

Congratulations email received: TBD
Delivery of FBR certificate: TBD

So I'm just about at the 7th month mark. Congratulations to Sulla and others, and good luck to the rest of us (especially Michael123!)

My passport was printed yesterday and was dispatched today. It was 9 days past the estimated date of March 20th, so this was pretty close!

It is good to hear that things are starting to move again with the FBR certificates!

Celtic1967 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 29, 2019 1:39 pm

Update for me today.

I contacted the FBR office and was advised that my certificate has been printed, but to expect it “soon” due to a backlog.

That’s been the first substantive response that I’ve received since submitting my application in early May 2018.

Coincidentally, after contacting the FBR office only yesterday, my certificate arrived in my mail this morning.

So my updated timeline now looks like this:

Application and Supporting Documents sent to Edinburgh Consulate: 09 May 2018
Email from Consulate requesting additional documentation: 16 May 2018
Additional documentation sent to Consulate: 23 May 2018
Congratulations email: Never received
Date of FBR Entry (as per certificate): 12 December 2018
Receipt of returned documents and certificate: 30 March 2019

Good luck to all of you. On to the passport application for me now.

Celtic1967 wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 30, 2019 11:54 am

Coincidentally, after contacting the FBR office only yesterday, my certificate arrived in my mail this morning.

That’s great news. Must have been a nice thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning. I see it took the FBR section 3.5 months to print and post your certificate. I was just shy of 4 months.

For the sake of everyone else waiting, I sincerely hope they get on top of the printing and postage situation soon and clear any backlog that exists. It used to be a couple of weeks between entry on the register and physical receipt of the certificate.

sean015 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:26 pm

My passport was printed yesterday and was dispatched today. It was 9 days past the estimated date of March 20th, so this was pretty close!

It is good to hear that things are starting to move again with the FBR certificates!

That is good news.

My target date was March 22nd (after applying in mid January), so hopefully mine will be printed next week. To be fair, it does also say a 50 working day wait time for paper applications, so that would be about right.

Good luck to those still awaiting FBR and those applying for their first passport !

Hi Michael, happy to re-post my timeline so far:

Application recieved in Dublin: 22nd August 2018
Congratulations email: Pending
Delivery of FBR certificate: Pending

Glad to see we have a new thread with updated timelines from everyone.

Final FBR Timeline (Revised)

I have corrected this, as some information I was told previously later proved to be incorrect. For instance, I was informed that I must have been added to the FBR in December and my certificate had been printed in February. I have also removed the "put forward for final approval" stage from this timeline because I was told it happened on or before November 29th 2018. However, I was already on the FBR by that stage, so it is pretty redundant to mention.

Application submitted: August 14th 2018 - submitted in person at Beijing embassy.
Application received in Dublin: Unknown
Congratulations you are now an Irish citizen email: January 10th 2019
Printing of FBR certificate: March 8th 2019
Delivery of FBR certificate: March 25th 2019 - delivered to Beijing embassy and collected in person

Upliam

Nice to see you made it over. Sorry to hear that you are still waiting without your congratulations E-mail. I hope you get some good news soon.

Longtime lurker, first time poster. My timeline is below

Application submitted: July 2018
Documents received by London embassy: 10th August 2018 (confirmed by Royal Mail tracking, not an embassy communication)
Email confirming application and documents received:
8th January 2019

I tried emailing to find out if that meant my 6 months started from then, but I didn’t get any response.

Appreciate Brexit has massively added to their workload. I did also wonder if embassies held on to documents during the move so limiting the chance of them getting lost in a big office move?

I applied through grandfather on my father’s side (although had the option of grandfather on my mother’s side too). My father got his Irish passport a few years ago so I was hoping that my applying through him would simplify my application in terms of documentation.

Hope to hear some good news soon

Hol292 wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 01, 2019 10:26 am

Appreciate Brexit has massively added to their workload. I did also wonder if embassies held on to documents during the move so limiting the chance of them getting lost in a big office move?

Welcome to the forum

I suppose this is possible but I sent my documents in February and also haven't had anything to say they have been received yet, it seems it is taking between 4-5 months to get this confirmation of receipt. (I only have the tracking receipt from the post office)

In your favour other people who have posted have said they have been informed that they are working on July applications so perhaps you will hear something soon.

WillQR, Celtic1967 - Congratulations!

Welcome as Irish citizen, and having the actual physical proof of Irish citizenship, respectively!

Great to finally see some good news appearing in this thread. And pleased to be able to add some more! Appears that my FBR 'journey' is also finally at an end. My certificate arrived via recorded post on Friday afternoon... sod's law when I'm a few hundred miles away in Wales! Something very nice to come home to upon my return on Sunday though.

My 'final' timeline:-

* Application submitted in person to Edinburgh Consulate: 31-Jul-18
* Additional documentation submitted via post to Edinburgh Consulate: 02-Aug-18
* Email confirming receipt in "Dublin" (/Balbriggan?) and "priority processing"; request for additional documentation: 27-Nov-18
* Email acknowledgement of documents received, "submitted to supervisor for approval": 04-Dec-18
* Entered onto FBR (unbeknownst to me): 12-Dec-18
* Email reply received to enquiry, confirming FBR entry / "you are an Irish citizen as of 12-Dec-18": 17-Jan-19
* Certificate printed - 10-Mar-19
* Certificate received in post - 29-Mar-19

Total FBR 'journey' length = 7 months, 29 days

Now on to the passport phase. Thankfully I had signed and had my forms witnessed in January upon finding out I had become a citizen, so had everything lined up for an expedient turnaround. Travelled through to Glasgow Post Office this afternoon (01-Apr-19) to apply for my own and my mother's, using their Passport Express service.

Very very fast and efficient service - barely more than 5mins from being called forward to counter, to walking out of branch. As expected they know exactly what they are doing... must be processing quite a few of these! And thankfully helped that our paperwork appeared to all be in order. Though admittedly did feel a bit weird to spend months waiting for the FBR cert to come from Co Dublin... only to then see it for two days, and post it straight back to Cork!

Ours appeared to get added to a pack of what appeared to be 6 or more applications, I assume all from that day. Teller advised of lead times of 3-6 weeks, which tallies with the current guideline times on the DFA site. So though we will miss the 'new' Brexit date of 12th April, shouldn't be by much - all being well, hoping to have full Irish travel documentation by the end of April, or latest(?) mid May. Shall update my timeline with more info as I have it.

Thanks all for the support. Got there in the end! Best of luck on your continued journeys...!

Richard

Good to hear that you finally took receipt of the physical FBR certificate. I would imagine Brawn will be getting his this week or early next week based on the printing time (March 13th) he indicated.

It really is good to see that things are once again moving. From mid-January to mid-March there was almost no positive news to speak of.

I also have my passport application in. I submitted before you did, but I have no access to the passport express service. My estimated delivery date is May 15th.

Just reading the Timelines thread and the template goes like this:

Application Based On:
Applied On:
Application received On:
Acknowledgement :
Second Letter:
Awaiting On Approval:
Date of Ceremony:

What is the difference between 'application received on' and 'acknowledgement'?

I had an email confirming they'd received my application on 20th March, so obviously that is the former. But what is the 'acknowledgement' stage?

mayorob wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 02, 2019 8:40 am

Just reading the Timelines thread and the template goes like this:

What is the difference between 'application received on' and 'acknowledgement'?

I had an email confirming they'd received my application on 20th March, so obviously that is the former. But what is the 'acknowledgement' stage?

I think you may have posted to the wrong thread. This section relates to Foreign Birth Registration. This does not involve a ceremony. Are you applying for citizenship by descent? If so, then you are in the correct place. However, the structure of our timelines is quite different from what you outlined. If you are applying for citizenship based on residence or marriage then you should post your query to one of the threads dealing with that - there are several.

All the best.

That’s the hope, Sulla!

Tomorrow will be 3 weeks (but not 3 weeks in working days) since I received my confirmation email that I was entered into the register. Let’s see if the postman has a present for me!

Happy to see that there is some more good news appearing on this board

Sulla wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:22 am

mayorob wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 02, 2019 8:40 am

Just reading the Timelines thread and the template goes like this:

What is the difference between 'application received on' and 'acknowledgement'?

I had an email confirming they'd received my application on 20th March, so obviously that is the former. But what is the 'acknowledgement' stage?

I think you may have posted to the wrong thread. This section relates to Foreign Birth Registration. This does not involve a ceremony. Are you applying for citizenship by descent? If so, then you are in the correct place. However, the structure of our timelines is quite different from what you outlined. If you are applying for citizenship based on residence or marriage then you should post your query to one of the threads dealing with that - there are several.

All the best.

Ah yes you're right, my apologies. Me being a bit daft!

I applied for my FBR in the UK on the basis of my mum whom was granted Irish citizenship through the same registration we are all doing, she was born in India and my Nan also had Irish citizenship (despite being born in India too) so it's a case of myself being entitled to it being the child of an Irish citizen at birth.

Current status

Received in the Embassy on 19/06/2018
Futher request for info 09/11/2018
Mothers passport copy certified
My passport copy certified
Mothers Indian birth certificate original and copy
Mothers original marriage certified original and copy

I'm having to get an affadavit done on her birth certificate because it is listed as name of child NOT STATED (dont ask!)

Couldn't find her baptism certificate so have to get that done and now submit with the affadavit, I've found the staff are quite helpful when you fire them questions about what can be accepted but it's also upto us to do our own homework according to the initial hiccups that can come.

Just getting that birth certificate certified copy of an original was a headache!

Hopefully come Monday all formalities will be done

Was advised to send documents to the

FOREIGN BIRTH REGISTRATION SECTION
PO BOX 13003
BALGRIGGAN
COUNTY DUBLIN
IRELAND

Was also advised twice Recorded delivery can be used

Was your mother entered into the FBR before your birth?

Yup

My passport arrived from the Consulate yesterday, so this is the end of my journey here! Passport timeline is:

Application mailed to New York Consulate: 12/27/2018
Delivered: 12/31/2018
Application arrived in Dublin: 2/6/2018
Passport printing & dispatched: 3/22/2019
Passport arrived from Consulate: 4/2/2019

I did have to sign for the package and it arrived via FedEx. I was not given a tracking number by the consulate so it was a surprise to get it yesterday.

Good luck to all still waiting!

Good Evening to all Fellow FBR applicants,

I thought that I might share both my timeline and recent experience with the DFA.

I submitted my online application on 22nd August 2018 and sent my documentation to the London Embassy on 16th September. I received the 'confirmation of receipt' email on 20th September. As six and a half months have now passed, I decided to call the DFA for an update.

My call was answered within ninety seconds. I spoke to an extremely friendly and helpful staff member. She explained that they had been rather busy lately and that they were now quoting up to a year for completion of the process. She re-confirmed receipt of my application and told me that it had gone through an initial inspection. She suggested that prior to final submission it would be more thoroughly inspected and suggested that if I hadn't heard anything I should contact them at the end of the Summer for an update.

This leads me to two conclusions. Firstly, the likely timeline for new applications is much longer than six months and secondly the clock doesn't start ticking until the DFA have acknowledged receipt.

spike18 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 03, 2019 7:50 pm

This leads me to two conclusions. Firstly, the likely timeline for new applications is much longer than six months and secondly the clock doesn't start ticking until the DFA have acknowledged receipt.

Spike

I am glad that you had a productive customer service experience with the DFA staff member who answered the phone. I have made a few points below.

1) Yes, the timeline for new applications is well in excess of six months. However, the DFA still indicate 5-6 months for complete applications on their website. How helpful.

2) The issue of when the six month estimated processing time runs from comes up again and again on this thread. Clearly, some staff responses have indicated that it commences when they open your package up and start dealing with it.
I have said before and will say again here, that in the case of my application the submission date was acknowledged as the date of application. This formed part of an answer to a formal complaint I made and came from the head of the FBR department in writing. Legally, it is not tenable to claim anything other than the date of delivery as the date of application. This is a clear legal principle in both UK and Irish law. In other cases, a more extreme postal rule applies, which denotes the date something was posted (not delivered) as the start date. It is obvious why customer service staff would seek to assert that application dates run from a later time, as it would potentially make applicants less annoyed or likely to complain. However, as with contracts that include liquidated damages clauses, or those preventing claims on the basis of negligence, just because something is stated does not make it valid.

Today I received a response to my FOI request

Amusingly, the FBR department claim that the information sought does not exist and they can find no records pertaining to it. To clarify, I asked them how many incomplete applications they received, how many were directly returned to applicants as per policy and the overall percentage of incomplete applications as a proportion of total FBR applications. I also gave them broad and flexible time frames.

As some will remember, there is a statement on the DFA website which reads that 50% of FBR applications are incomplete. This seems to have no statistical basis whatsoever. Moreover, the minister of foreign affairs also answered a parliamentary question on the issue of delays, where he cited this same 50% incomplete application figure. Yet, the DFA claim to possess no such information. Odd.

As an aside, they did give me information which I did not ask for. This may be of interest to some. I felt the figures were significantly lower than I expected.

2018 total number of FBR applications received: 25,283

2018 total number of FBR applications approved: 17,414

It would be wrong to work out a success rate from those two figures as the many of the approvals would be 2017 applicants and many of the 2018 applicants would still be pending approval.

spike18 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 03, 2019 7:50 pm

Good Evening to all Fellow FBR applicants,

I thought that I might share both my timeline and recent experience with the DFA.

I submitted my online application on 22nd August 2018 and sent my documentation to the London Embassy on 16th September. I received the 'confirmation of receipt' email on 20th September. As six and a half months have now passed, I decided to call the DFA for an update.

My call was answered within ninety seconds. I spoke to an extremely friendly and helpful staff member. She explained that they had been rather busy lately and that they were now quoting up to a year for completion of the process. She re-confirmed receipt of my application and told me that it had gone through an initial inspection. She suggested that prior to final submission it would be more thoroughly inspected and suggested that if I hadn't heard anything I should contact them at the end of the Summer for an update.

This leads me to two conclusions. Firstly, the likely timeline for new applications is much longer than six months and secondly the clock doesn't start ticking until the DFA have acknowledged receipt.

Funny, I applied before you and was told that my application had not been looked at yet and that they take applications STRICTLY in order recieved. This does not add up at all. My application was i. Dublin before you even applied online. Getting a little pissed off!

Michael123 wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 04, 2019 1:10 am

Funny, I applied before you and was told that my application had not been looked at yet and that they take applications STRICTLY in order received. This does not add up at all. My application was i. Dublin before you even applied online. Getting a little pissed off!

Michael

Spike applied through the London embassy. At the time he applied, that was still the route to go for UK applicants. All overseas missions will conduct a preliminary eligibility check of the information provided and the FBR document set. It then gets checked again (I am not sure how many times) In Dublin before final approval. I am sure this is the initial check referred to.

Your application went direct to Dublin. Therefore, there was no initial check done by an embassy. I don't think it is a good idea to compare your application progress with those that originated from the UK prior to the change of policy which moved UK applicants over to the "direct to Dublin" stream. I also think that the start of long delays for everyone (not just UK applicants) can be directly traced to the decision to cut the London embassy out of the process and get the FBR section to deal with all UK applications directly - probably including a large backlog that had accumulated in London. Prior to that event, applications from elsewhere in the world were proceeding quite swiftly.

You are definitely not alone in feeling frustrated. I still feel annoyed even after I have the certificate. I can totally relate to your sense of exasperation.