Foreign Birth Registration

BrexitEscapee wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 08, 2019 10:33 am

I can shed some light on this for you. Whenever you have posted anything that I find unacceptable, I have immediately posted a forthright reply and, just as quickly, the mods have deleted both of our posts - probably before you've even had a chance to see my reply. There's no need to suspect the mods have a pro-DFA bias - they've obviously just adopted a no-tolerance policy to political bickering on the forum. The vast majority of your posts on here are critical of the FBR service and the DFA. However, I've only tackled you on the occasions where I've found your posts to be unacceptably 'political,' so the vast majority of your anti-DFA posts are still here for all to see.

I was not aware that you had suffered from deletions since the old thread. Thank you for informing me of this. As you have probably noticed, I avoid debates with you as it has a track record of leading to forum freezing / locking.

I will admit that I feel the same way about the FBR section as Cato the elder felt about Carthage. However, I do not think that comments which highlight their service standards as lacking or the inconsistencies in processing times should be construed as either political or a personal attack. They are after all a civil service organ and therefore supposedly apolitical. In the UK, saying that the NHS has serious problems and things are far from ideal is not a contentious political statement. In fact, it has cross party support, though the solutions vary. I do not see the distinction when it comes to the DFA - more specifically the FBR section..

Another issue is that if we are saying things are being deleted due to political themes, then we have to address the fact that other people (including one Mod) are free to post content which is extremely political. Obie has a signature footer which describes Brexit as cancerous. No sanctions there. If political statements are not permitted then clear guidance about what constitutes a political statement should be given and it should be applied evenhandedly.

Hi guys, I posted a month or so ago with my timeline and said that I had called the Dfa a few months ago to let them know of a change of address and that they just asked me for the new address and that was it done. Since then and reading some posts on here of other people who have also tried to change address and saying they had to send proof of new address this had me a little worried as I didnt have to do that and I dont at present have proof of new address as it's my parents address while i am away out of the country. So I decided to call the Dfa last week to confirm and give me peace of mind that my new address is registered or if indeed I have to send some proof. The guy on the phone was very friendly and helpful and he informed me that all is okay and my address had been changed and read back to me the new address without me sending any proof, so now I can relax and continue to patiently wait. He did say that I most likely wont hear anything until February next year given that my application was received by them in February this year. So the 12 months timeline is in full swing by the looks of things. Just a quick post to let anyone else know if they were in the same boat as me regarding change of address.

Sulla wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 08, 2019 11:20 pm

...Another issue is that if we are saying things are being deleted due to political themes...

I don't believe the mods are deleting posts due to their political themes. My reading of the situation is that, due to previous acrimonious exchanges, they've adopted a zero-tolerance approach to political bickering, with the emphasis being on the bickering. I presume they're now keeping a particular eye on this thread. That's fair enough as far as I'm concerned - deleting the entire debate is, at least, impartial and I now look upon it as a means to get unacceptable content deleted. I suspect their approach on other threads would be more relaxed - they'd probably allow people to post a full political manifesto, providing the thread did not descend into in-fighting as a result.

As for the FBR processing delays and inconsistencies: although I clearly don't think this is as big a deal as you do, I'm happy to leave you to criticise the process and the DFA without any interruptions from me - I only speak up when you make political inferences that I don't agree with. However, as this means our discussions on here are effectively in political stalemate, I don't see how you stand to gain from your sustained campaign against the FBR process and the DFA. As I see it, we've got an administrative process which is suffering delays of a few months. Whilst people are suffering those delays and being given outdated info etc., many of them will be anxious and/or angry, but ultimately they're going to be very happy to get Irish citizenship. Unless you're offering them something they can actually do about it, I don't see what's to be gained in cultivating this anxiety amongst forum members. Making them feel further aggrieved won't shorten their wait and they'll instantly forget everything once a shiny new FBR certificate lands on their doormat.

I do, however, think your compilation of an FBR time-line is genuinely useful to applicants. I've made posts on the main 'timelines' thread which have been extremely critical of the mods because that whole thread is an impenetrable mess, consisting of 99% useless information. Your simple list of processing times shows them how it could/should be done.

Hi everyone. I have submitted my application electronically and have been looking through the forums to check who I should use for my witness (there is some ambiguity between who is acceptable on the website and on the application form). However I am becoming increasingly concerned that I might not have all the required documentation even though I have what is asked for on the website.

For example, I am applying for FBR through my paternal grandfather. For my father and grandfather I have birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates. I was assuming that the marriage certificates are used as confirmation on bloodline etc. So far so straigthforward, so I thought.

However, having read about some of the documentation some people have been asked to submit, I wanted to ask your opinion. My father was widowed when my mother died, then remarried and divorced before his death. Even though this second marriage is completely irrelevant to my application will I have to submit documentation on the second marriage?


I appreciate your responses

Regards
Geosuzie

Geosuzie wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 09, 2019 1:13 pm

However, having read about some of the documentation some people have been asked to submit, I wanted to ask your opinion. My father was widowed when my mother died, then remarried and divorced before his death. Even though this second marriage is completely irrelevant to my application will I have to submit documentation on the second marriage?

Hi Geosuzie

There is some inconsistency in how this procedure is applied. I obtained FBR last year through my maternal grandfather. After my grandmother died, my grandfather remarried and was widowed twice again before his own death, yet I was not required to submit any additional information about his subsequent two marriages. The DFA would in effect have no way of knowing he had remarried (he had moved to England anyway), and it would have been far from easy to get the additional paperwork had they requested it (long story). Documentation about "irrelevant" relationships does seem to get asked for, so if you are able to get this relatively easily it might be safest to include them now rather than have this hold up your application further down the line.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

mattskilondon wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 09, 2019 2:47 pm

However, having read about some of the documentation some people have been asked to submit, I wanted to ask your opinion. My father was widowed when my mother died, then remarried and divorced before his death. Even though this second marriage is completely irrelevant to my application will I have to submit documentation on the second marriage?

I have already sent off my application but in anticipation of a further request I have obtained my parents final divorce decree. I suppose I should get a copy of my mother's second marriage certificate but haven't done so yet. Would be fairly straight forward to obtain anyway. All my other documents appear to be in order so not anticipating any problems. Just the waiting now, no point in getting hysterical about it (I don't mean to say that you have been in any way hysterical at all haha). It is what it is.

Hi everyone - is this thread just for people who are trying to register? If so, I'll start another thread. sorry, I can't work out which would be more annoying, to crash this thread or start a new one with what might turn out to be an FAQ!

My q is : My GPs, both dead, were both born in Ireland, my father in UK in 1942 before FBR. He's ill so I can't ask but I think it's 99.9% certain he wasn't registered. I now want to claim citizenship, but only if my children - who are already born - will be able to do the same. I believe that I can claim citizenship on two grounds - through my GPs, and through my father if we register him now. But in neither of those scenarios would my children be able to become citizens, because I didn't register before they were born. Does that sound right - and has anyone ever come across any further grounds not considered here that might mean my children are eligible?

Thanks so much in advance.

Hello. Your father probably wasn’t registered and it is unnecessary to entertain that now as the law sees him as automatically irish by virtue of being born to irish-born parent.

Your claim for FBR looks good, and you would need documentation covering yourself, your father, and one grandparent.

Your children can’t claim as you would have needed to have registered yourself before they were born. Since about 1986, citizenship by registration is only effective from date of registration and the general principle is that a child must be born to an Irish parent at the moment of their birth for citizenship to pass.

Gah, I thought as much. Was half hoping someone might say the 'register before your child is born' rule doesn't apply to children of foreign-born parents born before 1954' or similar. But thanks very much for responding, I really appreciate it.

Geosuzie wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 09, 2019 1:13 pm

However, having read about some of the documentation some people have been asked to submit, I wanted to ask your opinion. My father was widowed when my mother died, then remarried and divorced before his death. Even though this second marriage is completely irrelevant to my application will I have to submit documentation on the second marriage?

I faced this situation with the documentation that I had to provide for FBR. My parents divorced while I was at university and my father remarried. In addition, my grandmother was widowed and married again after giving birth to my father. The agent that I employed to deal with this was absolutely 100% certain that these documents would not be needed as they were irrelevant. She refused to get them for me (obtaining all necessary documents was part of her fee) despite the fact that it appeared from the DFA website that they would indeed be required.

In the end, I asked the embassy and they said it should not matter but it would be up to the FBR section ultimately, as these additional documents could be used to create an overall picture and clear up any discrepancies within the document set. On their advice, the application was submitted without these additional documents and there were no issues. In the meantime, I sourced all of the other documents required in preparation for any additional document request. I did not receive one.

My concern at the time was that it is relatively easy to go on online family search databases and uncover all the connections in a person's life - as long as you know enough initial detail. I assumed the FBR section would perform some kind of thorough authenticity check on the document set and the missing documents would be highlighted. I think the fact that none were requested in my instance is a product of the fact that my documents had no inconsistencies (after official corrections were made) and that the FBR section probably don't conduct anywhere near the level of background check that I had previously assumed.

Hi Everyone,

I just thought I would post my experience as it seems to be different from a lot of others on this forum.

Im british but living overseas and applied for FBR based on my paternal grandfather being born and raised in Belfast.

• 18th Jan 2019 - Applied online & paid

• 21st Jan 2019 - Documents Received at Irish Embassy (based on courier tracking)

• No confirmation received from either embassy or Dublin that the documents had been received or being processed (in case anyone is concerned because they didnt receive email notification)

• 18th Jun 2019 - I called the embassy just to confirm that the application is being processed and they informed me it is currently in Dublin but no update on status

• 9th Jul 2019 - Received an email from the Irish Embassy saying "We are pleased to inform you that your Foreign Birth Registration application has been approved. The Certificate is ready for collection."

Not sure why mine appeared to be much faster than most. Possibly because there aren't many applications from my embassy I guess?

I hope this gives some of you hope, especially those applying from overseas embassies.

SamJakeChloe wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 3:52 am

Hi Everyone,

I just thought I would post my experience as it seems to be different from a lot of others on this forum.

Im british but living overseas and applied for FBR based on my paternal grandfather being born and raised in Belfast.

• 18th Jan 2019 - Applied online & paid

• 21st Jan 2019 - Documents Received at Irish Embassy (based on courier tracking)

• No confirmation received from either embassy or Dublin that the documents had been received or being processed (in case anyone is concerned because they didnt receive email notification)

• 18th Jun 2019 - I called the embassy just to confirm that the application is being processed and they informed me it is currently in Dublin but no update on status

• 9th Jul 2019 - Received an email from the Irish Embassy saying "We are pleased to inform you that your Foreign Birth Registration application has been approved. The Certificate is ready for collection."

Not sure why mine appeared to be much faster than most. Possibly because there aren't many applications from my embassy I guess?

I hope this gives some of you hope, especially those applying from overseas embassies.

Wow, that is interesting. Where overseas are you living? Wish I'd have done mine that way!! My wait is 10 1/2 months now, as we keep saying... should be any day now!

usczkat wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 4:06 am

Wow, that is interesting. Where overseas are you living? Wish I'd have done mine that way!! My wait is 10 1/2 months now, as we keep saying... should be any day now!

I applied from Malaysia.

Sulla wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2019 11:19 pm

Lee2521 wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2019 10:34 pm

Not sure if this is related to admin following this thread.
I have been unable to get onto to this thread on 2 occasions lately for no
fault of my own. I went to check to see if anybody had posted anything today and I am meet with a message my IP address has been permanently banned. I would really like to know whom is doing this also why? I have requested a answer via the message I sent to the admin and still waiting for a reply.

My status
Online application 28/12/18
FBR application received 06/02/19

Hi Lee

Personally, I have never had this IP banning issue. It would be hard because I use a VPN with scrambling to access all internet sites anyway. I can' see anything that you would have said that could lead to any restrictions being placed on you. Sometimes IP's are banned because they have been previously used by scammers / people posting advertising etc. It could be that.

What I have found is that on this forum posts that are critical of the DFA and the standards of their service often get deleted. Whereas, posts that praise the spirit of the department or personally attack critics of the DFA (not really their argument) are frequently permitted to remain. I have attempted to take this up with the Mods and they completely failed to engage. I hope you have better luck with Admin.

Hi Sulla
I have had the problem once on my mobile and 2 times on my tablet now but never a problem on my work PC and is this because my mobile phone is made by ZTE and my tablet is made by HUAWEI both chinese companies who knows..

I haven't posted any thing bad or critical so it could because of other reasons like the site not liking my IP because it's mobile I don't know and also I haven't received a response from anyone yet .

Thank you all for your responses, some good advice there.

I'll submit what I have and get the details of the second marriage just in case I need to get a copy of that certificate.

Thnaksagain

Geosuzie

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been posted before, but it's now been so long since I submitted my application (9 and a half months and counting), that I fear that I'm going to be moving house before my application is processed and my documents sent.

I'm moving in mid September, and I'm not holding my breath!

If I set up mail forwarding with Royal Mail, will that be enough to ensure that my documents make their way to me when it's finally processed?

Many thanks!

Ross

ross12222999 wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 3:23 pm

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been posted before, but it's now been so long since I submitted my application (9 and a half months and counting), that I fear that I'm going to be moving house before my application is processed and my documents sent.

I'm moving in mid September, and I'm not holding my breath!

If I set up mail forwarding with Royal Mail, will that be enough to ensure that my documents make their way to me when it's finally processed?

Many thanks!

Ross

Hi Ross
Give the DFA in Balbriggan a call and request for a change of address for your FBR application.
I found it hard or near impossible to get through in the morning, lunch time but middle of the week late afternoon was the best experience I have had and I mean Wednesday.

SamJakeChloe wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 5:58 am

usczkat wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 4:06 am

Wow, that is interesting. Where overseas are you living? Wish I'd have done mine that way!! My wait is 10 1/2 months now, as we keep saying... should be any day now!

I applied from Malaysia.

I am happy that you received your certificate relatively quickly. I had a similar experience from applying from China. It took 7.5 months, which is about 3 weeks longer than you. However, I don't think this indicates much, as I had a 3.5 month delay for printing due to the restructuring of the department at the turn of the year. In terms of processing (excluding printing) they may actually have become slower since I applied.

Both of our applications originated from low application volume jurisdictions. The embassies do an initial document assessment, which removes that step from the FBR section. As this was probably performed either right in front of you when you handed your application over or very soon afterwards, that holds the key to the faster processing times in your case and in mine.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of FBR applicants are applying either from embassies with higher application volume (think Spain) or directly to the DFA itself. This slows down the process and is why people are told that their application still has not been looked at sometimes 6 months after receipt.

Sulla wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 10:54 pm

SamJakeChloe wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 5:58 am

usczkat wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 4:06 am

Wow, that is interesting. Where overseas are you living? Wish I'd have done mine that way!! My wait is 10 1/2 months now, as we keep saying... should be any day now!

I applied from Malaysia.

I am happy that you received your certificate relatively quickly. I had a similar experience from applying from China. It took 7.5 months, which is about 3 weeks longer than you. However, I don't think this indicates much, as I had a 3.5 month delay for printing due to the restructuring of the department at the turn of the year. In terms of processing (excluding printing) they may actually have become slower since I applied.

Both of our applications originated from low application volume jurisdictions. The embassies do an initial document assessment, which removes that step from the FBR section. As this was probably performed either right in front of you when you handed your application over or very soon afterwards, that holds the key to the faster processing times in your case and in mine.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of FBR applicants are applying either from embassies with higher application volume (think Spain) or directly to the DFA itself. This slows down the process and is why people are told that their application still has not been looked at sometimes 6 months after receipt.

Agree. It does look like its the initial processing/document check that may be holding up the process at some locations, which is maybe why mine was faster via Malaysia.

Well guys, my wait is over.

I received my FBR certificate and documents this morning.

So it would appear August 2018 applications are being processed and it’s quite quick once you make it to the top of the pile.

Finding this forum was a massive comfort when I’d sent off my application but not heard anything....and even more so when the estimated timeframe passed.

Hope everyone who is waiting gets some good news soon.

Hol292 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:28 am

Well guys, my wait is over.

I received my FBR certificate and documents this morning.

So it would appear August 2018 applications are being processed and it’s quite quick once you make it to the top of the pile.

Finding this forum was a massive comfort when I’d sent off my application but not heard anything....and even more so when the estimated timeframe passed.

Hope everyone who is waiting gets some good news soon.

Well done Hol
What a relief finally getting your FBR and documents back .
I just hope they plough through the rest of August and then the DFA get onto Septembers applications and so on .

Hol292 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:28 am

Well guys, my wait is over.

I received my FBR certificate and documents this morning.

So it would appear August 2018 applications are being processed and it’s quite quick once you make it to the top of the pile.

Finding this forum was a massive comfort when I’d sent off my application but not heard anything....and even more so when the estimated timeframe passed.

Hope everyone who is waiting gets some good news soon.

Nice. Congratulations.

Can you remind us of your timeline and the date you were actually added to the FBR? And where did you apply from?

Thanks

Hol, congrats! Did you get any email prior to today from the DFA telling you they had approved you?

I apologise if this has been asked before but are, in anyone’s experience, straightforward applications being processed quicker i.e. ones with a clear paper trail any faster than more complex ones. Or, does it appear that they are just working systematically through the pile?

FlyingMum wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:07 pm

I apologise if this has been asked before but are, in anyone’s experience, straightforward applications being processed quicker i.e. ones with a clear paper trail any faster than more complex ones. Or, does it appear that they are just working systematically through the pile?

Nobody on these boards knows how the applications are being processed. We can only try to infer what's going on from the processing times board members are reporting here. Sulla's last collated list of wait times showed that, at the beginning of this month, August 2018 applicants tended to be getting their certificates. However there are a number of outliers - e.g. several people have reported waiting much longer or SamJackChloe (above) applied in late January 2019 and has just had confirmation that their certificate is ready for collection.

I would infer from the above that yes, they are working through the pile. However, there appears to be a possibility of delays associated with which Embassy you sent the paperwork to. Perhaps, some Embassies sit on them for a few weeks before sending a batch of them to Ireland? I also think it's likely that some applications are being delayed due to document verification issues, but this will vary between cases. A non-FBR example: when I was applying to have my Grandfather's birth registered, a minor query arose about the spelling of his mother's maiden name but this was quickly resolved with a single exchange of emails. Other verification issues might require lengthier research to bottom out - e.g. making contact with the national records offices of other countries. The DFA could even be taking a quality control 'sampling' approach, whereby a certain proportion of applications are being selected for an exhaustive check.