FBR - Document Discrepancies

Hello,

I am getting ready to submit my application for the Ireland foreign birth registry. I have gathered the necessary docs. But a couple have data discrepancies. I am basing my application on my grandfather being born in Ireland. My mother and I are US born. I am wondering if these errors will cause hold ups.

My grandfather's birthday was always considered June 6 1886. This is the date on his death certificate. The birth certificate I received from Ireland had it recorded as august 20, 1886. My research indicates this is not uncommon.

My mother's birth certificate has her middle name as Francis instead of FrancEs, and her gender is listed as unknown. Her marriage license and drives license have the correct spelling and obvious female gender.

Otherwise I think I'm good. Overall I am submitting the following. All certs are certified.

Grandfather: Birth (Irish long form) and death (Michigan) certs

Mother: Birth cert and marriage license (MI) and drivers license copy.

Me: Birth cert (MI), US passport and MI drivers license (copies), utility bills and mortgage statement for proof of address, witnessed application form (from online app), passport photos, money order, etc.

Anyone think I'm missing anything? My grandmother was also Irish and they were married there, but I figured her docs are not necessary since my grandfather is enough to show the lineage and name changes.

Thanks for any advice.

My grandmother also changed her date of birth, meaning that her marriage certificate had the incorrect date (age) on it, but it wasn't a problem for FBR. However, she had a rare surname, which might have helped confirm identity.

I also supplied all three marriage certificates, although the instructions about that may be ambiguous.

Thanks for the data point. The office in Dublin that sent me his birth certificate based on me supplying the wrong date found it, so hopefully it won't be a problem. I know it is the right person based on several siblings listed at the same address in census records available online.

Now I just need to find a witness that fits one of the professions listed. Not sure why they won't accept a simple notary. I e-mailed the consulate in Chicago and they said a notary was not acceptable.

I still think you need all three marriage certificates, if only because it says so here: https://www.dfa.ie/passports-citizenshi ... ign-birth/

It may not seem logical, but neither are the rules about who can be a witness.

I have never been married, so can't produce that one. Grandparent's marriage certs are listed as "May be necessary". Since one grandparent is enough to establish eligibility, and my grandfather's name did not change due to marriage, I read it as not necessary. If they bounce it back, I will worry about digging it up then, but don't want to drop another batch of cash for official documents I don't need.

On this point, Irish law does not permit discrimination against children born outside marriage. They look for the marriage cert because Irish law accepts that the child of a married woman is the child of her husband, but you can get FBR even if your parents/grandparents were not married. The marriage/birth certs are the easiest way to show proof that you are the child of your parent, but if they never married you are still fine for citizenship.

Dates of birth are wrong on official documents of birth because the father was fined if he did not report the birth within a specified time period, so when he got around to doing it he simply gave a date that meant there was no fine. (If you can get the relevant baptismal cert this will be accurate to within a week, as children were baptised within days of birth, as the infant mortality rate was very high and children were baptised quickly for fear they would die). The record of baptism will still be held in the local church, so anyone living in Ireland can get it for you. Generally you pay the priest for his trouble and he will write an official copy of the baptismal certificate for you.
Dates of birth are also wrong on marriage certs because a younger spouse was more eligible. Spouses who lied about their age on marriage continued the lie on official documents like census data until their spouse died - they did not have much choice about that.

I noticed the application form that generates from the web application had an e-mail address for inquiries, so I fired off an e-mail last night and got a response this morning:

Dear Mr. tev9999

Thank you for your e-mail.

Discrepancies with Grandparents’ Date of Birth is very common. As most people were born at home it was often some time before the Birth was actually registered. As details were entered manually on these Birth Registers, entries could not be made retrospectively, so it often occurred that there was discrepancies with Dates of Birth.

For the purposes of your Foreign Birth Registration we always use the date of the Birth Certificate. As both your Grandparents were born Ireland, submit documents for whichever one you have all the documentation for i.e. Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate & Death Certificate.

Regarding your Mother’s Birth details, please submit both long form and wallet sized certificates.

Note I have a wallet sized, certified birth certificate for my mother with the correct name spelling and gender - don't think I mentioned that in my original post. Looks like I am good to go though.

I am using my Grandfather born in Ireland and have his documents which have different dates of birth



His Irish Birth Certificate list:

His first name (last name is assumed by the parents

His parent’s names (along with his Mother’s maiden name)

Place of birth in Ireland city and county

Date of birth



His Death Certificate:

His first name, middle, and last

Date of birth (This is 1 day off from his Irish Birth Certificate)

Place of birth which is listed as Ireland

His last profession (job)

His parent’s names as listed on his Irish Birth Certificate



My Mother’s birth certificate:

List his first name, middle, and last

His age only (this is 1 year off from his Irish Birth Certificate)

His profession (this is the same as on the death certificate)

Place of birth which is listed as Ireland



I do have his old passport (UK of GB and Ireland) which was before he moved to this country

His first and last name

Place of birth (country/ Ireland and city in Ireland)

Date of birth (Which is the same on his death certificate)

His profession (this is the same one on his death and Mother’s birth certificates)



I doubt they are going to be able to find his marriage certificate to my Grandmother, but if they cannot find it they will send a letter. Is that going to be a problem not having his marriage certificate? Is the age discrepancy on all these going to be a problem? On 3 of these it list the same profession and on 2 it list his parent’s names. Do I need to send his old passport even though he is deceased? I know I am asking a lot but I want to get this correct and want it to go through. I do not think I can provide anything else unless you can think of anything. I wanted to thank you dearly for your help!