Foreign Birth Registration

[Lee2521]

Congrats to Besha and the many others on getting their FBR or passport.

I now have MY FBR cert which couldn't be delivered on Thursday as I was at work and my wife picked it up today (Friday) from the delivery office , so glad the lengthy part is over.

I have had a few mini low key celebrations since getting the confirmation e-mail by visiting my closest Irish pub to have a Guinness and listen to some live music I came across the song - Irish pub by The High Kings my new favorite Irish song and a few Irish coffees .

Next on to the passport but not sure if it will be this month or January.

My status
Online application :28/12/18
Application received :06/02/19
Citerzenship/confirmation e-mail :11/11/19
Certificate printed :11/11/19
Certificate received :12/12/19

[rhughes]

My application was received on July 15, 2019. It doesn't look as though I'll be raising my glass of Guinness (or Jameson) before April 2020 at the earliest.

Richard

[Lenny1463]

Congrats to Besha and the many others on getting their FBR or passport.

I now have MY FBR cert which couldn't be delivered on Thursday as I was at work and my wife picked it up today (Friday) from the delivery office , so glad the lengthy part is over.

I have had a few mini low key celebrations since getting the confirmation e-mail by visiting my closest Irish pub to have a Guinness and listen to some live music I came across the song - Irish pub by The High Kings my new favorite Irish song and a few Irish coffees .

Next on to the passport but not sure if it will be this month or January.

My status
Online application :28/12/18
Application received :06/02/19
Citerzenship/confirmation e-mail :11/11/19
Certificate printed :11/11/19
Certificate received :12/12/19

Great news Lee!
As our timelines are almost exactly the same I am hoping to receive my certificate shortly aswel. My citizenship email came on the 19/11/19 so a week difference between is. Fingers crossed it comes soon.
Congrats

[Lee2521]

Congrats to Besha and the many others on getting their FBR or passport.

I now have MY FBR cert which couldn't be delivered on Thursday as I was at work and my wife picked it up today (Friday) from the delivery office , so glad the lengthy part is over.

I have had a few mini low key celebrations since getting the confirmation e-mail by visiting my closest Irish pub to have a Guinness and listen to some live music I came across the song - Irish pub by The High Kings my new favorite Irish song and a few Irish coffees .

Next on to the passport but not sure if it will be this month or January.

My status
Online application :28/12/17th
Application received :06/02/19
Citerzenship/confirmation e-mail :11/11/19
Certificate printed :11/11/19
Certificate received :12/12/19

Great news Lee!
As our timelines are almost exactly the same I am hoping to receive my certificate shortly aswel. My citizenship email came on the 19/11/19 so a week difference between is. Fingers crossed it comes soon.
Congrats

Thank you Lenny,
Yours is on it's way and you should receive it around the 19/20th I guess if like me in that it took a month and 3 days to be delivered. Your FBR should be sent via airmail so it doesn't take long after the DFA has sent it.

[Lenny1463]

Congrats to Besha and the many others on getting their FBR or passport.

I now have MY FBR cert which couldn't be delivered on Thursday as I was at work and my wife picked it up today (Friday) from the delivery office , so glad the lengthy part is over.

I have had a few mini low key celebrations since getting the confirmation e-mail by visiting my closest Irish pub to have a Guinness and listen to some live music I came across the song - Irish pub by The High Kings my new favorite Irish song and a few Irish coffees .

Next on to the passport but not sure if it will be this month or January.

My status
Online application :28/12/17th
Application received :06/02/19
Citerzenship/confirmation e-mail :11/11/19
Certificate printed :11/11/19
Certificate received :12/12/19

Great news Lee!
As our timelines are almost exactly the same I am hoping to receive my certificate shortly aswel. My citizenship email came on the 19/11/19 so a week difference between is. Fingers crossed it comes soon.
Congrats

Thank you Lenny,
Yours is on it's way and you should receive it around the 19/20th I guess if like me in that it took a month and 3 days to be delivered. Your FBR should be sent via airmail so it doesn't take long after the DFA has sent it.

So after writing on here this morning to congratulate you Lee, I shortly after received my certificate myself. Crazy hey! So happy to finally have it!
My timeline this far:
Application received in Dublin 06 Feb 2019
Citizenship/ address confirmation email 18 Nov 2019
FBR certificate received 14 Dec 2019

Good luck to all those still waiting

[Lee2521]

Congrats to Besha and the many others on getting their FBR or passport.

I now have MY FBR cert which couldn't be delivered on Thursday as I was at work and my wife picked it up today (Friday) from the delivery office , so glad the lengthy part is over.

I have had a few mini low key celebrations since getting the confirmation e-mail by visiting my closest Irish pub to have a Guinness and listen to some live music I came across the song - Irish pub by The High Kings my new favorite Irish song and a few Irish coffees .

Next on to the passport but not sure if it will be this month or January.

My status
Online application :28/12/17th
Application received :06/02/19
Citerzenship/confirmation e-mail :11/11/19
Certificate printed :11/11/19
Certificate received :12/12/19

Great news Lee!
As our timelines are almost exactly the same I am hoping to receive my certificate shortly aswel. My citizenship email came on the 19/11/19 so a week difference between is. Fingers crossed it comes soon.
Congrats

Thank you Lenny,
Yours is on it's way and you should receive it around the 19/20th I guess if like me in that it took a month and 3 days to be delivered. Your FBR should be sent via airmail so it doesn't take long after the DFA has sent it.

So after writing on here this morning to congratulate you Lee, I shortly after received my certificate myself. Crazy hey! So happy to finally have it!
My timeline this far:
Application received in Dublin 06 Feb 2019
Citizenship/ address confirmation email 18 Nov 2019
FBR certificate received 14 Dec 2019

Good luck to all those still waiting

Congratulations Lenny
That's great you didn't have to wait the whole month and you got it just in time before Christmas. Thats how it goes, I posted on Wednesday that I had waited a month and 2 days then the next day I missed my letter because I was at work and got it yesterday.

[JeremyNYC]

I tried searching but didn't find too much on what counts as "personally knowing" for a witness. Does my old physcial therapist or denist count? Can I just use a Notary? Or the Bank mgr where I bank at? Has anyone had difficulties with that?

[Pipefish]

I tried searching but didn't find too much on what counts as "personally knowing" for a witness. Does my old physcial therapist or denist count? Can I just use a Notary? Or the Bank mgr where I bank at? Has anyone had difficulties with that?

As far as I'm aware they don't have to personally know you, just be confident of who you are. For my passport application I used the manager of my Building Society (like a bank, for those in countries that don't have them) who I'd never met before. He verified me by looking at my account details and having me enter my PIN in a card machine with my debit card.

For my daughter's FBR (still pending) we used our cat's vet.

[JeremyNYC]

I got a hold of a doctor friend. FedEx will have it in Balbriggan on Dec 18. Thanks everyone.

[Koolboy]

I applied for FBR in July 2018 from London Embassy. Since than, I have not heard anything back. I called Dfa few times but they said that my application is still in process. Is there anyone else who is waiting that long or I am the only one.

[Lee2521]

I tried searching but didn't find too much on what counts as "personally knowing" for a witness. Does my old physcial therapist or denist count? Can I just use a Notary? Or the Bank mgr where I bank at? Has anyone had difficulties with that?

As far as I'm aware they don't have to personally know you, just be confident of who you are. For my passport application I used the manager of my Building Society (like a bank, for those in countries that don't have them) who I'd never met before. He verified me by looking at my account details and having me enter my PIN in a card machine with my debit card.

For my daughter's FBR (still pending) we used our cat's vet.

Hi Pipefish ,

Did your building society manager ask for money for this service or was it free ?
I have just openned an ISA withThe Nationwide so I could ask them to witness my passport appplication and previously I asked my doctor to witness for my FBR application but it cost £30 .

Lee

[Rinefitz]

Hi Sulla,

Could I be added to the timeline:

Application placed online: 21-11-19
Paperwork received: 16-12-19

[MKCG]

Hi all

New to the forum.

I’ve got some questions relating to FBR & subsequent passport application if anyone can help.

I’ll give a bit of background to start with...

I was born in Scotland to Scottish parents, but my mums dad (estranged to my mum from an early age) was born in the belmullet mayo area from what I understand. So as far as I can tell I am eligible to apply?

We have managed to obtain his birth lines after much struggle. (His name was John but he was known as Paul for some reason, This caused a few issues). We have his marriage cert from Scotland and are currently awaiting his death cert from Dublin.

I don’t think it’s any secret why me and a lot of people are going down this route. Brexit. Most ppl in Scotland inc myself Voted against it but England always seem to get their way. I want to be able to be able to work in the eu if I wish or even retire to Spain for example when I’m older.

My questions are ...
1,Do I need to produce my marriage cert along with the other certs (being male, my name has never changed since birth). As far as I can tell I need to produce, my granddads birth,marriage & death line, my mums birth and marriage lines & my own birth lines, but I wasn’t sure about my own marriage cert.

2, can I add a digital photo to my fbr application?
Or will it need to be hard copies?

3, my mum hasn’t got her Irish passport as yet, Will this be an issue for my fbr application? As I understand it, she can apply for a passport straight away and doesn’t need to go on the fbr. ?

4, I seen that the FBR time scale is 9-12 months, is that realistic or ambitious at the minute?

There was a few more things I wanted to ask but They’ve gone out my head at the moment.

Mark

Thanks in advance

[Sulla]

My questions are ...
1,Do I need to produce my marriage cert along with the other certs (being male, my name has never changed since birth). As far as I can tell I need to produce, my granddads birth,marriage & death line, my mums birth and marriage lines & my own birth lines, but I wasn’t sure about my own marriage cert.

2, can I add a digital photo to my fbr application?
Or will it need to be hard copies?

3, my mum hasn’t got her Irish passport as yet, Will this be an issue for my fbr application? As I understand it, she can apply for a passport straight away and doesn’t need to go on the fbr. ?

4, I seen that the FBR time scale is 9-12 months, is that realistic or ambitious at the minute?

There was a few more things I wanted to ask but They’ve gone out my head at the moment.

Mark

Thanks in advance

I have answered your questions:

1) Yes. Your own marriage certificate is an essential document regardless of gender or name change status.

2) No. 4 Hard copies are required for FBR. Please follow the photo guidelines given for size and witnessing requirements.

3) You mother does not need to have an Irish passport. As long as you have some other government issued photo ID for her that you can submit a copy of, it will be fine.

4) 9-12 months is realistic at this time.

[rhughes]

1) Your own marriage certificate is an essential document regardless of gender or name change status.

Are you sure about that?

The document requirements say to include "Original civil marriage certificate (if applicable)".

What does "if applicable" mean in this context? Since they're trying to establish your ancestral lineage, not your marital status, I inferred that the applicable circumstance referred to a name change.

Thus, I didn't include my own marriage certificate.

In retrospect, it wouldn't have hurt to include it but I didn't believe it was necessary.

Richard

[Sulla]

1) Your own marriage certificate is an essential document regardless of gender or name change status.

Are you sure about that?

The document requirements say to include "Original civil marriage certificate (if applicable)".

What does "if applicable" mean in this context? Since they're trying to establish your ancestral lineage, not your marital status, I inferred that the applicable circumstance referred to a name change.

Thus, I didn't include my own marriage certificate.

In retrospect, it wouldn't have hurt to include it but I didn't believe it was necessary.

Richard

Yes. I am sure about that. I had the same idea as you did originally, considering my marriage document as pointless as I have not altered my name. However, I asked the embassy and they said it was necessary. They use it together with the other documents to show broad consistency across the document set. Your marriage certificate will usually contain information such as name. Dob, parents names etc, which will allow the DFA to confirm these details with other documents provided as part of the application.

In my view "if applicable" simply means if you are married it is needed and if you are not (and have not been) then it is not.

[MKCG]

Thanks guys.

The marriage cert makes sense now, as one of u said, it helps show that all the details tie in with each other across multiple documents.

I’m awaiting a few documents arriving via post to get my process started.

One last question for now.

If my mum applied for her passport, with all docs correct, how long would it take for her to receive it once submitted?

[Pipefish]

I tried searching but didn't find too much on what counts as "personally knowing" for a witness. Does my old physcial therapist or denist count? Can I just use a Notary? Or the Bank mgr where I bank at? Has anyone had difficulties with that?

As far as I'm aware they don't have to personally know you, just be confident of who you are. For my passport application I used the manager of my Building Society (like a bank, for those in countries that don't have them) who I'd never met before. He verified me by looking at my account details and having me enter my PIN in a card machine with my debit card.

For my daughter's FBR (still pending) we used our cat's vet.

Hi Pipefish ,

Did your building society manager ask for money for this service or was it free ?
I have just openned an ISA withThe Nationwide so I could ask them to witness my passport appplication and previously I asked my doctor to witness for my FBR application but it cost £30 .

Lee

It was Nationwide, the manager did it for free. Just asked if I was a customer, which I have been for years.

I enquired at my doctor's surgery, but they charged £30. As it's for my daughter, who is only 8 months old (a few weeks old at the time), we had to get a letter from our doctor to say she was registered (for ID I think), they charged £18 for that!

[DebF]

This is my first post - but thanks for all the messages providing updates and reassurance!

I am proud to report that I received my FBR certificate today.

My timescales were:
- Online application submitted 20th December 2018
- Application documents posted to Dublin 28th December 2018
- DFA email acknowledgement of receipt 9th January 2019
- DFA email received 25th October 2019 advising application nearing approval and asking me to confirm my address
- Royal Mail registered delivery 19th November 2019 - collected from Royal Mail collection centre 20th November 2019
- FBR registration date confirmed as 25th October 2019.

Like the previous person, I had no communications between acknowledgement and checking my address.

Good luck to everyone who is still waiting.

An update from me, as I am now the proud holder of an Irish passport. Timescales as follows - I am in the UK, so able to do online application for 1st Irish passport.
- Online application submitted 24th November 2019.
- Application documents posted to Dublin 25th November.
- Application monitored via online passport tracker, which was really helpful (initial timescales on tracker for completion of process were 2nd January 2020).
- Passport delivered by Royal Mail on 6th December (no signature required).
- Supporting documents delivered separately by Royal Mail on 13th December.

So, passport application from start to end was 20 days - really efficient!

[fvigaud]

Thanks guys.

The marriage cert makes sense now, as one of u said, it helps show that all the details tie in with each other across multiple documents.

I’m awaiting a few documents arriving via post to get my process started.

One last question for now.

If my mum applied for her passport, with all docs correct, how long would it take for her to receive it once submitted?

My father (born/raised in UK) got his passport in a few weeks last month. Perhaps under a month. I (born/raised in US) applied for FBR in April 2019. Fact that he hadn’t applied for/secured passport yet was irrelevant from my perspective.
-fvigaud

[rhughes]

You had me worried, Sulla, so I contacted the Irish Foreign Birth Registration office myself at +353 1 671 1633. They answered within a minute.

Contrary to what you indicated, I was told that sending in my own birth certificate is only necessary if it indicates a change of name. This totally makes sense to me as my birth certificate establishes my line of descent just as well as if I'd never married.

Back to waiting...

[jgclancy]

You had me worried, Sulla, so I contacted the Irish Foreign Birth Registration office myself at +353 1 671 1633. They answered within a minute.

Contrary to what you indicated, I was told that sending in my own birth certificate is only necessary if it indicates a change of name. This totally makes sense to me as my birth certificate establishes my line of descent just as well as if I'd never married.

Back to waiting...

Did you mean to say marriage certificate NOT birth certificate? They do ask for your marriage certificate and it helps them make a better decision about eligibility. I doubt it is necessary unless name changed: i.e.-notarized ID name different from birth certificate due to marriage. My two bits.

jgclancy

p.s.-congrats to those that had recent acceptances. Hoping to see March applicants start getting their emails!

[rhughes]

Oops, yes. Corrected, what I wrote should read:

You had me worried, Sulla, so I contacted the Irish Foreign Birth Registration office myself at +353 1 671 1633. They answered within a minute.

Contrary to what you indicated, I was told that sending in my own *marriage* certificate is only necessary if it indicates a change of name. This totally makes sense to me as my birth certificate establishes my line of descent just as well as if I'd never married.

Back to waiting...

[Sulla]

Oops, yes. Corrected, what I wrote should read:

You had me worried, Sulla, so I contacted the Irish Foreign Birth Registration office myself at +353 1 671 1633. They answered within a minute.

Contrary to what you indicated, I was told that sending in my own *marriage* certificate is only necessary if it indicates a change of name. This totally makes sense to me as my birth certificate establishes my line of descent just as well as if I'd never married.

Back to waiting...

It was definitely a required document for me. The Beijing embassy were adamant it was necessary. Mine required translation as well as notarization as it was not in English. I did not want to get this done if it was not needed. I was told in no uncertain terms that it was absolutely required.

This was in 2018. Possibly the policy has altered, though I doubt that. More likely, different officials sometimes say different things about this process. We have seen this before. It was explained to me in writing that these documents were cross referenced to check for consistency. I can accept the logic of that, so I followed the directions given to me.

[Sulla]

Just to add to my post above, they also asked for divorce and re-marriage certificates for my grandmother that had nothing to do with my ancestral line. My grandfather died and my grandmother re-married. She later divorced and married again. Yes, she was a colorful soul. Anyway, I had to provide all of these other certificates that were unrelated to my line of descent. Again, the explanation was that it helped to build up a fuller picture for cross referencing and verification.