Foreign Birth Registration

[clearsky1]

When they ask for your confirmation of address, if we've moved will we have to provide proof of address? ie. bank statement?

[jamiepompey]

When they ask for your confirmation of address, if we've moved will we have to provide proof of address? ie. bank statement?

From what I remember from others who have had this situation you just email them a scanned copy of a bank statement etc.

[LittleAndrew]

Hello everyone.
It’s been interesting to read the thread and your experiences - thank you all for your input. . . At least I know what I’m getting myself into and timeframes etc

Applied for FBR few days ago, however the website states to not send any documents in. What would be your suggestion? Wait until they are officially open before sending application/ documents? (Possibly Oct 22nd).

[MKCG]

Yeah I don't think FBR Team numbers are particularly relevant. Though not all teams are equal it seems. They work at different speeds. The members of each team are not likely to be the same people 1 or 2 years down the line anyway.

They seem to all be on their holidays, everyone else ack to work except these guys

[Gingerillo]

After an eternity, I have just received my confirmation of address email. So they are definitely back on the case (or fed up with my Twitter enquiries).

Timeline

Online application: 5 November 2019
Confirmation of receipt of documents: 11 November 2019
Confirmation of address: 29 September 2021

...

What sort of enquiries were you able to make, including with Twitter?
My documents were received in mid August 2019, haven't heard anything since then. At this point, it would be nice to have confirmation that they are not waiting to request more information, and haven't lost anything I've submitted.

Sorry for late reply, but I have been unable to connect to the forum for the past 2 weeks. RE Twitter, it was mainly messages to the passport office, but did get some limited replies from other FBR applicants.

When I submitted my application in November 2019, I also did it for two of my cousins. They received a reply about a week after I received my application and they were asked to provide a business card for their witness, so their applications have been further delayed.

As the whole process is like a magical mystery tour, I think it's best to assume that no news is good news. If your documents were received in August 2019, they would have been scanned and in their system long before everywhere went into lockdown.

I would add the email address of the woman from the FBR office (her name is Clementia Devitt) who sent me my confirmation, but I don't think she would appreciate very much receiving a tonne of emails

[Gingerillo]

I have just seen this on the Oireachtas website. A reply to questions from Deputies to the Minister for Foreign Affairs regarding the backlog of FBR applications (dated 21 September 2021).

There are over 31,000 unprocessed applications. At present and only emergency cases are being dealt with (as well as those who require documentation to be returned).

The Minister for FA says that are planning to resume processing applications as soon as possible and “will be making a public announcement on specific dates in the coming weeks”.

A masterclass in answering a question without actually answering, but a glimmer of hope.

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/q ... 09-21/327/

I would quibble a bit with the timing cited in the minister's answer. Pre pandemic, processing times were not 18 months. You can search this thread and see that the vast majority of applications were being processed in 11 months which itself represented a significant delay from the former 5 month turnaround before Brexit. It appears from news articles that Ireland will essentially be completely open October 22nd. I guess we'll see what happens at DFA.

The email I received in November 2019 when they confirmed the receipt of my documents said applications could take up to 6 months. I understand their resources have been stretched, but really... is it so difficult for them to keep their website regularly updated? And that minister has a masters degree in replying without actually giving any concrete information.

[MikeyMike]

I don't think this has been posted about yet-apologies if it has.

The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs took priority questions about FBR in the Dáil on 30th September. Here's the link (https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/de ... 021-09-30/) and for those that want to watch the video recording, jump to 27:05. Essentially it's a re-hash of what he's said quite recently but he did at least commit to a further update 2 weeks hence, so presumably some time this week. Interestingly, in response to following questions about the passport backlog, he mentioned that 60% of that backlog comprises first time applications. Presumably, a big chunk of that number are post-Brexit applications from the North of Ireland and Great Britain and as we know, first time applications take longer to process than simple renewals. He goes on to mention that staffing levels are being beefed up in the passport office right now and that his department is gearing up for a surge in passport applications next year. Ultimately, this is good news for all of us since the sooner they get on top of the passport backlog, the more attention can be given to FBR. In the meantime, we wait!

[PlasticPaddyWagon]

If I were the Republic of Ireland and I was annoyed about Brexit and the number of English citizens who suddenly decided to become Irish, I would probably shut down Foreign Birth Registration. You know, because of COVID.

[JuniorBatman]

If I were the Republic of Ireland and I was annoyed about Brexit and the number of English citizens who suddenly decided to become Irish, I would probably shut down Foreign Birth Registration. You know, because of COVID.

Haha!

I've been shot down for saying as much in the past, but I think you are (partially) right. If I were a resident Irish citizen I would expect the government to have prioritised in exactly this way. Neither Brexit nor Covid were problems of their making, and their first duty was always going to be to the resident-Irish population. (And, because there's the argument they charge an admin fee and should behave like a business, is anyone going to demand a refund and take their citizenship elsewhere?)

All we can do is be patient and grateful that Ireland has some remarkably generous citizenship laws.

[Gingerillo]

Email received this afternoon: Application for FBR approved. " A certificate has now been printed and posted to the address provided by you...".

That's significantly less than the minimum of 6-8 weeks they quoted in their previous email on 29 September.

[joemac41]

Email received this afternoon: Application for FBR approved. " A certificate has now been printed and posted to the address provided by you...".

That's significantly less than the minimum of 6-8 weeks they quoted in their previous email on 29 September.

Just curious, when was the date they received the paperwork originally.

[Gingerillo]

Email received this afternoon: Application for FBR approved. " A certificate has now been printed and posted to the address provided by you...".

That's significantly less than the minimum of 6-8 weeks they quoted in their previous email on 29 September.

Just curious, when was the date they received the paperwork originally.

I did the online application on the 5th November 2019, sent the documents on 11th November and received the confirmation of receipt of documentation on 14th November.

[maishun]

Hello, everyone. Has anyone contacted FBR these days? I emailed them. FBR didn't reply to me

[Riverside12]

2 years and 2 months later - I have finally received the confirmation of address email! Thanks to all for sharing their experiences, good to know there’s lots of us in this boat. Will let you know once I get the certificate and passport.

[derekkn]

Docs received in Balbriggan: 21 Nov 2019
Request for partial document resubmission: 14 Oct 2021
Confirmation: pending

Good to finally hear something after nearly two years' radio silence!

[Dalton_Trumbo]

Docs received in Balbriggan: 21 Nov 2019
Request for partial document resubmission: 14 Oct 2021
Confirmation: pending

Good to finally hear something after nearly two years' radio silence!

Nice! Good to see that things appear to be moving again at least somewhat! Hopefully they get to Feb 2020 end of this year, or early next.

[Angelo_2019]

https://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id ... eign+Birth

Not surprisingly, Simon Coveney

* is no longer promising a specific date for reopening or even an announcement with a schedule
* is no longer promising pre Covid processing times by the end of 2021 (was clearly impossible with backlog)
* seems to say normal used to be 18 months vs. 12 months previously mentioned

less predictable but also disappointing, Min of Finance is reconsidering opening on Oct 22

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/ ... -1.4699853

https://www.thesun.ie/news/7752193/octo ... -decision/

The sample on the board is tiny (about 120 policies of 130K), but I'm seeing enough address confirmations and approvals for applications sent later than mine that I'll still try a message to see if anything was missing or lost.

[maishun]

Fbr staff don't like to look at the mailbox. It's like a miracle to let them reply to my email

[derekkn]

Docs received in Balbriggan: 21 Nov 2019
Request for partial document resubmission: 14 Oct 2021
Confirmation: pending

Good to finally hear something after nearly two years' radio silence!

So I emailed to ask if I pass muster barring the form that I need to resubmit (signed it in the wrong place, woopsie) and they said yes, they will grant me a place on the FBR when this is received. So take this as a provisional confirmation all those who keep an eye on this forum to gauge their own application's progress.

[ncponyboy]

What email address did you use?

[babyhalloween]

Hi everyone!
I have no news on my own application - for anyone who did not see my post a couple of months ago, I received confirmation of my documents being received on October 3rd 2019 - so I've now surpassed two years. Here's hoping the journey isn't much longer.
I'm writing to ask if anyone's browser is recommending they don't access this website anymore? I use the most up to date version of Google Chrome and the website address bar shows the forum as not secure. Is it just me?

Thanks!

[dolewhip]

Hi everyone!
I have no news on my own application - for anyone who did not see my post a couple of months ago, I received confirmation of my documents being received on October 3rd 2019 - so I've now surpassed two years. Here's hoping the journey isn't much longer.
I'm writing to ask if anyone's browser is recommending they don't access this website anymore? I use the most up to date version of Google Chrome and the website address bar shows the forum as not secure. Is it just me?

Thanks!

Best of luck! I really hope you get some big news very soon.

Confirming I've had the same issue with the site - even changed my Safari settings so I can at least access it through one browser.

[babyhalloween]

Thank you Dolewhip! Good to know it isn't just my laptop playing games with me.

[Spiral]

Hello,
Just adding my application date here:
Documents received: 14/10/19
No other contact since then.
Thanks for posting, everyone. It gives me hope that it will happen eventually.

[Gingerillo]

My FBR certificate arrived this Saturday and I have already sent off my application for a passport. Hope this takes significantly less time to be processed.

RE the forum, from what I can see there is an issue with the SSL (Security) Certificate. For me, it works on laptop, but not on mobile. It probably got corrupted when they were updating the site. Has anyone tried contacting the webmaster?