First Passport after completing Foreign Birth Registration

[robert147258369]

Hello everyone.

I received my certificate last week after applying for the Foreign Birth Registration in October 2024.

The next job then is to apply for my first Irish passport.

I have a few questions, and would be really grateful for any help.

My application was based on both my grandparents being born in Ireland, but, like me, both my parents were born in the UK.

My questions are as follows:

1) On the Ireland.ie website, when looking at the additional documents required, am I right in thinking the correct option I should be looking at is "I was not born on the island of Ireland. My parent was an Irish citizen when I was born but they were not born on the island of Ireland."
I was not fully sure here, as my parent has never been an Irish citizen, unless they mean they are deemed a citizen because their parent was born in Ireland, i.e my grandparent. If it is not this option to choose, does anyone know which one I should be using instead?

2) On the ID section, it says I should provide:
"copy of front and back of Public Services Card, or
original passport from another country, or
original National ID card from another country, or
certified copy of Driving Licence from another country,* or
certified copy of Irish Driving Licence*"
Obviously, as a UK resident, I only have a UK passport and a UK driving licence. I can easily provide a certified UK driving licence. But has anyone had any success in including a certified copy of their passport as the second form of evidence? Or is it absolutely you must send your original UK passport no exceptions? I am just a little bit worried, in case my passport goes missing, and we go on holiday in a couple of months. If I absolutely must send my UK passport, then I might have to delay my passport application until after our holiday, just to be on the safe side.

3) I am sure a while back (though I cannot find it now!) that someone mentioned about applying for an NHS letter to prove your name. But Ireland.ie website also says you need a separate letter to prove your address. If you have been in a similar position to me, what have you done here?

4) I still have all the original documents that the authorities sent back to me after successfully completing the Foreign Birth Registration. Would it help and speed up the application if I enclosed all of these documents again as part of the passport application?

Thank you very much for any assistance you can give. Mostly I am worried about parting with my passport!

Thank you.

[Vadrar]

1. your parents are Irish citizens, whether they've claimed their passport or not. (Unless they specifically renounced.) So yes, you've selected the correct option

2. I believe there is no option than sending your original passport when a UK resident.

3. You'll need two forms of proof of address. At least one government letter - from NHS, HMRC, Dept Work and Pensions or similar. If you can't get two govt letterheaded letters, you can try using one utility bill as second form.

4. Nope.

If in doubt, speak to https://londonirishcentre.org/our-servi ... formation/ and if you are close I'd recommending completing your application through them (it's free.) They provide direct passport application support, and my understanding is that they process (as in volunteer admin and application support; they have no official role and are not part of Irish govt) more British applications for Irish passports than anyone else. Because they submit more applications than anyone else, they know all the intricacies of what works in any given month (because requirements change) in an application from the UK.

[jgclancy]

You have chosen the correct passport application route via FBR : "I was not born on the island of Ireland. My parent was an Irish citizen when I was born but they were not born on the island of Ireland."

I don't know rules for sending UK passport but I do know people include a letter asking them to return documents immediately after they've been scanned into the system and not wait until after passport book is printed. They seem to do this for people.

For the proofs of name just be sure it is your full name and no initials.

Good luck

jgclancy

[robert147258369]

Thank you very much everyone for your very kind and helpful replies. I think I will therefore hold off doing anything until after our holiday, just in case we do not receive our passport back from the Ireland authorities in time!