Foreign Birth Registration

[Mr_Knight]

Just got my FBR through after 18 months, but it has got me thinking about my kids. . . .

I had assumed as my farther was English and my mother was also born in England, but has recently gained Irish citizenship via her Irish parents, whom I also gained my FBR through, that they were not entitled to apply for FBR.

At the time of their births, my mother had remarried to an Irish national, so whilst their blood grandfather (my biological father, is English) their legal grandfather at their time of birth was an Irish national. . . .

So, do you think they can make a claim for FBR, through my Irish step father, their legal grandfather?

The applicants should have an Irish citizen parent/grandparent at the times of their births

[stingray90]

Update


Application submitted online: 22 July 2019
Email acknowledging receipt of documents (Balbriggan): 08 August 2019
Confirmation of address email: 09 October 2020
Date added to FBR: 21 October 2020 (the day before lockdown - confirmed via web chat)
Congrats email: 4 December 2020
FBR certificate received: 8th January 2021 (In Melbourne, Australia)

After 18 months, feels good to finally have the certificate in my hand. Hopefully they start processing passports again soon.

[V3rvangen]

Just got my FBR through after 18 months, but it has got me thinking about my kids. . . .

I had assumed as my farther was English and my mother was also born in England, but has recently gained Irish citizenship via her Irish parents, whom I also gained my FBR through, that they were not entitled to apply for FBR.

At the time of their births, my mother had remarried to an Irish national, so whilst their blood grandfather (my biological father, is English) their legal grandfather at their time of birth was an Irish national. . . .

So, do you think they can make a claim for FBR, through my Irish step father, their legal grandfather?

I may be misunderstanding, but if your mother was born in England, to parents born in Ireland, then she was automatically an Irish citizen from birth, and wouldn't have had to 'gain' it. So I understand you claimed your citizenship through your mother, her being an Irish citizen through her own parents.

If that's all correct, then no, unfortunately your children won't be able to claim Irish citizenship through you, unless you were on the FBR before the date of their birth, which it doesn't sound like they were from your post.

The remarriage of your mother has no relevance to the citizenship rights of your own children, unless he became your legal father on your birth certificate or something, in which case you would have been an Irish citizen, but that doesn't make sense as you have just applied for FBR - your children would be claiming their right to citizenship through you in that case. I think this is a misunderstanding which a lot of people have, because of the nature of the application - if you apply for FBR based on an Irish born grandparent, you aren't claiming your citizenship through them, but through your parent who is automatically an Irish citizen.

Simply put, if you're not an Irish citizen at the time of your child's birth, they cannot become Irish citizens through descent.

[BigDaddy100]

Hi all

Just so others can gauge their progress:

Confirmation of documents in Balbriggan: 21 Nov 2019.

I've since heard nothing, which I was expecting. However, I'm being pelted with email spam at the moment and I'm worried any address confirmation emails from the DFA may be lost in the mire. Can someone please confirm the email address they use to send the confirmation of address email so I can add it to my contacts?

Many thanks, and good luck all

My address confirmation email was sent from fbrclarification@dfa.ie

[Legskinner]

I finally collected all my documents and recently submitted my application and documents to the Foreign Birth Registry. I imagine that it will be an extremely long wait until I receive any feedback due to the COVID emergency. I am just excited to finally have applied and can´t wait to begin this long journey to ultimately receiving an Irish passport.

[youthinkunoe]

Hi all

Just so others can gauge their progress:

Confirmation of documents in Balbriggan: 21 Nov 2019.

I've since heard nothing, which I was expecting. However, I'm being pelted with email spam at the moment and I'm worried any address confirmation emails from the DFA may be lost in the mire. Can someone please confirm the email address they use to send the confirmation of address email so I can add it to my contacts?

Many thanks, and good luck all

My address confirmation email was sent from fbrclarification@dfa.ie

I i got a confirmation of documents and haven't heard anything back and also worried I also was going to miss it with all the spam i have. I have not yet got an address confirmation email.

Confirmation of documents Received: November 9 2019

this is great source for people to gauge where they are on the FBR list. Good luck everyone Slainte

[Corkythecat]

Thought I would post for the benefit of others.

I have 2 siblings who applied separately in July 2019. Both have now received their FBR certificates. Each has had a slightly different timeline because of the lockdowns. I had confirmation of documents received 26/8/19 but so far have heard nothing. I contacted the webchat in early september 2020 and they confirmed my documents were held and safe.

My eldest sister applied early July 2019 and hit things just right with no hiccups. She had the FBR issued on 4/10/20 and had passport delivered 15/12/20. She had requested a national ID card too. That arrived on 23/12/20.

My second sister (and her partner) both applied later in July 2019 and had an email query in October about my Grandmother's date of birth. She seemed to have taken 3 years off on her marriage certificate! After clarification it was noted, but a later email confirmed she would be added to FBR. The lockdown happened and this delayed the actual receipt of the FBR until early December 2020 - her partner also had his FBR similarly delayed.

I applied 4-6 weeks after them all and have heard nothing as yet. So applying a few weeks apart has made a huge difference to the processing times.

Good luck to everyone - far worse things are happening than a delayed FBR. I am just humming my favourite Irish Ballads and Lullabies - should get there is the end.

[JaneKnits]

494 days since my application arrived. Today my FBR Certificate and documents arrived! Officially Irish!

My Timeline Updated Jan 11 2021:
21/08/2019 -- FBR Application online/paid fee
30/08/2019 -- Mailed/registered all documents
05/09/2019 -- E-mail from FBR office confirming receipt of my documents
03/12/2020 -- E-mail for address confirmation and FBR application will be approved shortly!
17/12/2020 -- FBR mailed
11/01/2021 -- FBR received
TBD -- Passport application process started
TBD -- Passport received

Being as they aren't processing passports at the moment, I probably will wait until the restrictions have lifted before applying.
I'll be having a little bit of Guiness and maybe even some Jamieson's to celebrate!
Cheers to all - and thank you for helping me along on this process. It has been really helpful to have all of you to commiserate with during all the delays.
Jane

[Themag62]

Hello, I never received an email specifically referencing that documents have been received. I have only received a single email stating, Your application for Irish citizenship through entry on the Foreign Births Register has now been received." Those of you referencing a documents received email, did you receive 2 emails? One referencing the application and another the documents? Submitted the app online 2/04/20 2 weeks later, received the email with the statement above. After reading all the post here about documents received emails, I'm nervous they were never received and the email refers only to the online app.


Anyone have experience with:
-submitting passport photos after all documents have been sent and application received? I mistakenly sent in only 2 photos, instead of the required 4. Is there an address to which additional documents can be sent, and referencing the application number? Or do I just have to wait to be contacted?

Thank you!

[Themag62]

Hi all - I'm somewhat enthused (and dismayed) by the responses on here as I submitted my documents on 19th October and have had radio silence since then and thought they'd lost it in the system. There seems to be a a bit of a random timing to it as I know of someone that submitted dec 19 and has had their''s back already.

I also unhelpfully seem to have lost the email where they confimred receipt of documents. Coudl anyone remind me of the email address that comes from and hopefully I can try and find it in my inbox!

Thanks,

Hi Sean, Did the email you received specifically refer to DOCUMENTS being received? I ask because I sent my app documents in almost a year ago, and received only an email that my APPLICATION had been received, nothing about documents. Wondering if that means only they received by online application, not documents. Worried my documents have been lost.

[DuncanB]

Hi folks.
HELP PLEASE.

After finally assembling the myriad of birth, marriage and death certificates required to prove decent from an Irish grandmother I went on to the online FBS form. Although I am claiming Irish decent via a grandparent the first question asked is how my parents claimed Irish citizenship. My parents were born in Britain and did not register as Irish, they are now dead and I had assumed I could do this showing evidence of an Irish grandparent (which I have).

Has anyone else been in this situation? How did you get past this question on the online form?

Thanks folks.

[jamiepompey]

Hi folks.
HELP PLEASE.

After finally assembling the myriad of birth, marriage and death certificates required to prove decent from an Irish grandmother I went on to the online FBS form. Although I am claiming Irish decent via a grandparent the first question asked is how my parents claimed Irish citizenship. My parents were born in Britain and did not register as Irish, they are now dead and I had assumed I could do this showing evidence of an Irish grandparent (which I have).

Has anyone else been in this situation? How did you get past this question on the online form?

Thanks folks.

Your parent was/is already an Irish citizen. The wording is confusing but don't panic. Your parent would never have had to claim Irish citizenship as they were Irish due to their parent (you grandparent) being born on the island of Ireland.

They ask for your parents details as they need to see the paper trail to prove your descent so you will need to provide your parents birth, marriage and death certificates on top of our grandparents documents and your own.

[nyvaie]

Hey Duncan,

The parent you are claiming through is automatically an Irish citizen based on this info from the FBR website:

Were either of your parents born on the island of Ireland?
If you were born outside Ireland to a parent born on the island of Ireland, you are already an Irish citizen and may apply for an Irish passport.

I was in the same situation (grandmother born in Ireland, mother born in USA). So the option you want to choose for the question "Please indicate the citizenship category to which the applicant’s parent belongs" is "Born abroad to a parent born in Ireland."

Hope this helps & good luck!

[DuncanB]

Hey Duncan,

The parent you are claiming through is automatically an Irish citizen based on this info from the FBR website:

Were either of your parents born on the island of Ireland?
If you were born outside Ireland to a parent born on the island of Ireland, you are already an Irish citizen and may apply for an Irish passport.

I was in the same situation (grandmother born in Ireland, mother born in USA). So the option you want to choose for the question "Please indicate the citizenship category to which the applicant’s parent belongs" is "Born abroad to a parent born in Ireland."

Hope this helps & good luck!

Brill, great relief!

[DuncanB]

Hi folks.
HELP PLEASE.

After finally assembling the myriad of birth, marriage and death certificates required to prove decent from an Irish grandmother I went on to the online FBS form. Although I am claiming Irish decent via a grandparent the first question asked is how my parents claimed Irish citizenship. My parents were born in Britain and did not register as Irish, they are now dead and I had assumed I could do this showing evidence of an Irish grandparent (which I have).

Has anyone else been in this situation? How did you get past this question on the online form?

Thanks folks.

Your parent was/is already an Irish citizen. The wording is confusing but don't panic. Your parent would never have had to claim Irish citizenship as they were Irish due to their parent (you grandparent) being born on the island of Ireland.

They ask for your parents details as they need to see the paper trail to prove your descent so you will need to provide your parents birth, marriage and death certificates on top of our grandparents documents and your own.

Much appreciated, panic over!

[V3rvangen]

Hello, I never received an email specifically referencing that documents have been received. I have only received a single email stating, Your application for Irish citizenship through entry on the Foreign Births Register has now been received." Those of you referencing a documents received email, did you receive 2 emails? One referencing the application and another the documents? Submitted the app online 2/04/20 2 weeks later, received the email with the statement above. After reading all the post here about documents received emails, I'm nervous they were never received and the email refers only to the online app.


Anyone have experience with:
-submitting passport photos after all documents have been sent and application received? I mistakenly sent in only 2 photos, instead of the required 4. Is there an address to which additional documents can be sent, and referencing the application number? Or do I just have to wait to be contacted?

Thank you!

Hey, I submitted my application end of January 2020, I got an email saying 'your application has now been received' about an hour or two after my posted parcel showed that someone had signed for it. I never got one saying 'documents have been received'. I think the 'application received' does refer to the documents, otherwise they would have sent the application received email right after I paid the fee, which was a week or two before my documents arrived.

I spoke to a guy at FBR the other month about my application as I needed to change my email address, and when I asked if there had been any emails sent asking for further documentation when I couldn't access my email address on file, he said no. I assume if he had seen my documents had never arrived he would have brought it up.

So I wouldn't worry. I think there's been a bit of variation in wording of emails and stuff over the years, I am sure your documents got there.

In regards to the photos, I actually spoke to someone at the FBR about my photos as I worried I'd done them wrong. They just said they'll ask for more if they need them.

[DuncanB]

Hi folks

Regarding the witnesses to the photos to be submitted. If I have understood the guidance it has to be someone from the proscribed list and known to me sufficiently well enough to know a third person who also knows me? This seems bizarre. Do I now need to befriend a notary officer, introduce him to my friends in order for him to witness my application?

Cheers,

Duncan

[Fish Fry]

I submitted my documents in late May 2019 and got the email confirming receipt on June 6, 2019. I haven't heard anything since. What should I do? I've seen people on here talk about a chat function with the FBR office, but how does that even work?

[Pb300]

Fish Fry, I’ve been considering the same thing since my documents were received mid June 2019 and no word. So I’m a little glad to learn I’m not the only one left behind. It appears the web chat is only available for passport services but it might be our best bet. I feel like I’ve patiently waited out their posted 12-18 month period so now that we are past 18 months we deserve some kind of update.

[Mr_Knight]

Hi folks

Regarding the witnesses to the photos to be submitted. If I have understood the guidance it has to be someone from the proscribed list and known to me sufficiently well enough to know a third person who also knows me? This seems bizarre. Do I now need to befriend a notary officer, introduce him to my friends in order for him to witness my application?

Cheers,

Duncan

From my experience the Notary Public just has to be confident that you are who you say you are from passport/drivers licence/birth certificate/proof of address etc and pay them the fee.

[Fish Fry]

Thanks for the reply Pb300. It's good to know I'm not alone. If anyone else filed around mid-2019 and haven't heard anything yet, please post so we know there are others in our position. I don't really have the time to try to call the FBR office, so I guess I'll just continue to wait.

[MarkRace]

I'm not sure I am posting this in the right place, so my apologies in advance.

This is a relatively simple question but a big problem.

I am in the process of starting the FBR process for my two sons. I have an Irish passport based on my birth mother whom I have never met. The FBR process seems to require that I produce photo id for her etc. I am sure she is a lovely person and meeting her may be very fulfilling but I am not keen to make contact.

Any insights/successful approaches would be appreciated.

Background

I have an Irish passport based on her (my birth mother) even though I was adopted by an Irish national. As a result I was an Irish citizen at the time of their births and they qualify. I have had an Irish passport since 1990 but it was hard work getting it renewed because I had let it lapse by over 5 years. I had to go through the entire process of proving my birth heritage again, birth certificates, adoption certificates, court orders etc. As a result I am aware that any misstep may be costly.

Cheers

Mark

[Mr_Knight]

I'm not sure I am posting this in the right place, so my apologies in advance.

This is a relatively simple question but a big problem.

I am in the process of starting the FBR process for my two sons. I have an Irish passport based on my birth mother whom I have never met. The FBR process seems to require that I produce photo id for her etc. I am sure she is a lovely person and meeting her may be very fulfilling but I am not keen to make contact.

Any insights/successful approaches would be appreciated.

Background

I have an Irish passport based on her (my birth mother) even though I was adopted by an Irish national. As a result I was an Irish citizen at the time of their births and they qualify. I have had an Irish passport since 1990 but it was hard work getting it renewed because I had let it lapse by over 5 years. I had to go through the entire process of proving my birth heritage again, birth certificates, adoption certificates, court orders etc. As a result I am aware that any misstep may be costly.

Cheers

Mark

In a previous webchat I told them my mother & I are estranged & would not be able to get a copy of her driving licence or passport. The person said it was fine so long as it was explained in a cover letter & all other documentation was correct.

[amiclvrt]

I have submitted FBR application with email receipt of documentation DEC 10, 2020. I understand my cert and paperwork will be mailed to back to my application address. However, we are planning to sell our house this summer in preparation for our move to Ireland. Will FBR send to my documents to another address if I call and give them, say, my daughters address. We were planning to vacation around Europe until citizenship comes through.

[jamiepompey]

I have submitted FBR application with email receipt of documentation DEC 10, 2020. I understand my cert and paperwork will be mailed to back to my application address. However, we are planning to sell our house this summer in preparation for our move to Ireland. Will FBR send to my documents to another address if I call and give them, say, my daughters address. We were planning to vacation around Europe until citizenship comes through.

It’s looking like an 18 month wait at the moment anyway but, if you have moved then you can just wait for them to email you with the “confirmation of address” email. You can then notify them then. It’s right at the end of the process so best not to worry about it too much for the time being as you’re in for a fairly long wait right now.