Irish mother but adopted at birth.

[Williams27]

Hi,

I have checked the labrynth that is the Irish Government's immigration information page, to no avail and so I thought I'd ask on this forum.

I am a British citizen. I was born in London to an Irish citizen. However, I was adopted at birth by a British family and I have a British passport. I am in contact with my birthmother, who currently lives in Dublin.

I am considering taking up Irish citizenship. Has my adoption denied me the right?

Thanks.

[PasadenaTom]

Take a look at this post. This person was hoping to get citizenship through her mother, who was born and adopted in Britain to an Irish mother. She was able to get her mother registered by applying for an inter-country adoption entry to be added to the register.

In the OP's (original poster) case, she was unable to get citizenship for herself, because her mother officially became a citizen when she was entered in the register, and that occurred after the OP was born. But your situation looks the same as her mother's. So it looks like you have a good chance, assuming you can assemble all the documentation.

If you are successful however, and currently have children, they will not be eligible.

[mattskilondon]

I am adding my experience in case it is of any help (I have posted previously). I successfully received my FBR in July this year after much to-ing and fro-ing with various agencies. It can and does work to persevere, so good luck with your application!

My mother was born in England, and was subsequently adopted when her mother died. Her father (my grandfather) was an Irish citizen, and her mother was English. It is through this set of circumstances that I obtained Irish citizenship.

I applied via FBR and included my mother's birth and adoption certificates. The DFA subsequently requested a copy of the court papers approving the adoption, as adoption certificates naturally do not contain the birth surname (which linked back my mother to her father, and thus my right to citizenship). Although I wasn't able to obtain these, as records from the 1940s were not routinely kept, I was able to get some additional information from the court via a judge which was provided to my mother and then to me by a local (to my mother) adoption agency intermediary. This seems to have swung it as my FBR was confirmed to me shortly afterwards.

There are both parallels and differences in your case but I am inclined to agree you are in a strong position, as long as your documentary evidence is complete. As you were born to an Irish citizen then basically your citizenship should be a right, though you have to prove it.

Good luck.