r/IrishCitizenship

Hi all,

I posted my documents with DHL. Paid for it, cleared customs. The passport office has refused to accept the delivery and I have no idea why; everyone is now closed.

My parcel (that I paid $$$ for express postage) is now being returned to me.

Has anyone else been in this boat before?

We have recently sold our home and are living with friends while preparing a move from the US to the UK. Part of those preparations has been waiting for the FBR approval for our two year old so he can get his Irish passport (applied in February 2025, additional documents sent February 2026).

I see that as part of the passport process I will need to supply proof of address. My husband and I are having our mail forwarded to our temporary address but nothing that would show our son’s name… for example, we haven’t registered with a local doctor or enrolled him in a school here as it’s only temporary. We have signed a rental agreement for a flat in the UK, but we won’t be able to get our son established with a doctor or enrolled in a school in the UK until he has his Irish passport.

How should I proceed? What proof of address would be sufficient?

Hello, I am applying for naturalization and I have a few questions regarding the application? If anyone could clarify that would be great.
- Do we need to submit proof for each month of each year?

- I got laid off in October 2024, do I submit bank statements for the last 2 months. My EDS shows employment left in October

- I have no supporting documents for some years, only have bank statements/EDS for 100 points, what should be done in this case?

- I have a gap on my IRP because the processing times were slow and it breaks the continuous residency requirement, although I have phone bills/bank statements to prove I never left the country

Thanks!

22nd May 2025: Documents received.

21st March 2026: Additional documents requested regarding estrangement from my grandmother (missing ID). I informed them that nothing had changed since my initial affidavit and explained that it was impossible to obtain her identification.

20th May 2026: Address confirmation requested.

1st July 2026: APPROVED!

To anyone else waiting, If you are dealing with family estrangement, don't lose hope! Navigating the process with an affidavit explaining why you cannot get a grandparent's ID does work.

Good luck to everyone else who is still waiting, your turn is coming!

Any questions let me know!

Given recent events, this shouldn't need to be said, but apparently it does.

This subreddit is for helping people with Irish citizenship. It is not the place for anti-immigrant nonsense, racist talking points, xenophobic dog whistles, or any variation of "I'm only asking questions..."

If you're in the comments having a go at immigrants instead of helping someone with an Irish citizenship question, you've wandered into the wrong subreddit.

Going forward, moderation on this will be exceptionally straightforward.

#If you post anti-immigrant comments, you're getting a permanent ban.

Not warned. Not given a "please be civil." Not invited to debate whether your dog whistle is technically a whistle.

Just banned.

Overt bigotry gets a permanent ban. Thinly veiled bigotry gets a permanent ban. "I'm just asking questions..." followed by the same recycled anti-immigrant talking points gets a permanent ban.

For everyone else: if you see this shite, report it. Don't waste your time arguing with people who aren't here to help anyone. Hit the Report button, carry on with your day, and I'll take care of the rest.

The overwhelming majority of people here are decent people who just want to help others navigate the Irish citizenship process. Let's keep it that way.

Hi everyone

I’ve sent off for my first time passport today, and in a backwards way, I want to confirm I sent enough to them 🙈

I sent the following documents:
Cover page
Identity verification form
Certified coloured copy of passport
Driving license (original)
FBR certificate (original)
Bank statement
Sky mobile credit agreement letter
Letter from HMRC (stating national insurance number, name and address).

I feel like I have enough but the proof of address part is a bit ambiguous, so hopefully as I’ve gave several documents, along with driving license. That’ll be enough 🙏🏻

Do you think I’m fine with what I’ve sent? 👀

Also for anyone with questions around the FBR process, I’m happy to help 🙏🏻

I am researching the possibility of obtaining Irish citizenship. My great-grandfather was born in Ireland, and his son (my grandfather) and my father were both born in the United States. My question is whether I am likely to be eligible for Irish citizenship if I apply.

My aunt (my father’s sister) successfully obtained Irish citizenship through their grandfather (my great-grandfather), although my father has not applied and, as far as I am aware, does not hold Irish citizenship.

Given this, I would like to know whether I have a realistic chance of being approved.

Hello, friends. Posting again after another two months. My and my two siblings' applications were received May 23rd, 2025.

Our mother was adopted (her birth father was born in Ireland) via a closed adoption.

We certainly sent all necessary documents, including her birth certificate, as well as her original birth certificate, which is in a sealed vault in Florida and can only be accessed by court order or affidavits of the parents. It was a pain to get the document issued via my mother's birth mother in the first place as her biological father is deceased.

We made sure that everything was witnessed and ordered correctly, and triple checked all necessary docs. It's been in the hands of a case worker for nearly three months now according to their phone line, but still radio silence. No request for additional documents or any outreach.

My mother submitted her original birth certificate which she applied to claim her passport as she was born an Irish citizen, and she received it in two weeks. She was at first concerned she would have issues because it says "This Sealed Birth Record is Not Valid for Identification Purposes" and also in big letters in the center of the document, "Sealed Document Not Legal Birth Certificate," but nonetheless it was accepted without issue.

How much longer might we anticipate waiting before hearing something?​

Thanks very much. Sláinte.

Roughly when do you think I get the next update

Has anyone had any problem ordering documents through Irish Family History Centre?

They've been very helpful letting me know what I need to complete the process but the last document i ordered, my grandfather's birth certificate, shipped weeks ago and I still haven't received it. The tracking number followed it until it arrived abroad on June 18th. They recommend it follow it on this side but I don't have a new tracking number or know the carrier. If it's in the states, it shouldn't take that long to get to me.

Just curious if anyone has had a similar experience.

Is it possible to apply for this as an irish citizen living in ireland trying to sponsor a non eu national to get around the mountain of paperwork and hard 2 year cohabitation rule for the stamp 4 de facto partner visa. Were together 3 years living together only one because of fincancial strain when we were both students.

Has anyone attempted this or consulted a solicitor about it

I’m needing a bit of advice for myself and my dad.

We are both wanting to gain Irish passports, but understand we have to complete the foreign birth registry first.

The only problem we are having is the lack of my grandads original birth certificate and original marriage certificate, but we do have his immigration papers from Ireland to the UK.

Now I think the issues is the birth was never officially documented when he was born from what I have been told, and I am uncertain on how to go about obtaining this documentation and the marriage certification.

If anyone could help with suggestions it would be a great help!

Hey I've been digging into my family tree and have found out my ancestors were originally Irish from Louth but moved to England in 1891, the family has since continued in England, I'm wondering if I was to get a death certificate of my X5 great grandparents would I be eligible to apply for an Irish passport?

Docs accepted: 07th July 2025
FBR approved: 03rd July 2026, 10 am.

No address check.

No additional documents.

Feel like I've got the pot of gold now!

Case information:

My application was a bit complicated, my granddad was born in Ireland under the name David Woods. He moved over to England, and by the time he got married to my nan he went by the name Gary Wood (sometimes signing documents as Gary David Wood). Nobody in our family remembers why he did this, and we have no knowledge of any deed polls or anything whereby he changed his name legally. I think even the date of birth he put on his marriage certificate was wrong.

I was quite worried about my case, but attaining the citizenship and being recognised as Irish meant a lot to me so wanted to get it right first time. To support my case, I drafted up an affidavit myself outlining:

1. The facts of my case and the documents provided.

2. Stated that I know these two names to be for the same person.

3. That I have exhausted all possible routes of research and evidence (this seems to be important).

I then took it to a legal office and declared it under oath with a solicitor. Taking an oath with a solicitor in England only costs £5, so as long as you can draft up a good affidavit yourself, this is a good option. I also had my mother do the same, which I think made my case stronger as it was his own daughter swearing the same information. I also wrote a cover letter.

Sláinte!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice from anyone who’s been through something similar.

I’m applying for entry to the Foreign Births Register through my Irish-born grandfather. My application has been with the FBR team for around 12 months.

Everything seemed to be progressing until I received an email asking me to provide:

an up-to-date proof of address (no issue), and
a certified copy of my grandfather’s current passport/driving licence (or his death certificate if applicable).

The problem is that I’m estranged from my grandfather and haven’t spoken to or seen him in around 10 years. I actually messaged him before submitting my application asking if he could provide a copy of his passport, but he never replied.

I explained the estrangement in my original application and replied to the case officer explaining that I have no direct contact with him. I also mentioned that my full brother was successfully entered on the FBR in 2014 through the same grandfather before the family estrangement, and gave them his FBR number in case it was of any assistance.

My questions are:

Does my full brother already being on the FBR through the same grandfather make any difference to my application?

Has anyone had the FBR take a sibling’s previous registration into account in a situation like this?

Have the FBR become stricter in recent years when applicants are estranged from a living parent or grandparent and can’t obtain their ID?

Thanks!

I just shipped out my FBR application. Seeking through my grandmother who was born in Ireland. My father got his passport recently.

In rushing to get the mail room before 5:00pm and closing time. I forgot to add my application No. to the front of the envelope.

Should I start freaking out? Should I call anyone? Has anyone else done the same thing?

Also, will this extended my timeline? How long of a timeline should I expect?

Just noticed that the official estimated wait time for FBR applications has been increased from 9 months to 12. Anybody know if this is temporary or the new norm? Apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere.

Due to the complex nature of the Foreign Birth Registration process, it takes approximately 12 months to process a completed Foreign Birth Registration application. If you are an expectant parent applying to be entered on the Foreign Birth Register, you should mark this clearly on your application.

https://www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth/#contact

Where do people check the status of their application? keep seeing people on the forums talking about their application status changing but i can’t seem to find it.

We are moving from the uk to spain, so we have a choice of waiting for our fbr application or getting a digital nomad visa (dnv) and getting the Irish passport whilst in spain. As we currently own our house we would need to rent for x amount of months (x being unknown due to the fact you have no idea when your application will be processed fully, only a current wait time). Looking into the cost of renting in our area, a house that suits us would be £12k for 6 months. A DNV is much less than that, and would allow us to move as soon as our house sale completed.

Our documents were confirmed in May, and due to the current wait times and then renting costs we may go down the dnv route, but will it be ok as we are not in the house we put down when we put in the application?

Do they email you to check if any changes to address have been made?