How do I get dc Irish citizenship?

[Juicesausagecake]

DH has been registered on the register of foreign births. He was born in Britain but his family are Irish. I am British. We have since had two dc.

Can anyone help me understand what I might need to do to get dc Irish citizenship?

My husband’s grandparents were Birn in Ireland. Does this mean if he gets on the register of foreign births my children can also get an Irish passport? They were born in England

No. He needed to have been on the FBR before they were born sorry.

Not if they're already born. Anyone with Irish grandparents needs to be on the FBR before they have children to pass that citizenship on.

Thanks for this … I’ve been meaning to get DC on the FBR for a while and it’s been suspended during covid. I’ve just looked and they’ve restarted but got a huge backlog so advising it can take up to 2 years (!). Does anyone know of you can apply for more than one DC at once? Or if they copy & send the original documents for the Irish born grandparent back on receipt? I would feel bad keeping their birth cert for 2 years and not great to have to complete one 2 year long application before having the documents back to start another one…..?

I did my two kids at the same time. Took a year pre-covid and I think they did keep all the documents most of that time.

Just a warning that it's not a quick process - they were already running with a minimum twelve month wait from receiving your papers prior to covid, and the staff were well redeployed for ages because if the covid response. They received my papers for foreign birth registration in June 2020 and I'm still waiting!

@ThisIsNotAFlyingToy @titchy ah thank you for clarifying I got my hopes up for a minute!

Yes you can apply for two or more siblings at once because it will be the same paperwork to support the application (for the grandparent born in Ireland). I would advise adding a cover letter just to make that clear but my sister and I did this and it was fine.

You would need to order another official copy of the the grandparent's documents - they keep them until it is registered and it will likely be two years at this point. Ours took nearly 18 months and we applied in 2019.

You can buy official copies of the documents - just be sure that they are proper copies and not the cheaper ones used for family trees, etc.

www2.hse.ie/services/births-deaths-and-marriages/order/birth-certificate/

If the link doesn't work - you can buy the full official birth certs online for €20 through the HSE website.

Good luck with it!

Sorry, OP, but I don't understand how your DH is on the FBR.
If he has a parent who is born in Ireland, he is automatically an Irish citizen and can apply straight for a passport with relevant supporting docs. He does not go on the FBR on this basis (and does not matter where he is born!)

www.dfa.ie/citizenship/

It's his (your children) that can apply to be added to the FBR as they have a grandparent who is Irish-born.

Should add, if your DH is on FBR on the basis of having an Irish grandparent then, no, your children cannot get it unless DH was on it before they born as PP have said.

A word of warning anyone reading this who has kids who qualify for entry to the foreign birth register by having an grandparent born in Ireland - please register them as they can only pass on their citizenship to their children if they are on the register before their own children are born! It is a pain in the ass but worth it!

And if by some chance someone pregnant reading this is eligible to be registered as a foreign birth and has not yet done so - they will prioritize your application and try to get you registered before your child is born so you can pass on your citizenship to them! They even say this on the website:

www.dfa.ie/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth/

(Though if your unborn child is eligible another way - such as having an Irish parent than this doesn't matter.)

Good luck to all applying! I got my own Irish passport recently after registering as a foreign birth. Having lived here for most of my life it was actually really lovely to have that passport arrive in the door! 😍

@ManAboutTown what an ignorant comment.

OP when you say your husband's family are Irish do you mean his mum or dad were born in Ireland?

@yforwankylol DH’s mother must have been born here (her siblings weren’t, certainly, and never came to Britain). I know we had a real scramble to get DH registered on the foreign births register - we got it within days of me giving birth: just in time! The rush for citizenship applications happened after the Brexit referendum.

I have been really desperate to get the dcs Irish citizenship. It would be such a privilege for them. Thank goodness for Mumsnet showing me the way … DS arrived 5 and a half years ago, and I have been asking DH to get him sorted ever since!

And congratulations @yforwankylol

I think OP is sorted but in summary for any one else and using my own situation as an example:

If you were born in Ireland you are automatically an Irish citizen. This is the category that my paternal grandparents fall into.

if you weren’t born in Ireland, but one of your parents was, you are automatically an Irish citizen. This bit confuses my dad, who falls into the category. He was born in London and has only ever had a UK passport and doesn’t think of himself as an Irish citizen, but he is. He could apply for a passport if he wished.

If you are the next generation down (me and my brother) then you ‘claim’ your Irish citizenship by going on the foreign births register. This involves supplying a shit load of original certificates - birth, marriage and death of my grandparents, birth and marriage certificates of my dad, as well his certified ID (as he is still living) and my own birth, marriage certificates and certified ID. Me and my brother are now on the FBR and are Irish citizens. We haven’t yet applied for a passport but we can do and I will do when my UK one is nearing expiration.

For my children and my nephew things get more complicated. My kids are a bit older and were born BEFORE I was entered into the FBR. They cannot be Irish citizens.

My nephew is younger and was born AFTER my brother was entered on the FBR . He can therefore also apply to be on the FBR and become an Irish citizen.

I am not sure if my nephew’s (hypothetical) children could also then go onto the FBR and be Irish citizens - I suspect not.

@Overrunwithlego

I am sure I read somewhere that Irish citizenship can be handed down through the generation if each previous generation was entered in to the register before the subsequent generation is born - but I can't find this mentioned anywhere (but admittedly only after a quick Google!)

From the DFA website:

If you were born outside of Ireland, you can become an Irish citizen if:

One of your grandparents was born in Ireland, or;
One of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, even though they were not born in Ireland.

FBR registration makes people Irish citizens so it is entirely possible your nephew's hypothetical children could claim citizenship (but definitely that needs to be checked!)

You need an Irish grandparent. A great-grandparent is insufficient.

Thank you!

I just had a look and as far as I can tell you just apply online here:

www.dfa.ie/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth/begin-online-application/

for your own children to be entered into the Register of Foreign Births.

You will be asked to select the basis of your childrens' application for citizenship:

'Please indicate the citizenship category to which the applicant’s parent belongs" which will be 'Foreign Birth Registration'

The online application form will ask for the following in relation to your husband's FBR cert:

• Date of foreign births registration (dd/mm/yyyy)
• FBR entry number
• Office from which parent's FBR was issued

Do you have your husband's original FBR Certificate @Juicesausagecake ?

@Overrunwithlego if your nephew is on the FBR before any children are born then they will have a right to Irish citizenship, if he isn't added before having children then they won't be.

I wish I'd known about all of this before having children but now only I have a right to citizenship.

Thank you so much @titchy @yforwankylol, really helpful. Do you or @Overrunwithlego know if we have to send marriage certificates if we use FIL’s documents rather than MIL (both Irish born) as with FIL there’s no name change to prove? Similarly would we need to send our marriage certificate as it’s DH who’s an Irish citizen so no paper trail needed for name changes?

I don't think it would be strictly necessary if it is just to support name changes on documents and as you point out the male surnames won't (usually) change.

But.... if it was me applying I would get official copies of both marriage certs anyway and include them just in case as you don't want two wait two years and then have the applications delayed further in case they are actually needed.

I am a complete overthinker though and triple check everything and add anything I think might be needed - and add a cover letter and a separate document listing everything included and have it all in order so to make it as easy as possible for the person to check everything.

I did get my (first time applicant!) Irish passport in under a week although others seem to be taking weeks or even months so maybe that level of overthinking does actually help! 😂

@JenniferWooley Me too! Had BREXIT happened a few years earlier I would definitely have made sure my children could be Irish citizens. Hindsight hey.

@MissFahrenheit I did supply marriage certificates but I possibly didn’t need to - the guidance does say “marriage certificate ir other certificate proving name change (is applicable). So if no name change involved it’s not necessary. Like @yforwankylol I went belt and braces approach!

OP Can I ask why you want dc to have Irish citizenship? is it because you hope to live in Ireland? As surely a British passport will be sufficient enough for travel around the world.

Ireland is in the EU