to ask if Irish vs U.K. passport makes a difference?

[OneOfTheseNights]

Hi, some friends have emigrated from a non European country to Ireland.

They moved there with two young dc, and are wondering whether to try to get their dc Irish passports.

I know next to nothing of how they go about this, and I’m sure they are more than capable.

i just wondered, if they are applying for passports for their dc, would they benefit more from an Irish passport, or if possible, would it be better to apply for a U.K. passport ?

🙏🏻

Are you new to the concept of immigration???

Those with Irish passports get consular/embassy assistance from the Embassy of any other EU country. So they are protected in many ways. In fact, I used to live in a country abroad that was non-eu and it had no Irish embassy, funnily enough I was provided assistance from the British embassy. So it’s a win win.

Irish passport means you can come and go into/out of the EU and the UK as much as you like. It’s a golden passport. My friend has one, as well as a UK one and she can use either to travel on.
For those who live in the UK with UK citizenship, and additional non-UK passport, the law has just changed in that you have to use your UK passport or some kind of residency certificate. The exception is if your extra passport is an Irish one. The Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland means you can use an Irish or a UK passport to enter into the UK. (If you have a French/ German etc passport in addition to UK citizenship, then you would need to use your UK passport to enter the UK.)

I think a lot of old birth records were destroyed in a fire in Dublin a bit over 100 years ago.

Are you new to the concept of the naturalisation process?

you can’t just immigrate to a country and apply for a passport. It takes years, a fair bit of time and money before you are granted citizenship.

Ireland I think you have to live there 5 years before you can apply for citizenship. 3 years if you’re married to and Irish citizen.

so pp is right, you can’t just “waltz into a country and apply for a passport”. And no, you can’t immigrate to a country and apply for a passport of a nearby country.

Your future grand children can get an Irish passport providing their parents are registered on the FBR before they are born.

I'm just repeating what others have already told you but any future grandchildren will be able to claim Irish citizenship providing your daughters get their own Irish citizenship sorted before their children are born.

If a uk citizen with a British passport has lived in Ireland for 20 years and wishes to apply for an Irish passport, would they have to renounce their British citizenship and passport?

No

Ignore!

Irish ... allows them to work and reside throughout Europe.

That doesn't sound right at all.

You can only get an Irish passport if you are a citizen, and you can get citizenship by descent (there are hoops to jump through) as well as by residence and by being born in Ireland to an Irish parent. You can also claim citizenship and a passport via NI citizenship.

No, because as EU members, if you don't have an embassy of your home country where you are visiting, you're entitled to equal consular assistance from any other EU embassy that may be there. So an Irish traveller will actually have access to embassies in more countries than a British one.

Who said that they aren’t willing to go through naturalisation???

No, you have dual citizenship and can hold both.

I’m sure its been said but an Irish great grandparent doesn’t count.

Lots of misinformation here. Having an Irish passport in itself doesn’t mean you can pass it on to your kids. No further back than a grandparent needs to have actually been born in Ireland. My grandchildren can get Irish passports because I was born in Ireland, they don’t get it because their father has one.

Irish is the stronger passport without doubt OP so if they have a way of getting this then it will definitely stand to them more than a British one.

No not at all. It is possible to hold dual citizenship. I have both passports as I was born in Northern Ireland. At the moment the Irish passport has the edge but who knows what will happen in the future.
@Clavinova Irish passport holders can claim assistance at any EU embassy.

Student visas to the USA are cheaper with a UK passport than an Irish passport.

as to getting Irish citizenship, you can aquire this once you have lived in Ireland for 5 years. (I think). I just applied after living here for over 20 years, and it was quite straighforward to apply. (although easier for EU/UK citizens than people from other countries)

I’m flabbergasted at someone rocking up to Ireland from a non eu country and thinking their only problem with getting a passport is choosing between an Irish or an English one

They need to become Irish citizens to get an Irish passport

In the North of Ireland we can carry both , without having to find any ancestory and my Neice and Nephew, who are grandchildren of Irish Grandparents , keep all their passports up to date - UK, Australian and Irish

When they come over to Europe they travel on their Irish passports so there's no visas or set amount of time to stay

Unless they are going to be frequent visitors to the EU , requiring 30 day visits in a rolling 90 days , there's no real need

Agree.

And they throw an absolute britfit when it’s pointed out.

A great grandparent is not going to get them anywhere.. I have an Irish passport because my parents are Irish, my ds has Irish grandparents therefore he is entitled to an Irish passport but we are in the process of waiting for his Irish citizenship through the foreign birth register it appears to take quite a while.