Irish passport/citizenship

[PseudoBadger]

Forgive the very dense questions. 1. Can I hold British and Irish citizenship at the same time?

1. And will that mean 2 passports or can I just have an Irish one? I don’t have one at all at the moment as it expired last year.
   
2. DP was born in Northern Ireland - I think the GFA means he just applies for Irish citizenship no problem as he was born on the island of Ireland. He thinks he will have to prove heritage which may be tricky.

[Apileofballyhoo]

No worries, bellinis. I was afraid I wasn't very clear. Sometimes I don't phrase things very well!

[bellinisurge]

Sorry @Apileofballyhoo - I actually meant to say " @Apileofballyhoo is correct @when I trotted out my bit.
I'm sorry for missing that bit.

[PigeonFromHell]

Thank you Apileofballyhoo, and that's a useful link. Will look at hunting down all the documents.

[Apileofballyhoo]

That's what I said?

[bellinisurge]

@Apileofballyhoo - the process that takes the time is the citizenship application. Once you are a citizen, you are a citizen.

[Apileofballyhoo]

There'll be no restrictions from the Irish point of view. You should register your DC on the foreign births register. You don't need the actual passports unless you are planning on travelling in the EU. There might be a significant delay though. The website says 12 months at the moment and that's just for the citizenship, not the actual passports.

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

[PigeonFromHell]

Hi all. I've been thinking about this and bookmarked this thread a while ago but just wondering now, are there any timeframes relevant to applying for a passport? My mum is born Irish so wondering for myself and my DC. Would we be best applying sooner rather than later? Are there any suggestions of restrictions in applying after Brexit?

[HesterLee]

Thankyou bellinisurge

[bellinisurge]

Yes. Irish born mum.

[HesterLee]

Thanks bellinisurge and do you live in the UK?

[bellinisurge]

I applied to Cork. I wasn't able to go in person to London or Liverpool.

[HesterLee]

Sorry to bring back an old(ish) thread but it is all relevant still and I am hoping to pick the brains of those who have applied please.

I am doing my application (mother born in Wexford, Ireland to Irish parents. I live in and have UK passport).
When others sent off the application, did you send it to the "Embassy of Ireland Passport Office" on Cromwell Rd London or to the "Cork Passport Office" in Cork?
I have conflicting information from website and written info that came with the application form.
I suspect it's to London but would be grateful to get that confirmed. Thanks.

[CurlsandCurves]

Ah we already have kids, but this has been really useful to know where we stand.

[Notmethistimehonest]

That is good curlsandcurves.

If you do not yet have children and are planning them, get him to do it before you have them then they will also be entitled.

[CurlsandCurves]

@Notmethistime DHs grandad was born in Ireland.

[Notmethistimehonest]

curlsandcurves - I think it matters if your DP’s grandfather was born in Ireland as well as having citizenship.

Someone please correct me if i’m wrong as I currently don’t think my DC are entitled as my mum is an Irish citizen but was not born in Ireland. Therefore I have to apply via the register of foreign births rather than being automatically a citizen.

As i’m doing this now and not before my DCs were born, they are not entitled.

[Peregrina]

I knew two South Americans, I can't remember now whether they were from Chile or Argentina, who managed to claim German citizenship and therefore obtain EU passports. No doubt the same sort of rules applied - a grandparent was German.

[golondrina]

Curls your DC wouldn't be entitled if their father is going to apply based on his grandfather, no. The furthest back you can go is grandparents, not great grandparents. If your DH had got his before you had dcs then they could have applied.
My dcs are entitled through my mother, not me, as I only just got mine. But I'm not bothering for them as they have Spanish passports. The Irish passport is to protect me as a Briton living in the EU after Brexit. I have applied for Spanish citizenship but it takes years, been waiting two already, and won't be through by Brexit Day.

[witchmountain]

Pseudo, I don’t know if anyone explicitly answered question 2 but you can have either or both (or you can let both expire) and there is no problem with renewing either if it’s been out of date for a while. It’s exactly the same as your UK one.

[witchmountain]

Bountiful just to be clear, if they have a passport from and EU country, they aren’t “claiming” to be EU citizens, they are EU citizens!

Lithuania joined the EU in 2004, so depends when you are thinking of.

[Bountiful]

It's similar to what Moldovans do then. Moldova isn't part of the EU but if they can get a Romanian passport through heritage, then they can travel in the EU. I think Lithuanians tend to do similar (not 100% sure on that though).

[CurlsandCurves]

DHs grandfather was an Irish citizen. So presumably DH can apply based on that.

But am I right in thinking that our dc will not be able to?

[golondrina]

Bountiful, yes. Irish passport holders are EU citizens, that's why so many Brits are applying, to keep the same rights after Brexit.

[Bountiful]

Does having an Irish passport mean that you can claim to be an EU citizen?

[Buteo]

Don’t think there are any rules about spending time on the island of Ireland - DH has had his Irish passport since the 1980s.

It was straightforward to apply for passports for the DC, and their DC (if/when they have any) would also be entitled under the current rules if registered as foreign births (at least that’s how I understand it).

Bit annoyed that I didn’t apply for a passport as a spouse back in the 1990s (my employer then would not have been happy about it). I would now have to be naturalised, which means a reasonable period of residence in Ireland.

www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/irish_citizenship/irish_citizenship_through_birth_or_descent.html