Trying to decide what passports to get for our kids who currently have GB passports? (Irish Mother & NI Father)

[BuzzLife]

My husband is from Northern Ireland and I'm from the Republic of Ireland.
We live in the UK so our three kids have British passports which are expiring soon.
We're trying to decide if we should get them Irish Passports or renew the British passports.
We drive to France once a year together and once a year I fly to Europe with the three kids on my own. I guess on that trip it'll be easier if all 4 of us have the same (Irish) passport?
In the meantime when the five of us go to France will it be difficult if my husband has a Northern Irish passport?
I guess longer term it'll be best if he gets an Irish passport as well.
Any thoughts/suggestions?

Both.

Not understanding why people are saying get both? Works out pretty expensive for no gain. Or am I missing something?

@yellowallpaper they are all entitled to the Irish ones but not all entitied to the British one so why wouldn’t they go with the Irish?? Defs go irish and tell your DH to go Irish too unless there’s a major reason he doesn’t want to?

@hereiamagain84 I did say get Irish passports as they apparently are cheaper. I was asking why get both as some people are suggesting?

I misread that the mum was from NI and had a British passport but reading again it is the dad. Would make sense for him to change his passport to an Irish one so the whole family can go through the EU line when travelling to Europe.

Can you really get a passport just for GB? I thought it was a UK passport.

And there is no such thing as a Northern Irish passport.

Tbh I'd just get whatever is cheapest.

Irish passports would be cheapest. But I’m not sure about your point about having or not having a passport makes no difference to citizenship - surely you’d be as well to apply for a passport to ensure you can claim that citizenship now?

It’s a different case but I could have claimed my right to Irish citizenship through marriage in the 1990s - and then the rules were changed. My job at the time meant I couldn’t apply for an Irish passport.

You need citizenship to be established before you can get a passport. You don't "apply for a passport to ensure you can claim citizenship"

It's the other way round.

You'd be amazed how many people contact the Nationality office and say they want to apply for a passport. Because a passport is a proof of citizenship they think they are the same thing. Even if you're entitled to registration (as opposed to naturalisation) or are automatically a citizen at birth, you still have to prove it to the passport office (by registering if necessary or producing the documents) before they issue one.

Sorry, when I said my husband has a Northern Irish passport, I obviously meant a UK passport ... it has Northern Ireland on the front ... I think.

British passports are all GB & NI @BuzzLife so you weren't far wrong.

A NI passport is a UK passport.
NI is part of the UK.
There are no differences between a British passport issued in Belfast and one in London.

That's fine when they are adults ... but that's 5 years away
But keeping both ongoing now, and renewing may be easier than giving one up and trying to apply from scratch in future (for reasons that none of us know, and probably haven’t even been decided yet). Whilst there are benefits to an Irish EU passport (for EU travel etc) There, are, and always have been benefits to a British/NI passport when travelling elsewhere in the world. EG The Commonwealth countries, and others, visa free on the UK passport. Your DC may wish to travel more extensively when they are older and in your position I’d keep both going as long as possible if able to.

Just get both, my dc now have gb and a continuing EU country passport that run concurrently for dd2 and only a year between dd1's keeping both up long terms makes sense to me

It won't have Northern Ireland on the front other than what every UK passport says United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are no passports specific to each of the four nations in the UK.

I'm British born and acquired an Irish passport through heritage. I have no intention of renewing my British passport when it expires in 2021. I would rather keep the EU advantages than pay HMG cash for the dubious benefit of having a blue cover.

That won't change your nationality anyway, Worried- a passport is just a travel document. You'll obviously still be British as well. My friend has just done the same given Brexit. Obtained Irish naty though her mother, in order to still be an EU citizen. I am now starting the no doubt arduous task of obtaining Italian c/ship given the situation.

If you can afford it, get both. Keep all options open in this day and age

Get them their Irish citizenship asap. Once they have that they can apply for their passports.
They are entitled to it. Its a no- brainer IMO.

Just read the info on the Irish embassy website.

I can't get a British passport and I will always be travelling with them in Europe so we'll have to go through the EU queue

If you have an ROI passport you can use the British queue to come into the UK because of the CTA (I assume).

And then EU queues everywhere else. You get the best of both worlds.

I'd get Irish passports for the kids - they're cheaper and open more doors. But they don't lose their entitlement to a British passport so they can get one any time they want.

As a dual national I would say definitely get both and keep both up to date.

It's true that a passport doesn't give you citizenship but it is a tangible official sign that you've gone through the process of proving that citizenship already (especially if it may involve providing parents/grandparents' birth certificates or other documentation) and you're not likely to have to go through that process again when you renew (unless you've left it for too many years, in which you might have to, which is why I'd say renewing is important too).

It also keeps all your options open. It might seem like wasted money right now but I would view it as an investment. You never know when systems might change, different rules or governments come in (I have been burnt by this in another area not to do with nationality). If you make sure your kids have both nationalities well documented (in the form of up to date passports) and usable (as a result of the up to date passports) then they will maximise the potential benefits from both.

Also, it can be handy to have two equally good forms of photo ID, in case you ever have to send one away and wait for it to come back, but that's a more minor advantage.

If I had to pick just one out of your two choices for now, I'd pick the Irish one to do first, assuming that requires providing documentary proof as it's a new passport, as I'd want to get that process out of the way and get that citizenship definitively established (even if it seems like it will be completely straightforward). Then I would renew the British ones as soon as I could and generally try to keep both up to date going forward.

It’s quite straightforward to apply for Irish passports for children that have a parent born on the Island of Ireland that has an Irish passport. The parent will need to send their passport away so be aware of that if you plan to travel.

@BuzzLife When your DHs passport runs out he is entitled to a ROI one as he is married to a ROI citizen. May make life simpler?

When your DHs passport runs out he is entitled to a ROI one as he is married to a ROI citizen. May make life simpler?

This is wrong. There is no entitlement to Irish citizenship through marriage.

Your DH is entitled to Irish citizenship if he or his parent (or grandparent) was born on the Island of Ireland before 2005.

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

For citizenship through marriage there are a number of conditions and you will need to pay a couple thousand euros.