There are different ways to become an Irish citizen. If you are the child of an Irish parent or one of your grandparents, or in rare cases, one of your great-grandparents was born in Ireland, you may claim Irish citizenship. Being a spouse of an Irish citizen or having established residence in Ireland may also allow you to apply. You can review the main requirements for each case here. If you believe you are eligible, but are not sure about it, we can help you. Call us or send us a message.
Claiming Irish citizenship by right of blood (by descent) does not require physical presence in Ireland. If you live abroad, your process will be handled by the Irish Consulate. They will be responsible for processing your application and accepting your claim to citizenship.
Generally, if the applicant’s documentation is suitable and correct, it will take about 9 months to receive the certificate of citizenship. If the consulate requires additional documents or the records you submitted present incoherent information or they are in the wrong format the processing time to grant you citizenship might be lengthier. In relation to applications made through marriage and naturalization, it takes approximately 19 months to process applications for citizenship, and applications through association can take up to 30 months.
Irish citizenship is effective from the date of registration. Irish citizenship for subsequent generations may be maintained by each generation by ensuring their registration in the Foreign Births Register.
Irish citizenship can be obtained only from an Irish parent or from a grandparent born in Ireland. It is not possible to claim Irish citizenship if you do not meet one of these conditions.
We can obtain the necessary documentation for your application from the US, Canada, UK, Ireland and anywhere else in the world.
Talking to family members and doing research on online and physical public archives may help you find out many facts regarding your ancestor’s life. However, if you think you need help, you can count on us. We have access to several databases and can assist you with this first step of your application.
Under the Irish law, obtaining Irish citizenship does not require you to renounce any other citizenship and will not interfere in any way with other nationalities you may hold.
If you are making a citizenship by descent application, payment is made online when you complete you complete it. If you are over 18, the registration fee and certificate cost is €270. There is also a non-refundable postage and handling fee of €8. For those under the age of 18, the cost of registration and certificate is €145, plus the non-refundable postage and handling fee of €8. In respect of naturalization and marriage applications, there is a nonrefundable application fee of €175, which must be paid through bank drafts made payable to the Secretary General, Department of Justice. If your application is successful, you need to pay for your certificate of naturalization. The cost for an adult is €950, and €200 for minors (for naturalization cases).
No. Irish Embassies and Consulates abroad do not process citizenship claims, all applications (by descent) for the Foreign Births Register must go to the relevant department office in Dublin. See Department of Foreign Affairs. Applications made through association, marriage and naturalization are dealt with by the Citizenship Division, which is part of Immigration Service Delivery (ISD), Department of Justice and Equality.
The Foreign Births register (FBR) is an official register of Irish descendants who were born outside of Ireland and became Irish citizens through their Irish ancestry, namely their parents or grandparents. Once you are on the FBR, you are an Irish citizen and can apply for a passport.
You will need to send the following documents:
• An application form, signed and witnessed;
• Original copy of your birth certificate (that also shows your parents’ details);
• A copy of your current state-issued identification;
• Two documents (original copies) that show proof of your address;
• Four passport photographs (in color).
Documents required regarding your ancestor with Irish descent (parent or grandparent):
• Original birth certificate (with parents’ information);
• Original marriage certificate (if applicable);
• Any change of name document (if applicable);
• A certified copy of their identification that has been issued by the State (if alive);
• A death certificate (if deceased).
Your documents will be returned to you once your application has been processed. You will not need to include a pre-paid envelope, as they will be sent to you by recorded mail. You will need to sign for them upon receipt.
You are able to apply for citizenship by descent if you have a parent or grandparent that was born in Ireland. If you were born outside of Ireland and your parent (who was also born outside of Ireland) was an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen at the time of your birth; then you have the right to become an Irish citizen, and can apply for Irish citizenship through the Foreign Births Register. If your parent registered this way through their grandparent (your great-grandparent) then you have a right to claim Irish citizenship. You can also apply to enter the FBR and become an Irish citizen if one of your grandparents was born on the island of Ireland. In some exceptional cases, and pertaining to an ancestor who is a great-grandparent, there are some specific conditions regarding eligibility. To be able to make a for claim Irish citizenship by descent through a great-grandparent, the following criteria must be met:
• Your great-grandparent was born in Ireland.
• Your parent acquired Irish citizenship because their grandparent (your great-grandparent) was an Irish citizen; and
• Your parent had Irish citizenship at the time of your birth (if born after 1986) or obtained it between 1956 and 1986.
If your parent did not register, although it still possible to pursue Irish citizenship through Irish associations, it should be noted that applications made via an ancestor who is a great-grandparent need to be filed through the Department of Justice, and final decisions are ultimately at the discretion of the Irish Minister for Justice.
Being an Irish citizen grants you the same rights as those born in Ireland. You can live and work there, access Ireland’s highly-regarded health and education, as well as vote in elections. It also means you can hold an Irish passport, which makes you are a citizen of Europe, and you can live, travel, work and study in any of the 27 member states without time or visa restrictions.
Irish citizenship through association is another avenue to pursuing Irish citizenship, in the event you do not meet the criteria to apply through Irish citizenship by descent, and your parent was not registered on the Foreign Births Register (FBR) when you were born.
In order to apply for citizenship by association, which falls under the category of citizenship by naturalization, other criteria must be met, such as showing you have lived, or live in Ireland, and proving that you have a solid and deep connection with Ireland.
Association is defined in Section 16 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 as:
a person is of Irish associations if:
(a) he or she is related by blood, affinity or adoption to, or is the civil partner of, a person who is an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen, or
(b) he or she was related by blood, affinity or adoption to, or was the civil partner of, a person who is deceased and who, at the time of his or her death, was an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen.
To make an application through association, you are expected to have lived (lawfully and legally) in Ireland for a specified period, usually around 3 years. Also mandatory is that you are of “good character”, and meet age requirements.
Applications made through naturalization are decided by the Irish Minister for Justice, who has absolute authority in deciding whether to grant or deny an application.
If you apply for citizenship through association (which is under the category of naturalization), the requirement is to have 3 years (known as reckonable residency) of legal residency in Ireland. However, applications that do not meet the residency criteria will need to demonstrate a strong case: that you have deep and tangible connections with Ireland.
The Irish Minister for Justice has absolute authority and discretion to waive, or not, the eligibility requirements. Therefore, if you do not meet the residency criteria, you will need to present a strong case for association.
The more you evidence a strong and tangible connection with Ireland, the stronger your application for Irish citizenship by association will be.
In order to increase the likelihood of your application having a successful outcome, you will need to present your links and connections to Ireland, this is done by including relations, friendships, work ties, that you may have there. As well as any Irish clubs or associations that you may be a member of. It is also useful to outline your future plans in terms of visits, or plans to reside in Ireland. All will serve to strengthen your application.
You will be required to submit birth, marriage and death certificates for each individual in your family lineage. Therefore, you, your parent, grandparent and great-grandparent who was born in Ireland.
Applications are made through the Citizenship Division of the Department of Justice, and can be found on their home webpage.
Applications can take up to 30 months to process and assess. However, it may take longer if further information is required.
There is a non-refundable application fee of €175, which must be made payable to the Secretary General, Department of Justice.
If you are granted citizenship, there will be an additional cost of €950 (adults), and €200 (for minors for the certificate of naturalization.
If your application is successful and you are granted citizenship, you will be required to attend a citizenship ceremony in order to take an oath of fidelity. Once this has happened, you will receive a certificate of naturalization, which is evidence of citizenship.
You can then apply for your Irish passport.
