Applying for an Irish passport - The journey begins

If you've read my last post then you'll know some of the motivations for why i now need to start this lengthy process.

Like most people in Britain i have a mixed descent from the various nations that make up our shared history. My maternal grandfather was from Ireland and their laws this means that i am eligible to gain an Irish passport. As you may have seen many countries have seen significant increase in interest and applications for passports from UK citizens who may be entitled and realise want this would mean to their travel prospects.

So i've started to look into exercising this option and as you may guess, they haven't made it easy. Initially when i looked into this there were some generic messages about how this wasn't necessary because the various governments don't intend their to be problems. But its become clearer as time went on that that was pie in the sky.

So what do you need to do. Well in my case i need to prove the whole chain of entitlement that means:

1. Grandfather’s birth certificate (+notarised photocopy)
2. Grandfather’s marriage certificate (+notarised photocopy)
3. Grandfather’s death certificate (+notarised photocopy)
4. Mum’s birth certificate (+notarised photocopy)
5. Mum’s marriage certificate (+notarised photocopy)
6. My birth certificate (+notarised photocopy)
7. My marriage certificate (+notarised photocopy)
8. Certified/Notarised copy of the photograph page of current passport or state issued identity document (e.g. Driver's Licence)
9. Certified/Notarised copy of the photograph page of current passport or state issued identity document (e.g. Driver's Licence)
10. 2 x Proof of residence
11. 2 x Notarised passport photos
12. Notarised application form

So 14 different documents plus 7 notarised copies.

Then there is the costs. My family does have some of the originals needed for these applications but are hesitant to send them away in case they get lost in the process. So i've applied for duplicates alongside the main fees involved:

1. duplicate of Grandfather's birth cert €42 total.
2. duplicate of Grandfather's marriage certificate £9.25
3. duplicate of Grandfather's death certificate £9.25.
4. duplicate of mother's birth certificate £9.25
5. duplicate of parent's marriage certificate for mum and dad £9.25
6. official translation of my marriage certificate TBC
7. Foreign birth app fee is €278
8. Passport app fee is €80

5      TOTAL so far approx. £352 not including photocopies, translation fees and postage fees

There are benefits to this process though. I've learned alot about our family history in the process.

Anyway the process is ongoing. The latest is that it turns out my grandfather wasn't registered and this seemed to be an optional process over a hundred years ago so now i am following the so called 'late registration process' to register him over hundred years after his birth and many decades since his death. however to apply for this i will need to send the original copy of his baptism certificate, which we do have but are not keen on sending.

So lets just say this process is anything but (deliberately not?) cheap and easy. I'm impressed by the public records that exist and, dare i say it, both the UK and Irish Government websites which help you to find what you need to do.

Some useful links for anyone mad enough to try this:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/irish_citizenship/irish_citizenship_through_birth_or_descent.html
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/citizenship-grandparent-born-ireland
https://www.dfa.ie/passports-citizenship/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth/
https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/great-britain/passports/how-to-apply-for-a-passport/
http://lifeevents.hse.ie/
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/Login.asp
https://www.freebmd.org.uk

 

One word of warning, there are websites out that will charge you over the odds for certificates. Use the links above for the official sites.