If you were born outside Ireland, you may be entitled to Irish citizenship. We have put together a list of frequently asked questions and their answers to help guide you in understanding basic eligibility criteria and processes.
My mother/father is Irish and I was born abroad, how do I apply to become an Irish citizen?
You are automatically an Irish citizen if one of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth and was born on the island of Ireland. You don’t need to apply to become an Irish citizen in this case.
My Grandmother/Grandfather was born on the island of Ireland. Can I apply to become an Irish citizen?
You can become an Irish citizen through Foreign Birth Registration.
My Grandmother/Grandfather was an Irish citizen at the time of my birth, even though she was not born on the island of Ireland. Can I apply to become an Irish citizen?
You can become an Irish citizen through Foreign Birth Registration.
My Grandfather was born in Ireland but neither of my parents have Irish Passports. Am I entitled to apply for Irish citizenship?
An application for Irish citizenship through Foreign Births Registration* can be submitted by any person with a grandparent born on the island of Ireland.
I have Irish citizenship through Foreign Births Registration. Can my children now also be registered as Irish citizens?
If your children were born after your entry onto the Foreign Births Register then they too are eligible to apply for entry on the register.
If your children were born before you were registered, they are not eligible to apply as you were not an Irish citizen at the time of their birth.
How do I register my own birth, or that of my children, as Foreign Births?
Your birth, or your children's, can be entered on the Foreign Births Register if you are eligible to become an Irish citizen. The application is handled by the Foreign Births Registration Section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and you can find out what you need to do before you begin your online application here.
*Once a person is entered onto the Foreign Births Register they are an Irish citizen and entitled to apply for an Irish passport.
Citizenship based on Irish associations
Irish association means that you are related by blood or through adoption to an Irish citizen.
If you are considering making an application based on Irish descent or association, you should note the following:
- You should have a reasonable period of legal residence in Ireland (at least 3 years) to show that you have a connection to Ireland.
- Applications based on descent from an Irish citizen going further back than a great-grandparent are generally refused.
- Applications based on being the parent or grandparent of an Irish citizen (by ‘ascent’), or the brother or sister of an Irish citizen are generally refused.
- Applications based on Irish descent or associations can take up to 30 months to process.
You can read more about applying for citizenship based on Irish descent or associations on the ISD website.
You can use the online tool on the Immigration Service Delivery website to check if you are an Irish citizen by birth or decent.
Contact Details for Department of Foreign Affairs - Citizenship Division
Citizenship Division
Department of Justice Office
Rosanna Road
Tipperary Town
Tipperary
E34 N566
Ireland
Locall: Phone services are currently suspended
Homepage: https://www.irishimmigration.ie/citizenship/
Email: citizenshipinfo@justice.ie
Find out more
The Consulate General of Ireland, San Francisco has created this video as a walk-through of the process of obtaining citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland, called Foreign Birth Registration.
Immigrant Investor Program - A Path to Irish Residency
The Immigration Investor Program (IIP) is a residency-by-investment program created by the Irish Government to facilitate long-term residency in Ireland for Qualified Non-EEA nationals and their families, which may include dependent children up to the age of 24.
Approved applicants receive an Irish residency permit (Stamp 4 permit) which allows applicants and their families to live, work, start a business, or study in Ireland for up to five years.
After the initial five years, ongoing five-year extensions of the Stamp 4 permit are available.
Read More HERE
We hope you have found the information we have shared helpful. While you are here, we have a small favour to ask. Ireland Reaching Out is a non-profit organisation that relies on public funding and donations to ensure a completely free family history advisory service to anyone of Irish heritage who needs help connecting with their Irish place of origin. If you would like to support our mission, please click on the donate button and make a contribution. Any amount, big or small, is appreciated and makes a difference.