An Irish passport is one of the most sought-after travel documents in the world.
I have both Irish and English citizenship and have always used the Irish passport in preference.
It's kitschy but true; being Irish is seen as being more, well, likeable or something.
The easiest way to get an Irish passport of course is to be born in Ireland.
But, if you drew the short straw on that one, you're going to need an Irish parent or an Irish grandparent.
If you have an Irish great-grandparent you need to satisfy the following requirements;
There are two circumstances under which a great-grandchild is eligible to apply for Irish citizenship by descent:
The Irish Consulate in New York explained that the parent would need to be registered in the "Foreign Birth Register" which is held at the Consulate, effectively a listing of those of Irish citizens born abroad who are entitled to Irish citizenship who have their births "registered."
A practical use of an Irish passport is that you will be entitled to work and travel freely in any of the 27 countries in the European Union.
You won’t need a work permit for this – and once you have worked in a European Union county for a certain length of time, you will be entitled to unemployment compensation, health care and pension rights.
How else then can you get an Irish passport? Getting a passport is really the easy part – it’s getting Irish citizenship that takes a little time.
Born in Ireland
To get an Irish passport, you must first become an Irish citizen. Fortunately, Americans can hold dual citizenship, as can Irish, so there’s no conflict there.
Let’s look at the scenarios that allow you to claim Irish citizenship.
Anyone born in Ireland before January 1, 2005 is an Irish citizen. After that date, it is not automatic, and the citizenship and residency history of both parents is taken into account.
Marriage to Irish citizen
You are also entitled to Irish citizenship if you are married to an Irish citizen.
To claim citizenship by marriage, you must meet the following conditions: you must be married to an Irish citizen for at least three years; you must have had one year of "continuous residence" on the island of Ireland immediately before the date of your application; and finally, you must have been living on the island of Ireland for at least two of the four years before that year of continuous residence.
If you were born outside of Ireland and either your mother or father (or both) was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, then you are entitled to Irish citizenship.
Permanent residency
If you have been a permanent resident in Ireland, you can try to become a citizen through naturalization. You will need to have lived permanently in Ireland for the previous five years, be over 18 and not have a criminal record.
But let’s face it – living in Ireland for five years is a lot of effort just to get that Irish passport. A much better way to get an Irish passport is to have at least one Irish grandparent. And by Irish, we mean an Irish grandparent who was or is an Irish citizen.
Irish grandparents
What to do next?
After getting an Irish grandparent, the next thing to do is to call an Irish consulate and ask them to send you an application form. There are Irish consulates in most of the major U.S cities. They should also be able to advise you on getting the right documentation in order for your application.
You’ll need a copy of your grandparent’s birth certificate from Ireland. If you don’t have a copy you can get one from the General Registry Office in Dublin. (Click here to go to their Web site.)
You will also need: Your grandparent's certificate of marriage; your parents' birth and marriage certificates; and an original death certificate for any of these relatives who have passed away. If the grandparent is deceased, you’ll need to show a certified copy of their death certificate, and if alive, a current official I.D. (such as a driver’s license or passport.)
To access the Irish documents, it will help you to know as much information about where and when your Irish grandparent was born, which may involve some genealogy research.
If one of your parents is Irish, and you would like to get an Irish passport, the process is easier. You need: their marriage certificate; a current official I.D; a copy of their death certificate if your Irish parent has passed away, a full long-form birth certificate of your Irish parent, showing your grandparents’ names, places of birth and ages at birth.
You will also need: your own long-form birth certificate; documentation to show that you have changed your name, such as a marriage certificate, if this has happened; a notarized copy of your current passport, and at least three other notarized copies of proofs of identity, one of which must be a photo I.D; a bank/utility statement with your current address; and two signed passport photos.
Once you have established your Irish citizenship – which can take up to 18 months to process – you can apply for an Irish passport. This can take up to six weeks to process and you can do this through your nearest Irish consulate.
And then, you too can sashay through the EU passport section at Dublin airport after the overnight flight from New York!
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.SeamusMartin | Dec 08, 2011, 10:59 AM EST
My great-grand parents were Irish, but during the famine they moved to Scotland where my grandfather of Irish was born. Then they all packed up and came to the US. Could I get and Irish passport? Scottish (UK) passport. Since they were from Ulster could I get and Irish passport because of Northern Ireland (UK)? This boy needs help... hello out there?
donal1951 | Nov 20, 2011, 11:07 AM EST
Getting an Irish passport is relatively simple, but does require collecting some documents. Since rules may have changed since I got mine, my advice is to call the nearest consulate. I've had dealings with the consular office at the Irish Embassy in Washington and with the Boston consulate. In both cases, I receive excellent service. Now, I just have to renew, next time is in about three years. The last time I renewed, I asked Boston to send my application to the Dublin passport office so it could have the magnetic strip put on it. That may not be necessary now.
Joxbuk1979 | Nov 20, 2011, 10:53 AM EST
GeorgeDillon presumably has dual-citizenship - Irish and troll
faberm1 | Nov 20, 2011, 09:26 AM EST
I wish that the Irish government would enact a law making any speaker of the Irish language eligible for a passport. They could make an exam to qualify for this. It would incentivize the world-wide diaspora to learn the language. This helps tourism and everything else Irish.
Yardleypa | Oct 02, 2011, 02:29 PM EDT
With the state of the economy the title should read how to get an australian passport.
Springfield9 | Sep 30, 2011, 09:46 AM EDT
Want an American Pasport AND an Irish Passport ....... just marry an American Tourist. They are happy to help and the process is very simple. If you pick the right one it may even stick!!!
naraic123 | Sep 28, 2011, 08:45 PM EDT
@georgedillon, George, stop acting the eegit There is no Nigerian Passport office in Dublin Don't know who or what you represent buy the Irish authorities are not as dumb or unsophisticated as you would like to think.
Eire2009 | Sep 28, 2011, 08:41 PM EDT
Firstgenamerican -- You should submit the birth certificate and marriage certificate of one of your parents. Also include your own birth certificate and marriage certificate, if applicable. You need to have four passport photos taken and have two of them signed on the reverse side by an approved witness. (e.g., police officer, attorney, etc). You must have your drivers license and U.S. passport photocopied and notarized (work I.D. is also acceptable). Depending on the consulate you might also be required to bring documents showing your place of residence. The fee is $120, which can be paid in cash or by bank-certified check. If you pay with a credit card you will be charged in Euro, so you might end up paying more than $120 depending on the current exchange rate.
Firstgenamerican | Sep 28, 2011, 05:59 PM EDT
Kelly, Please outline how to get a passport if your PARENT is Irish born. Both of mine are. Thanks, FGA
Eire2009 | Sep 26, 2011, 08:11 PM EDT
It cost $213 to apply for inclusion in the Foreign Births Register and the wait was 10 months to be added. There were other costs incurred as I had to order birth, death, and marriage certificates before applying at the consulate. Once I received the FBR certificate I had passport photos taken ($10) and took them, a witnessed passport application, and notarized copies of my drivers license to the consulate. It is $105 fo apply for an Irish passport plus a $15 courier fee. I was told the processing time is 12 to 16 weeks for first time passport applicants. So it's going to set you back at least a few hundred bucks and you'll spend well over a year going through the process. But, as others have said, you can't put a price on possessing an Irish passport (by legal means). I mean, as a point of cost comparison, the new Certificate of Irish Heritage is going to cost around $162 if you want it framed and shipped to States from Dublin. And it doesn't even give you any legal entitlements or tourist discounts.
GeorgeDillon | Sep 26, 2011, 01:05 PM EDT
All of this advice is baloney. The quickest and easiest way to get an Irish passport is to go to Ireland on your US passport, but once in Dublin ask a few Nigerians you see in the street (no problem to find them, there'll be thousands of them) to be directed to the Nigerian Passport Office. That's NOT the Nigerian Embassy, the Nigerian Passport Office is a private business which will issue you a passport for any country you like upon payment of a fee.
joycean | Sep 26, 2011, 10:06 AM EDT
Cost: about e127 for application, but also all the documents that have to be collected involve fees from different government agencies, often $10-$50 each. There can also be a cost in tracking down the documents: where specifically were your grandparents born, married;where did they die? Where were your parents born, married; where did they die?
irish18 | Sep 26, 2011, 08:50 AM EDT
what is the cost?
Snowdrop | Sep 26, 2011, 03:57 AM EDT
Irish citizens unite! Don't you want more of our native sons and daughters boosting the economy over there, rather than overcharging you to live or visit there? We direct desendants of the Irish Holocaust of the 1840s are due reparations!!! Give us our citizenship to the Irish Free State, instead of perpetuating what the English did to us!
Snowdrop | Sep 26, 2011, 03:48 AM EDT
Let's face it. If we have predominantly Irish ancestors, grandparents or earlier, my old Irish home is financialy strapped! It doesn't take much intellectual wattage to realize that Ireland's financial coffers would be greatly increased by extending ancestral lines to obtain my Irish passport. Besides that, you'd insure that lovers of Ireland would visit more frequently, or live there, thus escaping the overage of Muslims in Ireland. Wake up Irish Consulate!
bunchesofun | Sep 25, 2011, 07:56 PM EDT
Unfortunately my Irish ancestors came because of the potato famine in the 1850's. Too far back, and never left any record of exactly where in Ireland they came from. I'm very jealous of those who can get Irish citizenship...
brianmack | Sep 25, 2011, 07:25 PM EDT
It takes time and patience but well worth getting. I've had an Irish Passport for over 15 years (renewed a few years back) and it's my most prized possession. Regarding the money to obtain, you've got to be kidding. It's worth three times the amount so quit whining.
Liamish | Sep 25, 2011, 05:56 PM EDT
I'm proud to be an Irish citizen. We beat Australia in The Rugby World Cup last week-that makes me even prouder.
ShaneODowd | Sep 25, 2011, 05:54 PM EDT
I have a Canadian and an Irish passport and it makes traveling, working & studying in Europe immensely easy. (Banking is still a PAIN) As an added bonus any Irish citizen upon arrival in the UK is considered to have "settled status" which is orders of magnitude more useful than just being from a "EU Member State". Effectively bypassing residency requirements and receiving entitlement to remain in the UK indefinitely without restrictions. My shortcut to getting my Irish passport: I was in Ireland for my Grandmother's 100th birthday with my mother and we went to the passport office together (One must go to the Garda office first to have some documents processed, takes about 10 minutes) I submitted the documents, application and paid more for speedy processing. This is an option if one has a ticket that illustrates one is leaving soon. They asked me a question I wasn't clear on and my mother chimed in with the answer! I had my passport in a few days and proudly showed anyone who asked me. "Where are your from? "I'm Irish! My passport says so!"
carrickcourt | Sep 25, 2011, 10:55 AM EDT
The fee for the application for Irish citizenship is not cheap, to say the least.
mcdolan | Sep 25, 2011, 10:05 AM EDT
I went the grandparent route and it did take about 15 months and a lot of official forms (BCs, marriage certs, death certs, etc., all original). Once you get the official certificate stating that you are listed on the Registry of Foreign Births from whichever Irish Consulate you work through, you are an Irish citizen whether or not you actually get the passport in your own time (at additional cost, of course).
cillowen | Sep 25, 2011, 09:38 AM EDT
cia and mossad have no problem getting as many as they need.