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:
If the parent (the grandchild of the Irish born person) registered before the great-grandchild was born; or
If the parent (the grandchild of the Irish born person) registered before the 30th June 1986 and the great-grandchild was born after 17 July 1956.
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."
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Prime Minister Brian Cowen has indicated that he would favor relaxing naturalization laws and allowing Americans whose nearest Irish relative is a great-grandparent to claim citizenship, provided they have spent some time either working or studying in Ireland. So watch this space.
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!
19 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Eire2009 | Oct 03, 2010, 01:11 AM EDT
redwood1957 - Since you're claiming Irish citizenship by descent through your grandmother you won't need her marriage certificate. The current fee for registration in the Foreign Births is $217. (Source: Consulate General of Ireland, New York)
redwood1957 | Sep 29, 2010, 05:37 PM EDT
I have my grandmothers birth certificate from Ireland,her death certificate from NY State, my fathers birth certificate from NY State, His death certificated from Maryland, as well as his Baptismal certificate from a church in NYC., I have my birth certificate. I can not locate the marriage certificate for my grandfather and grandmother will it be needed? If I'm using my grandmother as the person as my relative? Also any idea as to costs to complete process? Thanks Mike
Eire2009 | Sep 24, 2010, 07:05 PM EDT
walter3ca - Yes, a baptismal certifiate will suffice. My wife's grandfather was born in the 1920s and Dublin couldn't locate a civil registration of his birth. My wife was able to use his baptismal certificate to successfully be entered in the FBR.
walter3ca | Sep 04, 2010, 02:24 PM EDT
My Grandfather was born over 100 years ago. I have his baptismal certificate but no birth certificate. Will that work I wonder?
WoundedKnee | Sep 04, 2010, 02:02 AM EDT
Just as a follow-up to my earlier post, and in case anyone didn´t believe my advice as to how to get an Irish passport, there´s this in tomorrow Saturday´s Irish Independent:---"A Chinese couple, who had flown here without any passports or legal documentation, were refused permission to land as gardai suspected they were adults pretending to be unaccompanied minors. However, they were later allowed to apply for asylum and remain in Ireland." Score another one for the Mass Immigrationists, another one down for Ireland! Or should I say two gained for Ireland--two more to go on the Irish welfare roll, two more for the few Irish people still working to pay taxes to feed & house. The Irish-are they now the greatest fools on earth?
haasny007 | Sep 03, 2010, 03:32 PM EDT
@GeorgeDillon and FranConnor: It really doesn't matter what passport you use when entering the EU if you go there as a tourist. However, many times the EU lines are shorter at immigration and you don't have to fill out the form for non-EU citizens. I would also rather hold an Irish passport than an US one if my tourist bus gets hijacked lets say by fundamentalist terrorists. The advantage really comes into play if you are an exchange student and/or you want to live and work in Europe for a while or permanently.
GeorgeDillon | Sep 03, 2010, 01:20 PM EDT
aomiller: Did it never occur to you to contact the Irish Embassy in Mexico City? Not exactly rocket science.
GeorgeDillon | Sep 03, 2010, 01:19 PM EDT
aomiller: Did it never occur to you to contact the Irish Embassy in Mexico City? Not exactly rocket science, is it?
GeorgeDillon | Sep 03, 2010, 01:18 PM EDT
FranConnor: What you did was wrong. if you were traveling within the EU you should have used your Irish passport. When you go to the US they insist you use the American passport. Have some respect when traveling in Europe, use your EU country passport.
yogihugger | Sep 03, 2010, 12:18 PM EDT
IT'S SAD BECAUSE I AM A GREAT GRANDCHILD OF 4 IRISH PERSONS BUT MY PARENTS ARE NOT CITIZENS OF IRELAND SO I AM SOL! SAD BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO LOOK THE SUN AND THE MOON AWAY FROM WHAT AN IRISH PERSON LOOKS LOOKS LIKE RUNNING AROUND CLAIMING CITIZENSHIP. I'M SORRY BUT THOSE NIGERIANS ARE NOT IRISH...ONLY SHREWD ENOUGH TO BE SCAMMING THE SYSTEM!!!!
nytreader | Sep 03, 2010, 11:45 AM EDT
yea, the Irish goons in Galway are more likeable than any American!
ORourkes | Sep 03, 2010, 11:11 AM EDT
Any eligible males? Let me know....I'll be there with bells on and my bridal frills! My great-great grandfather is registered @ Dublin...and I have a picture of his grave stone located in Colorado. How about an aching heart and tears in my eyes every time I leave from a vacation there? Those of you born there and still living there...Oh how I envy you!
haasny007 | Sep 03, 2010, 10:49 AM EDT
You do not need an Irish (or EU) passport to "travel freely" within the European Union. Anyone who is permitted to enter the EU can do that. All other benefits are stated in this article: not residence permit required for students, no work permit, etc.
cabbagehead44 | Sep 03, 2010, 10:35 AM EDT
Why does it take so long to get! Couldn't they speed up the process?
Fran Connor | Sep 03, 2010, 10:30 AM EDT
I have both Irish and US citizenship and passports. I'm happy to report that my wife and I were very favorably received all over Europe using our American passport - Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, it didn't matter. Maybe Americans aren't hated quite as much as some people would have us believe.
aomiller | Sep 03, 2010, 09:45 AM EDT
I, too, have an Irish Passport and need to renew it. I live in Cuernavaca, Mexico. What must I do to renew my passport, please? I was "grannied-in" as an Irish Citizen born in the U.S.A. of Irish parents and grandparents, so have already done all the "foreign birth registration" stuff to get my Irish citizenship & Passport. Advancely, thanks.
photoclick | Sep 03, 2010, 09:44 AM EDT
The article fails to mention that an 'Irish Passport' is also obtainable from the Israeli secret service!
WoundedKnee | Sep 03, 2010, 09:10 AM EDT
The article is in error. Apart from being born in Ireland, the easiest way to get an Irish passport is to arrive from Africa (no direct flights, so you actually arrive from Britain, France etc) but throw away your African passport before you land at Dublin, and then claim political asylum as a Somali. No matter if you were born in Nigeria or South Africa, thousands of miles from Somalia-the Irish don´t know the difference. Never fails!
WoundedKnee | Sep 03, 2010, 09:04 AM EDT
i already have an irish passport but need to renew it. I am looking @ this long form - is it really necessary to complete all sections? Why can't I send my old passport with a new pic?