Parent Never Filed FBR?!?

[Chrisco103]

Hello. I've been looking into getting Irish citizenship. My great-grandparents were born in Ireland on my dad's side. But I don't think my dad ever filed for th FBR. My dad passed away a few years ago. So, does that mean I won't be able to obtain citizenship by descent?

[PasadenaTom]

Sorry to say, but that is correct. It’s hard to imagine that he would have gone to the trouble to register his birth in Ireland and not told you. It is not a simple matter of filling out a form. It requires that you to assemble and submit birth, marriage, and death records of your grandparent, parent, and yourself. Not something I expect someone would do, and not mention to their children.

And even if you register, if you do so after your children are born, they are not eligible. I wish that were not the case. I recently registered, which means my son and daughter are ineligible. I’m not beating myself up over it though. I would have needed to register 23 years ago. And it would not have been as easy then. I did the necessary research, and ordered all the documents online. That was not possible back then.

[Chrisco103]

Sorry to say, but that is correct. It’s hard to imagine that he would have gone to the trouble to register his birth in Ireland and not told you. It is not a simple matter of filling out a form. It requires that you to assemble and submit birth, marriage, and death records of your grandparent, parent, and yourself. Not something I expect someone would do, and not mention to their children.

And even if you register, if you do so after your children are born, they are not eligible. I wish that were not the case. I recently registered, which means my son and daughter are ineligible. I’m not beating myself up over it though. I would have needed to register 23 years ago. And it would not have been as easy then. I did the necessary research, and ordered all the documents online. That was not possible back then.

Thank you. That's too bad. Well I guess I'll have to look at other ways, such as naturalization. If anyone has suggestions, I would love the help.

[PasadenaTom]

I'd suggest you start here.

Unless you have €1 million to invest in Ireland, I think you would either need to be married to, or in a civil partnership with an Irish national, or you would need to have a work permit. Either of those would allow you to live in Ireland, and accumulate time against the residency requirements. You must reside in Ireland for five years (or three for a spouse/civil partner) before you can apply for naturalization. For a work permit, I believe you must have a sponsor. So I don't think it's possible to move to Ireland without first having a job offer.

[Chrisco103]

Thank you!

[PasadenaTom]

Technically, there is this option:

"If you are of Irish associations, the Minister for Justice and Equality has absolute discretion to waive the conditions for naturalisation. Irish associations means being related by blood, affinity or adoption to an Irish citizen".

That would, I assume, apply to a great-grandchild. I am not sure how you would proceed with this, or what is the likelihood of your success in such an endeavor.

If you are willing to invest €175 (about $200), you could apply and see what happens. If you are approved, it looks like it would cost you an additional €950 (about $1100) to get a naturalisation certificate.

(Sorry, previous nearly-duplicate post not intended.)

[PasadenaTom]

After all I just said, please see this post. Someone whose screen name is "Immigration Lawyer" said a few years ago that s/he knew of many people who NOT successful, and not one who was successful. I have no idea if that person truly is a lawyer or is/was qualified to make the statement.

I guess it depends on how dear €175 is to you.

[Chrisco103]

Thanks again. I had noticed that info on the Dept. of Justice site too and was wondering about it as well. I think I'll try getting my proof of descent together and give it a go when I have some extra funds. Meanwhile I'll get my CV together and see about a work permit.