Foreign Birth Registration

[Jaxx22]

Congratulations Jacqui.

The tracker for my passport has been updated to..... printing! Hopefully I should have it in my hand in a couple of weeks.

[Besha]

And that’s this part done for me too!!

Application sent: 13.12.18
Application confirmed delivered by Royal Mail: 14.12.18
Application confirmed received: 22.02.19
Address confirmed: 18.10.19
Certificate received: 09.11.19

Just under 12 months which is quite lucky. So happy for everyone starting to hear, especially Jacqui!

I’ll be putting my application in person to the embassy in Stockholm hopefully next week. My partner works in the church - I hope they have a stamp, though according to their website signed, letterheaded paper is also acceptable...?

I’ll update you with what’s deemed as acceptable when I hand everything over hopefully in a couple of weeks!

[Roibeard]

Hello. New here, so please forgive me if this is the wrong place.

The grandparent through whom i am making my application does not have a current state-issued identification (from the UK). Both passport and driving license are out-of-date. Would a bus pass suffice? What other options do I have?

Thanks,
BJN

Hi. A library card will not suffice. You will need to ask your grandparent to update either their passport or driver's license. In my case my grandfather had already passed away so I just needed his birth, marriage and death certificate.

[Roibeard]

Hello. New here, so please forgive me if this is the wrong place.

The grandparent through whom i am making my application does not have a current state-issued identification (from the UK). Both passport and driving license are out-of-date. Would a bus pass suffice? What other options do I have?

Thanks,
BJN

Hi. A library card will not suffice. You will need to ask your grandparent to update either their passport or driver's license. In my case my grandfather had already passed away so I just needed his birth, marriage and death certificate.

Sorry, I meant to say a bus pass wouldn't suffice

[Bertie1912]

Hello. New here, so please forgive me if this is the wrong place.

The grandparent through whom i am making my application does not have a current state-issued identification (from the UK). Both passport and driving license are out-of-date. Would a bus pass suffice? What other options do I have?

Thanks,
BJN

One generation different but my parent has neither a passport or driving license so used a certified copy of their bus pass. I cleared it with the department dealing with it and they said just include a note explaining the situation. FBR processed with no issues.

[jgclancy]

Here's an interesting twist on the old unattainable document problem. Found a cousin who was born in 1951. His grandfather (my great grand uncle) was born in 1864 in Leitrim. I lucked out and his grandfather's civil birth record is there. He and most of his 7 out of 10 siblings came to the US. Some stayed in NYC,some in Baltimore,Maryland & some to San Francisco,CA. The grandfather went to San Francisco.They have grandfather's death certificate too(1947).The problem is he was married about 1894 in San Francisco area.The 1906 Earthquake & fires following it destroyed just about every record.No newspaper notice about a marriage found either. Church probably destroyed even if I knew which one.The cousin is lucky that his father was the last kid born in 1907 and has a birth certificate but what to do about that marriage certificate for his grandfather. Figure I'd toss it out here to talk about while I await an official answer.

jgclancy..

[BrexitEscapee]

...Figure I'd toss it out here to talk about while I await an official answer.

If you're quick, you can do a load of online research for free. www.findmypast.com are temporarily allowing full access to their research facilities to mark Veterans Weekend. On the UK (.co.uk) website, this will last until midday tomorrow, i.e. 18 hours from when I've posted this. Not sure when the cut-off time on the US website will be. I've just logged in and tried it and it's a pretty impressive portal to all sorts of online databases, e.g. census records, military service records, newspaper records etc., which you otherwise can't search online without paying.

I don't know if it will help in your situation, but when I discovered my grandad's birth (135 years ago) hadn't been registered, I was able to use online baptism records to convince the current parish priest to provide me with a new baptism certificate and that was all I needed to do a 'late registration' of his birth with the Irish authorities. It may be possible for the US church or state to provide a replacement marriage certificate if you can provide them with sufficient evidence that the marriage took place?

[jgclancy]

...... if you can provide them with sufficient evidence that the marriage took place?

That's the key to it all. What would they take in lieu of a marriage certificate? The church and all records were probably destroyed.All pre-1906 San Francisco government records were destroyed. No newspaper announcement which would help I'd think. I'm guessing amassing death certificates, the father's birth certificate,a letter from the California government about why no record exists & maybe a notarized letter from my cousin stating it's all true might cover it ....but dealing with the government so ya never know haha

I am quite well off in genealogy so no worries about my abilities with searches (except maybe newspapers -never been too good there). My tree has almost reached 10K & have over one thousand Irish civil records in it as well as Griffiths,Censuses, church records (lucked out with Cork city stuff pre-1864!),etc. and much more for my NYC certificates,etc...

jgclancy......

P.S.-I am lucky. My great grandfather went to San Francisco too. Made his money and, fortunately for me, around 1891 he returned to Ireland, bought a farm,got married and had 8 kids. The funny part is he,his wife & ALL 8 kids came to US in 1920's. Six kids came earlier then he sold the farm to a relative and came last .Quite the story.

[BrexitEscapee]

That's the key to it all. What would they take in lieu of a marriage certificate?

My guess would be any other official documents which demonstrate they were married, e.g. death certificates, mortgage/property papers etc. However, you say you're waiting for an official response (from Ireland or California?) so there's no point me guessing. If you've already done an exhaustive search for evidence, then your cousin's only hope is if California/Ireland will make allowances for people whose records were lost in the earthquake/fire. It would seem unfair on your cousin otherwise as even if his grandfather hadn't got married, he should still be able to produce birth/death records to show he is his descendant.

And what an accommodating great grandfather you have - coming all the way back to have his kids in Ireland just to make sure you qualify for FBR 130 years later.

[jgclancy]

And what an accommodating great grandfather you have - coming all the way back to have his kids in Ireland just to make sure you qualify for FBR 130 years later.

Indeed. Actually, one of my older brothers obtained his FBR 20 years ago via our grandmother from that branch so I decided to spread the appreciation around and applied through her husband (our grandfather-a different line). They were married in NYC -getting their marriage cert was as easy as it gets from the NYC Archives.

Yes. Sent a query to the SF embassy before I try to call the FBR office.Hope they have some alternative since
I'm pretty sure there is no record of it anywhere.I'm guessing someone has had this problem in SF before.

Jgclancy...back to waiting patiently

[Lee2521]

I received some great news today I am now an Irish citizen.
9 months and 5 days of waiting from application receive date to e-mail confirmation and then the estimated time of 2-3 weeks to receive the FBR certificate.

Application received 06/02/19 ( UK to Balbriggan IRE)
Citizenship confirmation e-mail 11/11/19
Certificate print date ?
Certificate received ?

I really fancy some Guinness this weekend to celebrate

[jgclancy]

I received some great news today I am now an Irish citizen.


I really fancy some Guinness this weekend to celebrate

From Jameson to Guinness---let the celebration begin. I'll go for an Irish coffee later & Congrats!!
jgclancy

[Sulla]

I received some great news today I am now an Irish citizen.
9 months and 5 days of waiting from application receive date to e-mail confirmation and then the estimated time of 2-3 weeks to receive the FBR certificate.

Application received 06/02/19 ( UK to Balbriggan IRE)
Citizenship confirmation e-mail 11/11/19
Certificate print date ?
Certificate received ?

I really fancy some Guinness this weekend to celebrate

That's great Lee. I am happy to hear of your progress. About 10 months from application to physical receipt marks a bit of an improvement on times we were seeing earlier this year.

[PeteK]

Hi All, new user, firstly want to say thanks for all the info in this board, it’s helped a lot putting together my application!

I’ve noticed that the confirmation email from the DFA has taken several months after the applications have been delivered, my application was confirmed delivered by the Post service this morning, 1 minute later I had the confirmation of receipt email from the DFA!

Hopefully this bodes well for them speeding up the process for everyone!

[Lee2521]

I received some great news today I am now an Irish citizen.


I really fancy some Guinness this weekend to celebrate

From Jameson to Guinness---let the celebration begin. I'll go for an Irish coffee later & Congrats!!
jgclancy

Hi Jgclancy ,

Thank you and I wouldn't mind all three as I love Guinness and Jamersons also like an Irish coffee with Baileys now and again .

For your cousin has your relative tried the state capital of Sacramento ? I might be wrong but would any of the records be here or there must be a record in the national archives or maybe in DC
https://www.archives.gov/

Good luck to you and your cousin

[Lee2521]

I received some great news today I am now an Irish citizen.
9 months and 5 days of waiting from application receive date to e-mail confirmation and then the estimated time of 2-3 weeks to receive the FBR certificate.

Application received 06/02/19 ( UK to Balbriggan IRE)
Citizenship confirmation e-mail 11/11/19
Certificate print date ?
Certificate received ?

I really fancy some Guinness this weekend to celebrate

That's great Lee. I am happy to hear of your progress. About 10 months from application to physical receipt marks a bit of an improvement on times we were seeing earlier this year.

Hi Sulla ,
Thank you and happy it's nearly there and hopefully it will be all done in 10 months then onto the passport quest.

Also the processing times should get faster and faster for new applicants .

[mayorob]

This is amazing. Mine was received in March (sent from the UK) and I'd resigned myself to it being mid next year or so given the backlog. Seeing people who sent in February get emails and the like now, I'm feeling excited for the first time!

[jgclancy]

For your cousin has your relative tried the state capital of Sacramento ? I might be wrong but would any of the records be here or there must be a record in the national archives or maybe in DC
https://www.archives.gov/

Good luck to you and your cousin

Sadly,no on Sacramento. All the records were in San Francisco when the earthquake hit.Just about anything before then was destroyed in the earthquake or the fires afterward. Many set intentionally for insurance purposes! Waiting for response from the Irish government folks .Congrats again

jgclancy....

[Master Caution]

Update.

Email received yesterday, 11 November 2019 stating that my FBR was on it's way.

Received today, 12th November 2019.

Entered into FBR 18th September 2019.

A total of 441 days from initial application and payment online and 349 days from confirmation email to receipt of the certificate.

Passport thingy next.

MC

[Lenny1463]

Nice to see people from Jan and Feb making process. I also applied online 31st Jan 2019 and posted the next day. Confirmation email that documents arrived in Ireland on 6th Feb 19. Hopefully going by a few other people's timelines I might receive some news soon. Fingers crossed!

Hi Lenny

I applied online 28th December 18 and my application were sent on the 1st Feb 19 and was received in Balbriggan the same day as yours on the 6th Feb.

So I hope we both get some good news in the next few weeks.

Regards

Lee

Hi Lee glad to see you have been added to the fbr register. As you said we both received our confirmation of receipt email in the same day in February. I am yet to hear any news from the FBR team. I called them yesterday after seeing so many on here already being successful but was told that February applications haven't been processed yet and to continue waiting. You must of been lucky to get through already. Congrats

[Lee2521]

Hi Lenny

I applied online 28th December 18 and my application were sent on the 1st Feb 19 and was received in Balbriggan the same day as yours on the 6th Feb.

So I hope we both get some good news in the next few weeks.

Regards

Lee
[/quote]

Hi Lee glad to see you have been added to the fbr register. As you said we both received our confirmation of receipt email in the same day in February. I am yet to hear any news from the FBR team. I called them yesterday after seeing so many on here already being successful but was told that February applications haven't been processed yet and to continue waiting. You must of been lucky to get through already. Congrats
[/quote]


Hi Lenny

My e-mail was a surprise a very good one and I wasn't expecting it for at least a couple of weeks at the earliest. You should hopefully get your confirmation soon and I would of thought your application would be with you this month or December going by everyone elses experiences time frames but nothing is set in stone .

Good luck and thank you .

Keep us updated Lenny

[costus]

I just received my passport Issue date in passport 01 Nov 2019. Long but worthwhile process good luck to everyone still waiting.

[Jaxx22]

So I now have my passport

Thank you to everyone who gave advice on this forum it really did help.

Did anyone else get advised to complete the citizen's registration? I have had a look and from what I can gather it is more for if you are travelling somewhere.

To everyone still waiting, I hope you get your certificates soon

[theonlyh]

I just received my passport Issue date in passport 01 Nov 2019. Long but worthwhile process good luck to everyone still waiting.

Mine said it was dispatched on Monday (11/11) how long does it take to come in the post to UK?

[asamp]

Just a heads up, a few have commented about the application form included in the FBR certificate. It looks like you can apply online now if you are in GB for the first Irish passport. I think this is a recent change because it was not available when I sent off my application.

It's €5 cheaper to apply online too, covers the postage I guess.

https://www.dfa.ie/passportonline/