Clarification on eligibility — adopted parent in 1963

[Feeleyke]

Hi everyone,

I’m in the process of applying for Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) through my late father, who was adopted in the USA in 1963 by his Irish-born mother (my grandmother). I’ve been researching older threads here and came across this case (https://www.immigrationboards.com/viewt ... 3#p1828963), which was very similar to mine and gives me hope.

From what I understand, there has been a change or clarification in the DFA’s interpretation of citizenship law in recent years:

It now seems that for pre-2010 adoptions, the original foreign adoption order (from abroad) can be used as the basis for recognizing Irish citizenship, even if it wasn’t registered with RICA at the time — as long as it’s registered now. That’s what I’m doing through the RICA process with the Adoption Authority of Ireland.

My question — particularly for Aidan or anyone else who’s gone through this:

1) Did your submitted adoption order already include your Irish Grandparenhs address abroad (e.g., U.S.)?

2)If so, do you know why the DFA still required additional proof of “domicilium” or permanent residence for your grandparents?

Just trying to understand how cautious I need to be when preparing supporting documents, especially if the DFA asks for further proof beyond what’s in the adoption order.

Any insights or experiences anyone can share with similar circumstances would be so helpful.

Thanks in advance!

[corky100]

Hi,

The post/thread you are linking to appears is a little out of date. There are a lot of gotchas, but given your fathers country and year of adoption, they don't apply in your case.

Your doing the right thing, once you have satisfied the AAI and have the RICA for your late father, that's all you need. There is no further proof possible.

The DFA might of course require all sorts of documentation to prove descent / lineage, but with a RICA, the requests will not be about the adoption e.g. domicile at the time, PR at the time etc etc

To anybody else reading this down the line - it all depends on when, where, who and how the adoption occurred. This is not generic advice, it is tailored to the OP circumstances as described.