Irish Citizenship by Birth

Irish or British Parent

• If one or both of your parents had Irish or UK citizenship when you were born, you will be considered an Irish citizen.
• If you were born in Northern Ireland to Irish or British parents, you are entitled to choose to be an Irish citizen.
• If your Irish or British citizen parent died before you were born, you will be considered an Irish citizen by birthright.

Foreign National Parents

Some people who were born on Irish territory are entitled to citizenship by birth if one or both of their parents’ residence history at the time of your birth was:

• They had unrestricted permission to reside in Ireland and or Northern Ireland at the time of your birth
• They had been living in Ireland or Northern Ireland for 3 of the previous 4 years prior to you being born, under an immigration permission that counted towards reckonable residence (i.e. they accrued eligibility towards eventually becoming Irish citizens themselves). This will be considered as a genuine link to Ireland and therefore will make you eligible to apply for citizenship through birthright.

Generally, if you were born after 31st December 2005, you will not be considered for citizenship by birth if you were born in Ireland to non-Irish parents (i.e., your parents are foreign nationals who lived or currently live in Ireland).

Born Abroad to an Irish Parent

If you were born abroad but one or both of your parents are Irish-born, you will be entitled to citizenship in Ireland by birthright.

Born in Ireland with No Rights to Citizenship in Any other Country

If you do not qualify for any of the above criteria, but you were born in Ireland with no citizenship option in any other country, then you are considered an Irish citizen by birth. These cases most often arise for children of refugees or protected persons, or for parents dealing with a complicated situation with their country of origin.

Born in Ireland to Refugee Parents

For applicants born in Ireland to parents who came to Ireland as recognised refugees, they will be entitled to automatic Irish citizenship so long as their parents received approved refugee status.

Overview

If you do not qualify for citizenship by birth, you may still be able to acquire citizenship via a different route, as there are several routes you can take to gain Irish citizenship. An example of this would be citizenship by descent, where you can claim citizenship if at least one of your parents can prove an Irish heritage, or citizenship by naturalisation after living in Ireland for 5 years (or 3 years for children).

Citizenship by Descent

Many people with Irish heritage may not qualify as a citizen of Ireland by birthright, but fit the criteria to be granted citizenship by descent in Ireland. This is true if:

• You were born abroad to an Irish citizen parent
• Your Irish parent was born outside Ireland (but they qualify as Irish according to the law at the time of their birth)
• One or more of your grandparents was born in Ireland and is/was an Irish citizen.

If you were born abroad, your birth needs to be registered on the Irish Foreign Births Register.

Citizenship by Association

In most cases, unless you have a clear Irish heritage through a parent or grandparent, having ‘Irish blood’ or members in your extended family that are Irish does not make you entitled to Irish citizenship on these grounds alone. However, each individual’s circumstances are unique, and may be considered by the Immigration Minister processing your application.

Generally speaking, you may be able to acquire Irish citizenship by association (i.e. you are related to an Irish citizen by blood or adoption) if you also fit the following criteria:

• You have lawfully lived in Ireland for at least 3 years
• You are not applying on the grounds of having a relation more distant than an Irish great-grandparent
• You are not applying on the grounds of citizenship by ‘ascent’ – i.e. your child or grandchild is an Irish citizen but you are not
• You are not applying on the grounds that your brother or sister is an Irish citizen.

Please note that the application processing time for citizenship by descent or Irish associations can take up to 3 years.

Citizenship through Special Declaration

Citizenship through Special Declaration is a citizenship route option for specific circumstances. Such circumstances include:

• people born in Ireland who at the time of their birth was entitled to diplomatic immunity (e.g. they are the child of a foreign ambassador) between 2 December 1999 and 31 December 2004
• people born in Irish nautical or air space to a foreign national on a foreign ship or aircraft between 2 December 1999 and 31 December 2004

• People born in Ireland who have made a declaration of alienage (i.e. renounced their citizenship) but would like to detract this declaration and resume their Irish citizenship.

Applying Online

If you are a resident in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or USA, you can apply for your first Irish passport online using the Passport Online service.

In order to apply for your first passport online, you will need:

• All relevant documents outlined in the application process
• Access to a printer in order to sign and post hard copies of certain documents
• A passport photograph
• Proof of your identity
• To complete an Identity Verification Form:
  • If applying in Ireland, a member of the Garda Síochána is required to sign this form
  • If applying abroad, you will need to be witnessed signing the form by someone in an occupation listed on the Passport Online website

• To complete in full the application process outlined online
• Your debit or credit card for online payment
• To send off hard copies of the relevant documentation to the address listed in the application process – we advise going to your local Post Office and paying for tracked post services.

By Post and In-Person

If you are applying in Ireland, you can use the Post Passport service by An Post. You must fill out the APS 1 form, available at your local post office or Garda station. This form is not currently available online.

You will also be required to submit four identical passport photos.

There are Post Passport branches also available in the UK in Northern Ireland, Glasgow, and Liverpool. If you wish to apply in-person from outside Ireland and the UK, it is best to apply at your local Irish consulate or embassy with an APS 2 form.