Irish passports

liz-paul

Hello,

I am trying to find out if my kids can get Irish passports as well as their british ones. My OH is eligible for one as he was born in NI before 2002 (obviously!) and I am eligible for one through my grandmother if I register my birth down in Dublin. Neither of us has ever held them though so I can't work out if the kids can have them and if so how we would go about getting them. I'm pretty sure OH just has to fill in the form and send it off and I have to register my birth down in Dub on the foreign births register and then I can apply (not sure if I just fill in the form or have to do anything else).

Any ideas about our kids? If only one or other of us had done it before they were born we would just have to fill in the form for them to apply.... Or who can I ask about it?
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/irish_citizenship/irish_citizenship_through_birth_or_descent.html

Is what I've been looking at but it's not clear about our kids. Do you think that once OH and/or myself have ours I just have to register the kids births down in Dub on the foreign births register same as me?

Any help, much appreciated :T

BTW this is not intended as political thread in any way.

Pretani

Why do you want 2 nations passports for your children?.....are you going on holiday in Libya?

lazer

Where were your children born?

If born in Ireland (North or south) to an irish parent (OH), then they are entitled to an Irish passport and just need to fill in the form and send to Dublin.

liz-paul

Kids born over here (NI). I wasn't sure if OH automatically counts as an Irish citizen as he has only ever help UK documents. I might give that a go as the worst they can do is send the form back saying NO!

Pretani

Jackie McDonald was given an Irish passport by Mary McAleeses husband after he was beat in a round of golf by him, and he used it to get into the USA. Irish passports are handy at times, while British ones are looked down upon by certain countries......Columbia is another good call for Irish passports

liz-paul

Yes, holding 2 passports can open better/easier travel and work opportunities. It also gives you 2 embassies to go to in times of crisis and the benefits of 2 different countries whilst abroad.

sleepymy

I've heard it's better to only travel on one, it gives two embassies an excuse to pass the buck if you get into trouble.

globalds

I thought dual citizenship was frowned on nowadays.

My kids would/will have to chose at 18 to be either British or Japanese citizens.

One or the other, not both.

belfastgirl23

There is no problem about them having not held irish passports before as long as they're born in NI. Same for your OH. I'm afraid I don't know about your situation though.

But having recently got Irish passports it's a bit of a rigmarole. You need several different pieces of paper, including utility bills, bank statements, offical photo id etc - and just so you know, you need to make copies of these so you can send them off with the application. You also need to get photos signed and stamped by either a police officer, medical doctor or justice of the peace (I think this is the third profession anyway, but it's very limited). Obviously it's slightly different for children. And they're incredibly strict about photos as well so it's worth springing for Jessops who will take the photo again for free if it doesn't pass.

I did find the post office staff very helpful though. As a starting point, go into the main post office in town and they will give you the forms together with a list of documentation you'll need. They will also process the form for you.

Good luck!

x12yhp

I have an Irish passport because it was cheaper (this is MSE, after all). On my travels I have found that a British passport has people thinking you might be English. Considering the Irish are (generally) loved, whilst there is a certain amount of English loathing... I have always found my travels easier on the Irish than the British.

liz-paul

globalds wrote: »

I thought dual citizenship was frowned on nowadays.

My kids would/will have to chose at 18 to be either British or Japanese citizens.

One or the other, not both.

Just out of interest why do they have to choose? I know/have known several people with dual nationality. I had thought it was pretty common but maybe not.

I'm pretty sure an embassy won't refuse you, they don't know how many passports you have.