If you were born outside of Ireland but at least one of your parents was born in Ireland, you are already a citizen of Ireland and are automatically eligible to apply for an Irish passport.

If you were born outside of Ireland to parents who were NOT born in Ireland, to be eligible for Irish citizenship one of the following two conditions must be true:

1. One of your grandparents was born in Ireland, or;

2. One of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, even though they were not born in Ireland.

In either of these cases, you can become an Irish citizen through a process known as Foreign Birth Registration (FBR).

Once a person is entered onto the Foreign Births Register, they are an Irish citizen and entitled to apply for an Irish passport.

NOTE: Having an Irish born ancestor further back than a grandparent does NOT make you eligible for Irish citizenship.

Application for Foreign Births registrations are made to the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Please visit the Foreign Birth Registration section of their website for detailed application instructions.

A full list of the documents needed to support a Foreign Birth Registration can be found here. Gathering the necessary documents for relatives born in Ireland can be a challenging and slow process so don’t delay!

• Irish based certificates and documentation – such as birth, marriage and death certificates – can be ordered online through the www.certificates.ie website.

• US based certificates and documentation can be ordered through the county records office where the life event (birth, marriage or death) took place. To access the records office of Cook County, Illinois, clieck here.

To Apply: All FBR applications must be submitted online and a printed copy of the application and all supporting documents mailed to Ireland for processing. The FBR application can be accessed here.

Watch our Guide to Foreign Birth Registration