A rise in applications for Irish passports ahead of Brexit
One of the consequences of Brexit has been the rise in applications for Irish passports by UK citizens fearful of the consequences for their being able to travel and work in the EU thereafter.
For me, that has resulted in several clients asking me to obtain birth and marriage certificates required as part of their application.
Applicants do not need to have been born in Ireland to qualify and can apply if either of their parents:
- was an Irish citizen who was born in the island of Ireland.
- while not born in the island of Ireland, was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth. Generally, this type of application is made through a grandparent who was born in Ireland. In these circumstances, the applicant must register his / her birth on the Foreign Births Register before applying for a passport.
- obtained Irish citizenship through Naturalisation or Foreign Birth Registration before you were born.
As we await the outcome of Theresa May’s latest trip to Brussels, it will be interesting to see how many more families approach me to help them to gather what they need to acquire an Irish passport.