Irish Citizenship by Descent

If you were born outside of Ireland but have an Irish grandparent who was born in Ireland, you are likely entitled to Irish citizenship on the basis of Irish descent. This is also the case if either of your parents had Irish citizenship at the time of your birth but they were not born in Ireland.

In order to obtain your citizenship status, you must register in the Foreign Births Register. Once you have done so, you will be registered as an Irish citizen and entitled to the benefits of Irish citizenship, such as applying for an Irish passport.

If you were born in Ireland to an Irish parent, or if your Irish parent was born in Ireland, you automatically have Irish citizenship and do not need to register as an Irish citizen. You are automatically qualified to apply for an Irish passport, which will act as proof of your Irish citizenship.

As Ireland allows dual citizenship, it will often be possible to obtain citizenship of Ireland whilst retaining your original citizenship status. However, this will depend on the specific citizenship rules of the other country in question. In the case of the UAE, for instance, dual citizenship is not always allowed, so it is important to check the specific citizenship rules which apply to you before applying for Irish citizenship.

Note that you cannot apply for Irish citizenship by descent on the basis of an Irish great grandparent unless you also have at least one grandparent who was born in Ireland; an Irish great grandparent is not a close enough Irish ancestor to allow you to apply for Irish citizenship by descent.

Page Contents

• Understand the Citizenship by Descent in Ireland
• Eligibility for Irish Citizenship by Descent
• How to Apply for Irish Citizenship by Descent
• What Documents Will I Need?
• Witness Requirements for Irish Citizenship by Descent
• Cost of Applying for Irish Citizenship by Descent
• Processing Time for Irish Citizenship by Descent
• Irish Citizenship Benefits
• Conclusion
• How Can Total Law Help?
• Frequently Asked Questions

In order to register on the Foreign Births Register, one of the following circumstances must apply to you:

• You have an Irish born grandparent
• You have an Irish parent who had Irish citizenship status at the time of your birth but who was born outside of Ireland
  • If your parent obtained Irish citizenship via naturalisation, you will still be eligible for registration on the Foreign Birth Registry, provided that they had Irish citizenship at the point at which you were born

You will also need to provide evidence of your parent or grandparent’s citizenship status, as part of your application. The specific documents which you will need to provide are included later in this article.

Note that, if you were born in Ireland to an Irish parent, you are automatically an Irish citizen. As such, you will not need to register for Irish citizenship. This is also the case if you were born outside of Ireland to an Irish parent who was born in Ireland.

There are a number of steps which you should complete when submitting your application for registration on the Irish Foreign Births Registry. These are generally as follows:

Step 1: Complete the online application form, via the Irish government website. You will need to input your personal details and the route through which you are eligible for citizenship by descent, so make sure you have this information available.

Step 2: Print out the completed application form. Note that this form will include the information on where to send your supporting documents. In the case of applications from the UAE, this will likely be the Irish embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Step 3: Once your application form has been printed, you now need to have it witnessed by an appropriate witness. They will need to witness your form using their stamp (or a business card where a stamp is not available), verify your identity, and sign 2 of your 4 passport photos.

Only certain individuals can act as an official witness as part of your citizenship application. The full details of who can act as a witness and what they must do to complete the witnessing process are included later in this article.

Step 4: Once your application has been witnessed, you should now send it, along with your other supporting documents, to the address included on your printed application form.

Step 5: Your application will now be processed. If it is successful, you will be provided with a Foreign Birth Registration Certificate and will be able to apply for an Irish passport.

The documents which you need to submit in order to apply for Irish citizenship via descent will depend on the particular familial relationship through which you are applying (i.e. whether through your parent or grandparent). In general, however, you will require a combination of the following documents:

• Completed application form
• Birth certificate
• Marriage certificate or other change of name document (in the event that your name has changed since birth and you are applying for citizenship using your new name)
• Proof of identity
• 2 different documents providing proof of address
• 4 colour photographs (2 of which must be signed by your witness)
• Birth certificate of your parent or grandparent, as applicable
• Marriage certificate or other change of name document of your parent or grandparent, as applicable (in the event that their name changed after birth)
• Proof of identity for your parent or grandparent, or their death certificate
• In the event that your parent gained Irish citizenship through naturalisation, their original Irish Naturalisation Certificate
• In the event that your parent gained Irish citizenship through registration on the Foreign Births Registry, their original Foreign Birth Registration Certificate

Primarily, you will need to prove that your family history includes an eligible Irish relative: either a grandparent born in Ireland or a parent who had Irish citizenship at the time of your birth.

Note that, in most cases, the documents which you submit should be the originals. It is also possible for you and a sibling to submit the same documents simultaneously, provided that you reside in the same country and include 2 separate completed application forms in your application package, both of which have been witnessed by an eligible individual.

Before you send off your completed application form, you will need to have it witnessed by an eligible individual.

Your chosen witness will need to witness the form, using their official stamp. Where a stamp is not available, they will need to provide an official business card instead. They will also need to verify that the copies of your ID are true copies and to sign and date 2 of your 4 colour photographs.

Only certain individuals can act as an official witness for your citizenship application, including the following:

• Police officer
• Headteacher/ teacher
• Doctor
• Nurse
• Dentist
• Pharmacist
• Lawyer
• Notary Public
• Bank Manager
• Accountant
• Vet

Once your application has been witnessed, you can then send it, along with your other supporting documents, to the address provided on your completed application form.

When applying to join the Irish Foreign Births Register, you will need to pay a registration fee.
The cost of registering on the Foreign Births Register, plus the cost of postage, handling, and receiving a Foreign Birth Registration Certificate, is €278 for an adult applicant and €153 for a child applicant.

Upon obtaining Irish citizenship, you may also choose to apply for an Irish passport. The cost of a standard adult passport application is €75 in the case of online applications and €80 in the case of postal applications, but online applications are strongly encouraged.

Note that, if your documents are not in Irish or English, you will also need to pay to get them translated by an authorised translation service.

Some applicants also choose to pay for legal assistance to help with their application. Contact Total Law today for more information on exactly how we can help.

In general, it takes around 9 months to process a Foreign Birth Registration application. However, it is important to note that waiting times can vary considerably, depending on how many other applications are also being processed and whether there are any complications with your application.

In order to minimise delays, it is important to ensure that you submit all necessary documentation as part of your application, get your application witnessed by an eligible witness before sending it off, and promptly provide any additional information which is requested.

The Irish government immigration service has noted that it is receiving an increasing number of incomplete applications, so it is important to avoid this pattern.

Irish citizenship brings a number of benefits. For one, once you obtain Irish citizenship, you will be able to live and work indefinitely in Ireland without needing to secure a visa. Ireland is an excellent residential destination, boasting culturally rich cities like Dublin and Galway, areas of outstanding natural beauty like Connemara and Kerry, and a strong economy and job market. It offers world-class universities, like Trinity College Dublin, and a safe and stable environment in which to raise a family.

You will also be able to participate in Irish elections, whether voting or standing for office yourself, and to apply for an Irish passport. According to the Passport Index 2025, the Irish passport is the joint-3rd strongest in the world, meaning it brings a variety of travel benefits.

Ireland is also an EU member state. This means that, upon obtaining Irish citizenship, you gain the ability to live and work in any other EU member state, owing to the freedom of movement agreement between the EU countries.

If you were born outside of Ireland but have an Irish parent or grandparent, you may be eligible for Irish citizenship by descent. This means that, upon registering with the Irish Foreign Births Register, you will officially obtain Irish citizenship, without first needing to move to Ireland.

In order to be eligible, you will need to have either an Irish parent (who had Irish citizenship when you were born) or a grandparent who was born in Ireland. Note that your parent does not need to have been born in Ireland in order for you to be eligible for Irish citizenship by descent; they only need to have had Irish citizenship at the time of your birth. In the case of an Irish grandparent, on the other hand, they must have been born in Ireland in order to provide you with a route to Irish citizenship.

Irish citizenship by descent is a popular route amongst many individuals with Irish parents or grandparents, as Irish citizenship brings a variety of benefits, including freedom of movement within the EU.

If you are a UAE resident with Irish ancestry, you may be able to apply for Irish citizenship. Contact Total Law today for assistance with identifying whether or not you satisfy the eligibility criteria.