Irish Passport for Daughter born in US - A Saga.

micosavo

It's been almost four months since I first applied and I am at my wits end. I don't know what is going on.

I am Irish born and raised in Dublin, came to the US in 2008, where I've been living now for the last 15yrs. My American wife gave birth to a baby girl last year and we wanted to get my daughter an Irish passport. She already has her American one.

So, I jump onto the website, provide all the info, photographs, documentation of myself (as she is getting the Irish passport through me). The website accepts everything and it all looks good. So I grab my supporting documentation, consent form and head on down to post office and send it off. 12 Days later they receive my supporting docs (my Irish passport) and then the website says "Processing application".

Four weeks later, first hiccup. There is something wrong with the application, and I get an email. The witness to our consent form never bothered to answer his phone so the DFA requested a new one, along with a new photo. So I got another friend (more reliable) and redid the consent and sent it off. He was called and I thought all was peachy poo. This hiccup is on me, can't really blame the DFA for this one :D

So they got that second consent form, then another four weeks later, another Alert. This time they want my marriage certificate for some reason, with my American wife? I am really not sure how being married applies here, isn't it irrelevant to the application? It's through me, not my wife. Also, she signed the consent form along with me and was witnessed signing it, like I was.

Anyway, I grab one of our certified marriage certificates we have left and I post it off. They get this on the 12th of April and today, when I logged in to check, it says Alert, again. This time there is no email, no notification that there is anything wrong. Just another request to submit supporting documentation.

I am wondering if they want another photo since so much time has passed or something but then they would've requested that I just upload a new photo. I am hoping they are not requesting the long-form of my birth cert, that will take some digging to find.

Has anyone else here been through this?

Cheers

Mike

Passport.PNG

beachhead

I believe they will want the long form birth cert. Irish passports are one of the most popular worldwide at the moment.PP office must be snowed under at the moment,not to mind dealing pp applications from residents new and old.

Keep asking for updates.

micosavo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120575360#Comment_120575360

Urgh, you are probably right. I have the long-form cert with me and I regret now not sending it in the first place. The application only required a copy of an Irish passport, which shows I was born in Ireland thereby making the birth cert not required I guess. I mean, I used the long-form birth cert to get a passport in the first place! :D

Thanks for the reply!

kindalen

Get a family member in Dublin to get a local TD to follow issue up for you if you get any more hassle. This might help you.

FishOnABike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120575497#Comment_120575497

From the passport online application site :

Born Abroad to an Irish Born Parent

You can apply for an Irish passport for your child if one of their parents was born on the island of Ireland.

You will need to provide the documents below to verify your citizenship:

• Child’s original full civil birth certificate
• Irish born parent’s original full civil birth certificate
• Irish born parent’s original civil marriage certificate (if married)
• If the parent was born after 31/12/2004, you will also need to provide a photocopy of the Irish born parent's most recent Irish passport or other proof of the parent's Irish citizenship before applicant’s date of birth

If you're only sending in your full civil birth certificate (i.e. long-form) now your application doesn't start until the passport office has received all the required documents.

There's no point in wasting relative's, TD's or the passport office's time lobbying to try shortcut a process that hasn't even gotten over the start line yet (and won't until all the required documents have been received).

https://www.dfa.ie/passports/turnaround-times/

First time online applications take 20 working days so once the passport office receive your full civil birth certificate you application status should move to 'processing' which should take about another four weeks, then add on how long it takes the postal service to deliver it.

micosavo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120576914#Comment_120576914

That's the confusing thing. Here are the requirements that I followed from;

https://www.dfa.ie/passports/documentary-requirements/achild/firsttimeapplicantbornabroad/#d.en.357860;

Bold emphasis is mine. So when I sent the original application in, they didn't mention anything about requiring a marriage cert. Anyway, what if I wasn't married?

My child was born abroad. One parent was born on the island of Ireland

Passport Online is the fastest way to apply for your passport. View our current turnaround times.

We can only begin to process the application when we receive the supporting documents.

Remember, we cannot return your original documents while the application is being processed. Please do not submit an original Irish passport. Please consider other options such as an original birth certificate, rather than submitting your own passport.

Any passport submitted will be returned within 20 working days of the passport issuing however local postal delivery may take longer. You should not book any travel until you have all travel documents.

We need your child’s original documents but we will return these to you. Please submit:

• Guardianship documents (if required). Guardianship and consent is a complex area - find more detailed information in our Consent for Children section.
• Full original civil birth certificate (version that includes the name(s) of the parent(s)) from the country where your child was born. If it is not in English or Irish, you must include a certified translation into English or Irish.

Please submit one of the following documents for the Irish citizen parent:

• A photocopy of the Irish citizen parent’s current Irish passport. Do not send the original.
• The Irish-born parent’s full original civil birth certificate. The version that includes the name(s) of their parent(s). We do not accept baptismal certificates or birth certificates that do not show the name(s) of the parent(s). We do not accept laminated certificates.
  • If the parent’s name is now different to their name on the child’s birth certificate, they will need to link their identity to the child’s birth certificate. For example, they could have changed their name through marriage or divorce. We will require the original documents such as a original civil marriage certificate or the separation agreement, your judicial separation court order, or your divorce decree. This must be certified by a solicitor or by the court.

Nigel Fairservice

Did your wife sign the consent in her maiden name or her married name? If your child's birth cert only has your wife's maiden name and she signed the consent in her married name the marriage cert will account for the name change.

micosavo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120581323#Comment_120581323

She signed it with her married name.

So I contacted the passport office. They require the marriage cert (which they hate, and would like it removed/changed since lots of folks are not married these days) due to legislation from 1964 or something that requires it. Their issue with me specifically was that what I sent them was not the original and they said certified copies are not good enough. I said, after we were married by a judge, he files the marriage with the county. It's all electronic and any request for a paper cert is a certified copy, there is technically no "original". Anyway, they accepted that excuse and application is now processing again.

Thank you all for the help and comments!

Mike