Ireland allows descendants of Irish nationals to apply for citizenship in certain cases. Depending on your family history, you may be eligible to apply for citizenship if one of your ancestors was Irish. Make the most out of your ancestry by acquiring an Irish passport and experience all the business and lifestyle opportunities afforded by one of the top citizenships in the world.
Ireland ranks among the top five most developed nations on the UN’s Human Development Index, and its economy holds 3rd position on the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom. The country offers an excellent quality of life to its people and visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to approximately 190 destinations worldwide. As a citizen of Ireland, you can live and work in the country and anywhere else in the EU and Switzerland at any time.
Each citizenship by descent case is unique but the following rule always applies: Unless at least one parent or an Irish-born grandparent, great-grandparent, or great-great-grandparent was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, you have no automatic right to Irish citizenship on the basis of extended ancestry (that is, ancestors other than your parents up to your great-great-grandparents are not applicable: siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles).
§16 of the amended Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 gives the Minister for Justice and Equality the absolute discretion to grant (or waive the statutory conditions for) citizenship based on Irish descent or association.
When you acquire citizenship under the act, you enjoy full citizenship for life, which can be passed on to future generations by descent.
There are three ways you can obtain Irish citizenship based on ancestral links:
1. Automatic citizenship
If one or both of your parents was born in Ireland, you can apply for Irish citizenship and a passport straight away. This can include certain adoptees depending on where the adoption took place.
2. Citizenship by foreign birth registration
If you were born outside of Ireland, you can become an Irish citizen if:
In these cases, you can become an Irish citizen through the process of foreign birth registration. Once you have been entered onto the foreign birth register, you are an Irish citizen and are entitled to apply for an Irish passport.
3. Citizenship by Irish descent or association
Another way to apply for citizenship is through naturalization. Applying for citizenship based on descent (also referred to as Irish association) is at the discretion of the Minister for Justice and Equality.
§16(2) of the amended Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 defines Irish descent or association as being:
Applications based on Irish ancestors going back further than a grandparent are generally refused, as are applications based on being the sibling, cousin, aunt, or uncle, or the parent or grandparent of an Irish citizen (by ‘ascent’). Applicants who are likely to receive the minister’s approval of being granted Irish citizenship by descent or association should fulfill the following requirements:
Applications for citizenship by descent must be accompanied by substantive documentation supporting the claim.
Applicants are advised to read all the requirements carefully before submitting their application. Thereafter, they will need to complete a client intake form to check for eligibility.
Henley & Partners can seamlessly manage the entire automatic citizenship, citizenship by foreign birth registration, or citizenship by descent application process for you, from helping you prove your lineage with the help of a genealogist (at an additional fee) to drafting the legal documents, to corresponding with the Department of Foreign Affairs, to scanning, copying, and posting all documents, to you receiving your Irish passport in hand.
The process for acquiring Irish citizenship based on foreign birth registration currently takes nine months but may take up to 24 months.
On the other hand, the process for acquiring Irish citizenship based on descent or association generally takes between 24 and 30 months, but some cases can be concluded in 18 months.
For more information on how we can help you secure your future by connecting with your family’s legacy, please complete the Irish citizenship by descent enquiry form below.
Have one of our qualified advisors contact you today.
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