Eligibility checker
Answer a few questions about where you and your family were born and see your most likely route to Irish citizenship.
- About a minute to complete
- Covers birth, descent and adoption
- Includes Northern Ireland
Free · No sign-up · Official sources
The free toolkit for claiming Irish citizenship
Check whether you qualify, find your family’s Irish birth, marriage and death records, and put together a complete Foreign Births Register application — with plain-English guides for every step.
- No account or email needed
- Results in about a minute
- Includes Northern Ireland
How it works
From Irish roots to an Irish passport
Most people born abroad claim citizenship through the Foreign Births Register. Here is the whole journey, with the free tool or guide for each step.
Check you qualify
Answer a few questions about where you, your parents and your grandparents were born.
Eligibility checkerFind your Irish records
Search the civil and church registers for your family’s births, marriages and deaths.
Find Irish documentsOrder official certificates
Order the full certificates the application needs — printouts of index entries aren’t accepted.
How to orderGather every document
Tick off each certificate, ID copy, proof of address and photo for your route.
Documents checklistApply, witness and post
Apply online, sign in front of an approved witness and send your pack by recorded post.
Step-by-step guideGet your Irish passport
Registration takes about 12 months. Then apply for a passport with your FBR certificate.
Passport fees
Free tools
Tools that do the heavy lifting
Built for the three jobs that take applicants the longest: working out the route, finding the records and getting the paperwork right.
Find Irish documents
Search the Irish civil and church registers for births, marriages, deaths, baptisms and burials, and view the original register page.
- Civil and parish records
- Filter by district, year and mother’s maiden name
- View or download the scan
Documents checklist
The official document list for your route, as a checklist you can tick off and print — so your pack is complete first time.
- Grandparent and parent routes
- Progress saved in your browser
- Print-ready
At a glance
The Foreign Births Register in six facts
Checked against the Department of Foreign Affairs (opens in a new tab) on 23 September 2026.
How the FBR works- Who can apply
- Anyone born abroad with a grandparent born on the island of Ireland, or a parent who was an Irish citizen when they were born
- How you apply
- Online at fbr.dfa.ie, then printed, witnessed and posted with original documents
- Fee
- €278 for adults, €153 for under-18s
- Processing time
- About 12 months, in strict date order
- Citizenship starts
- On the date you’re entered on the register — not from birth
- Passport afterwards
- From €75 through Passport Online, plus €15 postage outside Ireland
Quick answers
What people ask first
The questions that come up most, answered in a sentence or two.
All Foreign Births Register FAQsWho qualifies for the Foreign Births Register?
You can apply if you were born outside Ireland and either one of your grandparents was born on the island of Ireland, or one of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth even though they were not born in Ireland. Once you are entered on the register you are an Irish citizen and can apply for an Irish passport.
More detailMy parent was born in Ireland. Do I need to use the FBR?
No. If one of your parents was born on the island of Ireland and was an Irish citizen when you were born, you are already an Irish citizen, automatically. You do not need Foreign Birth Registration and can apply for an Irish passport directly.
More detailCan I claim Irish citizenship through a great-grandparent?
Not directly. A great-grandparent only helps if your parent had already been entered on the Foreign Births Register before you were born, in which case you apply through your parent. If your parent registered after your birth, you cannot apply through them. Applications based on Irish descent or associations beyond that are a separate route, decided at the discretion of the Minister for Justice.
More detailHow long does Foreign Birth Registration take?
About 12 months to process a complete application. Applications are handled in strict date order, and incomplete applications are returned without being processed.
More detailHow much does Foreign Birth Registration cost?
The fee is €278 for adults (€270 for registration and the certificate, plus a non-refundable €8 postage and handling fee) and €153 for under-18s (€145 plus €8). It is paid online when you submit your application.
More detailWill I have to give up my current citizenship?
Not for Ireland. Irish law allows dual citizenship, so you can become an Irish citizen and keep your other citizenship. Some countries do not allow dual citizenship, so check the rules of your other country of nationality.
More detailGuides
Understand your route
Guide · 5 min read
What is the Foreign Births Register?
How Ireland’s Foreign Births Register works: who can apply, the documents, the €278 fee, the 12-month wait, and how registration leads to an Irish passport.
Guide · 5 min readIrish citizenship through a grandparent
Claim Irish citizenship through an Irish-born grandparent: who qualifies, the documents for each generation, and how to find your grandparent’s records.
Interactive checklist · 4 min readFBR documents checklist
Interactive checklist of the documents for an adult Foreign Births Register application — for you, your parent and grandparent. Tick off and print.
Why Get Me Irish is free
Free, with nothing to sell
No accounts, no paywalls, no upsells. Every tool works without an email address.
Built on official sources
Rules, fees and document lists are checked against ireland.ie, Citizens Information and the HSE — and linked, so you can verify them.
Plain English
Straight answers to the questions people actually ask, with the legal detail kept where it matters.
Start with the eligibility checker
It takes about a minute, and there’s nothing to sign up for.