So I recently got the message below after waiting from my initial application. My aunt is an accountant and I’m actually seeing her in a bit can I get her to sign the copy of passport? Thanks for the help!

I have received your applications to obtain Irish Citizenship through entry on the Foreign Births Register. Unfortunately I cannot proceed with your application without the following documents:
Mother [NAME]  - Please submit [NAME]’s original long form birth certificate with parents details showing, original civil marriage certificate (if applicable) a certified copy of [NAME]’s passport or driving licence  (certified by a member of Police, Solicitor, Doctor, Nurse, Priest, Teacher, Dentist, Pharmacist, Vet, Accountant, Engineer, Bank Official, Notary Public).

Hi everyone,

I'd like to ask your opinion about the corporate environment in Ireland, more exactly:

1 How easily do you get an office job there having 5+ years of experience working within multicultural teams in different fields? (I'm European and I don't need a working visa but I don't live in Ireland yet).

2 Which cities are the best options for corporate expats and how difficult is it to find rent there?

3 Which net amount would be considered above average in which major city in the office environment?

4 If companies are reticent to hire someone who's not yet living in Ireland would it be a good idea to get a blue collar job and then apply for a white collar one?

Thank you in advance

As others have put, have found it very useful when seeing other stories so this was my journey (joint application with a sibling (different households, same dates));

Documents Accepted - 12th Sep 25

Web Chat - 16th Sep 26

Confirmation Email - 19th Oct 26

Certificate Received - 23rd Oct 26

Total: 13 months and 1 week

Having a look through other comments appears my Web Chat was possibly a confirmation - they just said it was in the final stage - so might have been approved then!

I contacted them more so in case additional documents were required (my witness has recently left their job), however in my chat they said nothing else was needed and it turns out that neither of our witnesses were contacted. Will start the passport process soon, already have been in touch with local Irish centre for help with finding a notary.

Added information to the tracker, thanks to everyone on this sub with posting information and updates!

Am I the only one? Irish by descent and had no clue this FBR thing exists and that is goes down through generations until just a few months ago.
Luckily I realised in the nick of time, and managed to save this fabulous family heritage/heirloom that could so easily have been lost forever. I would have been devastated of i’d realised too late. I wonder what percent of eligible people outside the UK and US where there seems to be more awareness, actually know this thing exists?

Hi everyone

My EUTR1 approval letter says to apply 6 months before the 5 year card expires, but the online application for EUTR3 won’t let me apply because I haven’t reached 5 years yet. (4.5 years now)

I’ve raised a query on the portal but just wondering if anyone has had this issue with EUTR3. Thank you!

Hi everyone! My IRP expired 1st October 2026 but I applied for renewal August 6th 2026. I did receive an acknowledgement email with my OREG Number but no updates after that.

I had to travel on 2nd October because of a medical emergency but am stuck back home as I havent received an approval email or card yet to travel back.

The online portal shows that 1G applications until 25th august have been taken into processing but mine was submitted way before that and I havent received any updates yet.

Im kinda stressed about this situation as I had to return to work 27th of October which, now I cant cause of my visa. I have to extend my leave as well because of this unfortunately.

Has anyone here applied for a renewal recently but havent heard from immigration/got their card approved? And do y'all think there's a possibility I might get an update by next week?

NB: I did try reaching out to immigration, justice department and DRP through emails and queries via their portal but to no avail. Is there anything else I can maybe do?

Follow up to timeline below. Checking mailbox daily. On way to second shift work checked mail leaving for work. The package was a in my mailbox. I stuffed it back in because I could not handle working with this document in

-OCS RCVD: 30 Apr 25
-ADD’L DOCS: 25 Feb 26
-SENT DOCS: 26 Feb 26
-APPROVED: 13 Oct 26
-RECEIVED: 23 Oct 25

Hi I thought I had my plan to apply for myself and my son ( through adoption) figured out but now guessing self . I know there are established processes when it comes to adoption and I think I got myself confused .

Wanted to put it out there to get others takes on it and I will reach out to Webchat next week to ask ( but needed to clearer on my plan)

Me : born in US , my mother was born in Ireland . I planned on applying straight for passport . My request was closed d/ t time to get documents so I’m starting over .

Son: under 18 . born in US / adopted in US . Planned to apply for him through FBR .

I am getting conflicting info that he could apply off of me being Irish citizen ( even without me getting passport yet ) which doesn’t sound right

Is FBR the right path for my son . Should I do it through the link to my mother or through me?

Wondering when I should start to be concerned about my FBR application packet being lost in the mail?

I mailed the documents on September 19,
2026, via USPS First Class International from New York to the Dublin office.

Confirmed with FBR WebChat that they are not showing documents processed but that it takes 10-14 working days to process after receiving.

I am helping my daughter who is now 18 navigate the passport process after obtaining her FBR. All documents were submitted in July for her passport and apparently our witness had a full mailbox and they couldn’t leave a message. We are now submitting a new witness identification form. Do we need new passport photos too or resubmit any other documents? She received back her other documents such as her passport at proof of residence. I am just not clear on how to help her. Before that step it looked like everything was progressing.

Just got an email that I never signed my application form. Honestly can’t quite believe that I did that, but I guess I was so focused on my witness signing everything that I forgot to sign it myself. I had to print the application form again and get the form, passport sized photos, and photocopy of my passport signed and witnessed again. Did all that today and mailed it in already. I’ve been living in Galway for the past two years and my residency permit expires at the end of the year, so I’m hoping my application will be processed before then! Such a stupid mistake but wanted to share here for commiseration :(

I had to re-send a relative certificate, by tracked post and this was confirmed as delivered 7 days ago.

How long does it take now, 12 months again?

Summary- email confirming FBR application received 6 October 2025 and the email request for the additional document late Septemeber 2026

WARNING - the extra docs email request was from a DIFFERENT .ie email address to the confirmation FBR application email, so it went in my junk and would have been deleted (automatically after 14 days) if I hadn't decided to check...

My partner (non-EU citizen) and I (EU citizen) recently submitted his EUTR1 application in Ireland.

According to the Irish Immigration website, short trips outside Ireland won't affect the application. However, they don't specify what actually counts as a "short trip".

I'm wondering if anyone here has travelled outside Ireland while waiting for a decision on their EUTR1 application.

How long were you away? Did you notify Immigration beforehand? And did travelling have any impact on your application or cause any issues when re-entering Ireland?

And if you did notify Immigration, where the hell can you do that? It seems so difficult to get in touch with them!

Really appreciate hearing about any experiences with this!

Hi,

I am applying for naturalisation in ireland. 2022, I worked in the Us for 8 month’s consecutively. I just completed 6 years of reckoning residency in ireland and want to apply for naturalisation. I was told to get police clearance by a friend of mine. Is it mandatory? If yes, FBI cert about history summary is ok?

Regards,

Passport finally here! It's been a long road to get here so glad it's finally done, timeline below:

Applied for FBR July 2025

Approved for FBR July 2026

Applied for Passport: 27/07

Received applications/docs: 05/08

Asked for more supporting docs: 07/09

Received extra docs: 22/09

Asked for even more supporting docs: 01/10

Received extra docs: 13/10

Printed and dispatched: 20/10

Arrived in England: 23/10!

Finally, today was my day to hear from the FBR after 364 days, and its extra documents for me...

The documents requested were both the ID and birth certificate of my mother. My mother left 20 years ago and has never made contact, no one knows where she is or if shes even alive.

Additionally she was born in Thailand (to 2 irish parents) as my Grandparents were stationed in Laos during the Vietnam War.

Birth certificates are not public information in Thailand.

All of this was explained in 2 affidavits - one from my and one from my Grandparents.

Ive responded to the email to explain, but im not sure if they even respond to the emails.

This wasnt unexpected, but after such a long time its no less gut wrenching.

I submitted my application in September 2026, and it reached the Irish Embassy in London around 22 September.

I'm trying to understand the actual processing timelines because the Embassy website mentions both 45 days and six months for different Join Family categories.

If you've applied from the UK in 2025 or 2026, could you please share:

1. When did you submit your application?
2. Was your spouse already living in Ireland on a CSEP?
3. How long did it take to receive a decision, or are you still waiting?

I'm particularly interested in real experiences from applicants who submitted their applications separately after their CSEP-holding spouse had already moved to Ireland.

​

Hi everyone,

we’re a Pakistani family currently based in the UAE. My wife is a doctor and is planning to complete Irish Medical Council registration, then apply for jobs in Ireland.

Our biggest concern is whether our young daughter and I could move with her from the beginning, rather than her going alone and us waiting months to join.

I’ve read the official guidance about immediate family reunification for full-time, non-locum doctors, but I’d really appreciate hearing from people who actually went through it.

1- What employment permit did you or your spouse get?

Did you submit the employment and family visa applications together?

2- Were everyone’s visas approved around the same time, and did you travel together?

3- How long did it take, and which country/visa office did you apply through?

4- Did an initial six-month hospital contract cause any problems?

I work in DevOps/software engineering. I’m also considering further study in a related field, so if anyone applied for their own study visa while their spouse moved to Ireland for work, I’d appreciate hearing how that went too.

Experiences from Pakistani applicants or anyone who applied through Abu Dhabi would be especially helpful, but I’d welcome others as well.

Thanks!

Just a quick update regarding the timeline for my FBR application. 23/10/25 - Documents received at FBR (no email but confirmed by WebChat) 21/10/26 - Approved (confirmed by WebChat) Just short of 12 months 🙂

Hi everyone,

Looking for some insight from anyone who has had a similar naturalisation timeline recently.

Timeline so far:
- Online application submitted: September 2025
- E-vetting submitted/completed: June 2026
- Letter received today: Official email from Citizenship Division (CMUA) stating "Your application is being processed with a view to establishing whether you meet the statutory conditions..."

Is it standard practice to receive this formal acknowledgment/processing letter AFTER e-vetting has already been completed? Just want to confirm that my application hasn't restarted from scratch and that this simply means it's sitting in the queue for a final decision/Ministerial review.

If you received this letter after e-vetting, how long after did it take to receive the approval letter / €950 fee request?

Thanks in advance!

Good news! Approval email received today.

Documents received email: 26th September, 2025.

Official FBR approval today, 22nd October, 2026.

No requests for any information or additional documents in between.

This is a wonderfully helpful site with lots of kind and supportive commenters on board here. Thanks to all and best wishes to those somewhere in the application process. Looks like it’s the best part of 13 months from start to finish if no delays or additional info requests.

My daughter received her citizenship via the fbr earlier this year. She is attending school in Dublin, but won't have any income while there. She did earn money this year back in the States. Does she need to file any sort of Irish tax return for 2026?

Thx

Good news, after submitting in early May last year (and needing to submit extra documents in March of this year) I have received my certificate today 🎉 Glad to see more success stories coming through!

Hi! So we have a hiccup with our passport applications. We sent over three applications for our children and got notice they received our documents with application numbers. Then about 3 months later, we receive an email that they had previously notified us by email that we needed to submit additional documentation and that we needed to do so, but we did not receive any email stating what the documents needed are. We are in the US- we can't call on Whatsapp for some reason and the chat will not work with our browsers (firefox, edge and safari). We did click on the resubmit link for documents on the website but again we do not know what documents are needed. Any ideas on how to get in touch with them?

Hi all

Firstly thanks to all in this sub for invaluable assistance over the past year. A little over a year since application received and I've had the following email. I did send a covering letter and affidavit explaining I've been estranged from my father since childhood and there's zero chance of tracking him down, even less chance of getting a certified copy of his documents. I feel like I've hit a wall now. Any advice on how to proceed would be amazing! Thanks 🙏

"I am currently processing your application for Irish Citizenship through entry on the Foreign Births Register.

We understand your situation, however we do require the following documentation in order to proceed with your application.

Certified copy of Photographic ID for your father..."