The excitement of possessing an Irish passport can be the reward of all your hard work in locating Irish documents.  All you need to qualify is to have proof of one Irish born grandparent. 

You’ll need to provide the Irish government with your grandparent’s civil birth certificate.  It’s a huge document that contains a wealth of family information.  If you have four Irish born grandparents, or three or two, you only need one to qualify.

Next, you’ll need your parent’s birth certificate – it must show same surname as your grandparent.  If not, provide the legal documents necessary for the reason.  The Irish government must clearly see the lineage.  If you are using a female line for your Irish passport, provide the marriage cert of your parents and your mother’s birth cert showing the surname of the grandparent you’ve chosen.

And now, you’ll need your birth certificate.  If the surname is different than your grandparent or your parent, provide documents to prove your relationship to their surname, i.e, provide your marriage cert.  If there were any surname changes along the line, provide all documents.  You cannot receive an Irish passport unless all your documents line up with your grandparent.

For information, contact Irish Consulate, www.dfa.ie.   You can download and print the application, or visit the consulate in your region for an application.  There are nine sections to the application.  Read every detail carefully so you’ll provide all the information required.  It can take up to over a year to receive your passport (depending on the U.S. region where you’re applying), so you want to make sure it’s complete and correct.  You’ll have to provide notarized documents; passport photos (Irish government is tough on this – make sure your photos are top quality – follow all the rules in the instruction packet) they are extremely cautious about any shadows, high resolution, paper quality, etc; and you’ll need witnesses (guidelines on this) to attest for your good citizenship. 

It’s not an easy process.  Can take a bit of time to secure Irish documents.  There’s a passport fee, and it will be good for ten years.  The Irish passport is an EU passport, which allows you to travel to any EU country and stay as long as you like as you’re considered an EU citizen.  It’s a great opportunity to attend school and work in a country you can claim as your own.  You cannot use the Irish passport for leaving or entering the U.S.  You can only use it in the EU or any other country where you travel.  The Irish passport is one of the most sought after in the world.  Laying claim to your Irish heritage by obtaining a passport creates amazing opportunities. Please note that spouses are not eligible for an Irish passport, nor are the children, for Foreign Birth Registry is only for the person who proves lineage to one grandparent.