Do I qualify for Irish Citizenship?

A person born outside of Ireland may qualify for Irish citizenship. Under current Irish law, a person born outside of Ireland, who has at least one parent or one grandparent born in Ireland, qualifies for Irish citizenship. This is called Irish citizenship by descent.

A qualifying person first applies to be entered on the Irish Foreign Affairs Department’s Foreign Births Register (FBR). Once entered on the FBR, the person receives a FBR certificate indicating that he or she is on the Irish FBR. The person is now an Irish citizen. He or she may now apply for an Irish passport through the Irish Embassy in Washington, D.C., or through the Irish Foreign Affairs Department in Dublin, Ireland.

The Irish government’s laws, policies, and application procedures regarding Irish citizenship by descent can be found on the Ireland Department of Foreign Affairs’s website.