ryonrex

hello,

im a canadian-born 18-year-old. my father was born in belfast ireland.

first, from what ive read, this makes me an automatic irish citizen. is that true?
second, my parents divorced when i was about 6 and havent heard from my dad since. so i dont have his birth certificate, or social insurance number. all i have is his name, birth date, and place of birth.
i have called my consulate and embassy several times to try and figure this whole thing out, but i always just get the old recording "we are not available, please call back sometime, these are our hours: blahblah", and even if i call back during those specified hours i still get the recording.
visiting in person is out of the question as id have to take a bus to the coast for a 9 hour drive, and cant really cut out of work to do that.

is there anything i can do? i want to move to ireland and to work and live, but at the VERY least i'd love to travel there for a couple months, if i have to wait for my citizenship to process.

thanks for any help,

ryan

Horus

Belfast is in Northern Ireland so I guess that would give you UK citizenship rather than Irish citizenship.

JAJ

Both! - probably, unless there's a complication like parents were diplomats.

He's a British citizen provided that parents were married (and it seems they were, as they got divorced) => just apply for a British passport, if so.

And an Irish citizen (regardless of parents being married or not) => apply for an Irish passport.
This is because the Republic of Ireland chooses to grant its citizenship to persons born in Northern Ireland, or descended from such persons (up to grandparent).

To get a Northern Ireland birth certificate: http://www.groni.gov.uk/

jomac1290

Oh right am i right in thinking i can get Irish Citizenship then ? I was born in Belfast as was my Dad who was married but is no longer to my mum who is from the UK?
I am coming over to work In Sept/Oct and hoping if all goes well with the job to resettle in Waterford. What would be the benefit of citizenship as i believe with current rules I am welcome to settle in ROI as England is in EU? Am I correct or am I completely off track???

Thanks

Jo

Salerno

If you were born in Belfast you are classed as both a UK and an Irish citizen but you can have only one passport. I was born in Tyrone and although I have a UK NI number, Tax number etc I have an Irish passport...

Are you currently in the UK? Well citizenship is then just a personal question as you have full rights seeing as you have a British passport and were born in Belfast you will be classed as an Irish citizen anyhow (more or less)

Salerno

Get in contact with the Births Deaths and MArriages registry in Belfast, get his Birth certificate and then apply for the Irish passport as you a legally entitled to it and can have duel nationality

JAJ

No, that is wrong advice - absolutely no problem in having both British and Irish passports (plus that of another country, if eligible).

JAJ

Yes, you can get Irish citizenship. Just apply for an Irish passport. If you're in Great Britain you apply to the Irish Embassy, London.

Your children can all get Irish citizenship too => same thing, just apply for their passports.

If you move to the Republic of Ireland, your (British citizen?) spouse can apply for naturalisation as an Irish citizen after 3 years residence, although processing times for naturalisation are long.

Incidentally, as you were born in Northern Ireland, both you and your husband are eligible to apply for the annual U.S. Diversity Visa lottery - a long shot, but the option is there.

Salerno

as a person born in Northern Ireland I hold an Irish Passport and I have been told by the Embassy that I cannot hold and Irish and GB passport at the same time. I can hold or one or the other because I also have Italian Citizenship and I cannot have 3 passports

ryonrex

thanks for all the advice!

so what i gather is this:
i can have my canadian passport/citizenship, and also apply for either an irish passport or a british passport.

seeing as i want to travel all through europe and stay/work in as many places as possible, would i be best to apply for the british passport? or would an irish passport still do the same thing for me?

or can i really have both?? triple citizenship?

again, thank you all!

JAJ

Just because someone in the embassy said so doesn't make it true. Embassies give out terribly bad advice all the time, so cannot be relied on for accurate information.

Once again. There is absolutely no restriction in British or Irish law on holding passports from two countries (or three, or twenty-three) provided you are eligible for them.

Of course it's your choice as to who you wish to believe.

JAJ

Yes, you can have all three passports.

Gulf Stream

To get an Irish passport you need your birth cert, your Irish parent's birth cert, and their marriage cert.

citizenship

jomac1290

thanks for all the info and advice.

Incidentally, as you were born in Northern Ireland, both you and your husband are eligible to apply for the annual U.S. Diversity Visa lottery - a long shot, but the option is there.

what is this ????

JAJ

Incidentally, if parents never married, that is not a bar to being an Irish citizen.