Foreign Birth Registration?

[TF101]

Got an email yesterday (in response to a query I sent last week) saying that my application for FBR has been approved and I am now on the Foreign Births Register. My application was sent to the London embassy in October, and they sent it to Dublin in the past couple of months due to overload. Total time just under 7 months, plus however long it takes them to prepare and send out the actual certificate.

[Mossy17]

What contact details did you use to send the query? I'm not getting any response. It's been 6 months without any acknowledgement.

[happilychilled]

I just got a response from my chaser email from the London Embassy and they just confirmed that my application was received on the 27th Feb and that the timescales were still 6 months.

[happilychilled]

What contact details did you use to send the query? I'm not getting any response. It's been 6 months without any acknowledgement.

Hiya

I emailed them using Foreign.LONDON@dfa.ie and got a response after 48 hours to my emailing asking for an update

Hope that helps

[Mossy17]

Thanks! And, I have just minute heard back from them (Foreign.LONDON@dfa.ie) - took bit longer than 48 hours, but someone's the other end! They say that my application is at the advanced stage of processing, and this has taken six months, with no queries to date.

[Louis2011]

Yeah finally got my kids FBR's!!! Did it via London. Dropped them to the embassy on November 4th and got them yesterday May 12th - so a shade over 6 months

[Matt2017]

Received my FBR certificate yesterday(dated 28th April) application was sent on the 9th November so pretty much bang on 6 months, my application appears to have processed in Dublin as opposed to the London embassy.

i didn't receive any correspondence during the entire 6 months so don't be concerned if you don't hear anything.

Good luck to you all!

[humpj0]

Hi all,
I've been following this thread since i submitted my application to the FBR in mid October last year - it has been helpful and good to see people getting their citizenship, so thanks Wavey and all other contributors.

By way of some yardstick for others waiting, i thought i'd provide some details on my application, timing and some things i found useful.

Mine was fairly straightforward application through my maternal grandparents. There was no missing info, apart from a certifed copy of grandmother's birth certificate as the original was terribly fragile. No name changes other than those on grandparents and my parents marriage certificates and no divorces etc, so pretty straightforward.

Sent to London embassy on October 13th, it arrived October 14th.
Sent chaser emails to embassy in Dec and March; the last of which notified me that my forms had been sent to Dublin to be processed, consistent with many messages posted here.
FBR certificate, letter and documents arrived on 12th May 2016, but were issued/dated on 21st April (FBR certificate) and 28th April (letter).
All docs returned to me apart from certified copy of my passport and my mothers Irish one (she became citizen after i was born, so i couldnt claim citizenship directly from her).

So from posting off to receiving it was ~7 months.

One thing i did which gave me a little peace of mind, was to send a prepaid recorded delivery envelope with my application with my details and retained the tracking number, so that i could ensure a tracked, safe return of original docs.

Now on with process of applying for a passport (which they helpfully append to your FBR certificate)- will follow good tips and kind advice posted here.

Good luck with all your applications and thanks for the thread contributions.


H

[damocov]

Oooh mine went in to the embassy on the 2nd November, I'm going to be watching the letterbox like a hawk this week!

[ammonite]

I live here in London, so I submitted my application for FBR online on 10th Feb 2017 along with online payment and then handed in my supporting documents on 13th Feb 2017 in person at the Irish Embassy in London. At the time the lady on reception (Kathleen) said they are now quoting up to 12 months for FBR applications to be processed due to backlog caused by Brexit. But from what I've read in recent posts on this forum, maybe I can hope for it to be processed by around 6-7 months?

Also sent my application in mid February, I'm really hoping it ends up nearer to 6 months than 12! Mine is a bit more complicated as my mother was adopted and I am claiming through her birth mother, so there is the added complication of tracing her name change through the adoption. My mother has already succesfully applied for her Irish passport, but the FBR application seems to require so much more documentation for some reason. Fingers crossed it is all ok...

[similarpreguntaz]

Also sent my application in mid February, I'm really hoping it ends up nearer to 6 months than 12! Mine is a bit more complicated as my mother was adopted and I am claiming through her birth mother, so there is the added complication of tracing her name change through the adoption. My mother has already succesfully applied for her Irish passport, but the FBR application seems to require so much more documentation for some reason. Fingers crossed it is all ok...

Did you have your mother added to the register of foreign adoptions in Ireland?

[ammonite]

Did you have your mother added to the register of foreign adoptions in Ireland?

She was born and adopted (by English parents) in England, so I don't think it applies?

[Bertie1912]

In the wake of my FBR certificate finally arriving I thought I'd share my experience of the application process. Mine took exactly 30 weeks to be processed and ended up going to Dublin.

I know we all have our reasons for applying. Mine was a long held promise to my Granddad. Not quite sure why I left it until 20 years after he'd passed away but possibly hearing tales of the world and its dog applying to be Irish in the wake of Brexit spurred me on.

Let's face it, the list of certificates and information you need to garner is daunting to say the least. My granddad was born in an orphanage in Dublin in 1912 before moving to Canada in 1928 and finally moving to Britain and Blackburn just before the war.

All he had was a short form birth certificate and I'd never got around to asking him what his mother's first name was. I'm ashamed to say it took me ages to realise that, on the site I used to order his long form certificate from, I could type "Unknown" in the Mother's name boxes!

There were also a couple of issues with my own mother. Whilst my parents had been married they'd parted prior to my birth and I've had no contact with my father since.

I was fairly sure that they'd divorced but, given the further cost of obtaining the certificate, I decided to see if it was entirely necessary.

She has also never had a passport or a driving license.

As we probably all know, it's almost impossible to speak to anyone dealing with FBRs but I just rang the embassy, pressed any old button, finally managed to speak to a human being (albeit she sounded like a particularly severe headmistress), claimed I'd accidentally pressed the wrong button and asked if she could help me.

She informed me that, as long as my mother and I had the same surnames that would be fine and that any form of photo ID would suffice. In this case, I used my mother's bus pass.

Having eventually got everything together I passed on my form to my witness, a family friend who's a JP. Only when it was returned to me did I notice I'd made a couple of mistakes when I'd filled the form in. I really should learn to read one of these days!

Ready to give the whole thing up, I rang the embassy once again and was told not to worry at all providing I put in an explanatory note. So much for the constant threats on the website of your form being returned for the slightest thing.

Given the lack of contact you'll get from the embassy ensure you should send your application via

Special Delivery Guaranteed (about £7.50 each way). At least then you'll know they received it. Feel free to check on the Royal Mail website every day just in case a miracle happens, they've sorted your certificate out and it's on its way back to you. I did!

And then you wait. And you wait.

It was a great feeling to see last night that it was finally on its way from London and even better when it finally got delivered with five minutes of the deliver window remaining.

You get your FBR certificate, a cover letter congratulating you on becoming an Irish citizen, all your other certificates back and also an Irish passport application form.

Which is my next step!

To sum things up. Try your best to give them everything they need and you'll be fine. The important part is proving your lineage.

[elampert]

Hello Everyone,

My FBR came in the mail yesterday! I applied through the Boston Consulate who told me to send my application directly to the Dublin office. It arrived there on Dec. 21st, they charged my card for the application fee on Apr 5th, the certificate is dated Apr 4th so they charged me after finishing the application review, and the cover sheet is dated Apr 13th. All in all it took just shy of 5 months and this weekend is my birthday, what a fantastic birthday gift! Unlike applicants from the UK, my package didn't come with a passport application so I'm off to the Consulate to pick one up.

Best of luck to everyone who's putting together their application and to everyone who's still waiting!

[Celticatheart]

Hi all,

I've been a lurker on here for a few months so thought it about time I added some data of my own.

I applied to the London embassy as I'm a Brit living in England.

Application was received on 24 October 2016 according to post office tracking.
I mailed fbr team via website contact form on 24 October and received a reply 26 Oct confirming they had received the application with the then standard upto 6 months processing time.

On 24 January 2017 I emailed to get a 3 month update and received a reply within an hour saying it was still in the processing queue.

Via my bank, I found out the bankers draft I had sent with the application was cashed early February.

On 14 May 2017 I sent a email requesting and update, but unfortunately have not had a reply yet.

As I'm now approaching the 7 month mark and having seen a couple of people on here who applied after me to London and have received their certificate, I'm now getting a wee bit concerned at the delay.

I'm pretty sure I sent all the info they needed and I thought it would be a relatively straightforward application, though was relaxed about the timeframe as I realise the embassy was overwhelmed late last year.

Hopefully there are no issues and it'll be sorted sooner rather than later.

Good luck to all.......

[TF101]

Mine got to the Embassy 5 days before yours, and I haven't received my certificate yet. I did get a reply to my email a few days ago saying that I have now been entered on to the register, however, so I imagine you won't have long to wait now.

[Celticatheart]

Mine got to the Embassy 5 days before yours, and I haven't received my certificate yet. I did get a reply to my email a few days ago saying that I have now been entered on to the register, however, so I imagine you won't have long to wait now.

Thanks for that, reassures me a bit.

[similarpreguntaz]

I just wanted to add one more data point for you guys, especially for those not in England.

Application: August 4th in Berlin
Request for further documentation: November 8th

I called about a week ago after I hadn't gotten a response to an email I sent about two weeks prior. The friendly response was that it shouldn't take too much longer. Apparently, they (the Berlin embassy) have received about three times the typical amount of FBR applications due to Brexit. That said, my mother was adopted, which might explain the delay.

Count yourself lucky if your application gets through in less than 7 months, it could be worse! I'm at over 9 months now

[damocov]

Mine went in a week after you (2nd Nov) and nothing yet.
So I wouldn't worry too much.

[malibujohn]

Update: I submitted my passport application to the SF Consulate on April 6, 2016. It was scanned in at the DFA in Dublin on May 18, 2016. They give a 4 week estimate for completion.
The SF Consulate replied to inquiry on how long it takes from start to finish as follows: "All work on the passport is completed here in San Francisco. The only bit completed in Dublin is the printing of the actual passport which for them is currently at about 4-5 weeks. Pre-processing here can take 2-3 weeks and post processing 4-8 depending on if an applicant is applying for the first time or renewing."
Let you know when passport on its way.

[MickByNameAndNature]

Update: I submitted my passport application to the SF Consulate on April 6, 2016. It was scanned in at the DFA in Dublin on May 18, 2016.

I'm hoping you meant to type 2017?

[malibujohn]

Update: I submitted my passport application to the SF Consulate on April 6, 2016. It was scanned in at the DFA in Dublin on May 18, 2016.

I'm hoping you meant to type 2017?

[malibujohn]

Sorry! Oops. 2017.

[Michjmc]

Hello
I posted my application for fbr to London embassy on 22 Dec 16, delivered 23 Dec .
I contacted them via email in January to confirm all had been received which they confirmed had and quoted 6 month processing time. In Feb I asked for a copy of a certificate I sent it which was kindly scanned across to me so at that point my documents were still with them.
At beginning of April I emailed and asked for an update, which was that my application had now been sent to Dublin for processing and they will be in touch further when it is completed.
Hopefully I will hear something soon.

I received an email dated 18th may to say my application was at an advanced stage of processing and will be processed in due course.

[BrexitHater]

Hi!

I'm one of these lurkers who's been reading for a while so I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring.

I finally got everything together to apply for FBR on 10th December 2016 and as they'd changed the online system by then, my credit card was charged straight away (no checking bankers drafts for me). Everything was sent to the London Embassy via Special Delivery and signed for by KATHERINE on 16th December 2016.

Since then.... zilch.

Obviously I'm expecting it to be "up to 6 months" and quite possibly longer with all the Brexit shenanigans, but it's rather disconcerting to have heard nothing whatsoever, not even a confirmation that it's been received and is processing, other than the Proof of Delivery from Royal Mail.

I enquired via the online form on the DFA/Embassy website 2 weeks ago, heard nothing back so a week ago I called up and on hearing the "foreign.london@dfa.ie" email address I sent a message there. Still nothing, so I've just called up again and this time left a message.

Has anyone else who sent everything else off around December time had any positive confirmation at all yet? Once I've confirmed my application is successful I've got applications for my 3 children (eligible via their mother / my wife) to send off, so I'm keen to get that ball rolling ASAP!

Grateful for any words of encouragement, "be patient!", etc. etc.