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Unfortunately, the rules of this forum is that you cannot provide company names, details etc. However, I identified two companies from reaching out to friends/family and went with one of them. I was concerned when trying to find them online I would end up victim of a scam (as these types of businesses are ripe for the pickings for scammers who use desperation to extract funds). Nevertheless, the one I used was professional and efficient so I can confirm there are legitimate companies out there. They fill in the required forms for you and it cost around £125 in ZAR (£40 was express courier from SA to UK). They also know the routes through the bureaucracy and can obtain the document in relatively short timescales.LA8887 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:06 pmWho did you go through to get the birth certificate? I was born in SA to British parents so I have both an SA certificate and a British consulate one, but they're both handwritten so they refused to give me a passport. I ordered a new copy of my UK cert but it's just a certified copy of the handwritten one and they won't computerise it, so I think my only option now is to get the SA one. I'm not an SA citizen so I'm not sure if I can use the DHA-154 form or not. I've downloaded it anyway and have been calling the South African High Commission in Whitehall but no one ever picks up the phone. It's so frustrating and it's almost made me completely lose hope in the idea of ever getting a passport, and I've wasted the best part of £500 in getting this far. It's soul destroying4thGENFBR wrote: ↑Wed May 26, 2021 10:19 pm
- for those born in South Africa - they do not accept any older versions of birth certificates (I think older than 10 years). You will need to get a new unabridged computerised version. They gave 28 days for me to supply this document which for those who know how SA government departments work would know that this is an almost impossible task coupled with the fact I don't live there (we currently live in the UK) and we are in the middle of a global pandemic, I thought this was the big snake in snakes and ladders and I was all the way back to the beginning. I expressed my anxiety to the FBR worker and comfortingly she expressed she "could not promise but if I provided regular updates on progress she would see what could be done to not return the application". After some research I found an experienced company that assists with obtaining the document in SA and unbelievably obtained it and sent as fast as I could to Ireland (whilst providing weekly updates).
(Suggestion: have a play with Google and find which combination of non-specific search terms will bring up a good document retrieval company as the first result - and post those search terms here, along with whether you were using google.com, google.co.uk or whatever. That should comply with the forum's policies as your post wouldn't have any bearing on personal data protection (GDPR) and if there was any advertising or promotion being done, it would be by Google's own algorithm - not this forum.)
Yes, I got tired of waiting and submitted my son's FBR application by mail from the United States on April 13th, 2021 regardless of the FBR instructions.Jassi91 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 3:55 amHey everyone,
I was hoping for some clarification. I am ready to submit the online application form and send the documents but the website says don’t send anything yet as it is paused due to COVID.
I was just wondering if someone has send it regardless of that notice and heard from the office since.
Thank you! And good luck to everyone!
"I still think I did the right thing in sending it since when they start processing again I presume they'll do it in some sort of order when received."FrozenTundra wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 1:24 pmYes, I got tired of waiting and submitted my son's FBR application by mail from the United States on April 13th, 2021 regardless of the FBR instructions.Jassi91 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 3:55 amHey everyone,
I was hoping for some clarification. I am ready to submit the online application form and send the documents but the website says don’t send anything yet as it is paused due to COVID.
I was just wondering if someone has send it regardless of that notice and heard from the office since.
Thank you! And good luck to everyone!
I opted for delivery confirmation by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ensure it got to the FBR office and USPS confirmed physical delivery in Ireland in late April. Despite USPS confirming delivery, I have heard nothing from the FBR department themselves that they have received anything (i.e. no email). And I can't even ask them through webchat since the webchat is always down.
I still think I did the right thing in sending it since when they start processing again I presume they'll do it in some sort of order when received.
Eh, if the FBR staff process us first because we sent in documentation when they didn't want us to, then that's on the FBR staff. I'll be able to live with myself.
Since the Irish government hasn't communicated anything about how/when they'll restart processing and in what order, your guess that they'll do it based on online application time is as good as mine that they'll do it on when physically received. Neither of us really knows and both of us are just guessing/conjecturing. If you want to maximize the chance of being first, then it would make sense to do both submit online and submit documentation would it not? We submitted online in February and our documents were "received" in late April. So I think we maximized both.In fact, it's highly likely that applications are processed according to the date that the online applications are made. Instead what you risk is that your documents might sit in a dusty corner somewhere and could disappear between now and when paperwork processing starts up again.
Or, and I mean this sincerely, it is possible that the Irish government simply doesn't know what it's doing and thus simply doesn't know how or when it will restart FBR services. I don't mean that as an insult to the Irish government, but merely an observation. This would make sense given that the FBR office has given almost no communication or guidance on reopening processing; if they knew what the contingencies would be they would've told us.Unless someone has an urgent need to contact the FRB team, I suggest we all sit tight and accept the situation for what it is. The Irish authorities mistakenly relaxed Covid restrictions before Christmas and have since paid the price with one of the harshest lockdowns in the developed world. In such circumstances they rightly have to look first to their own citizens and unfortunately, non-essential services such as FBR have therefore taken a back seat.
I read somewhere a while ago that lots of the staff at the DFA had been redeployed to help with contact tracing and the Covid unemployment payment scheme so they simply don’t have the numbers of people required to sort through everything anymore. The passport office and FBR team aren’t currently considered an essential service and until that changes there won’t be any movement.FrozenTundra wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 9:43 pm
At the end of the day nobody knows anything because there has been zero communication regarding their thought process on how and when to reopen processing, so your advice to just sit tight and accept the situation is indeed a reasonable suggestion. But so is sending in documentation early, because we all have no idea.
My grandmother was born in Dublin in 1916. I managed to claim FBR through her successfully.ERAM wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:17 amHello,
I am just wondering if anyone else is in this situation and has gone through the process. My grandfather was an irish citizen. He grew up there as did his family as far back as we know. But he was born in England because his father was working in a munitions factory in Nottingham during the 1st World War and brought his family. They returned before the end of the war to Dundalk.
I know the general interpretation of the law is the "born on the Island or Ireland" part but when I read the nationality law, it confuses this. No one was an Irish Citizen before 1921. My grandfather who was back in Ireland in 1918, became a citizen in '21.
Anyway, I know this is a detailed legal argument and I am wondering if anyone else has made it successfully (or not),
Congrats on your progress. I'll drink a pint for you tonight!Steerpike17 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 3:28 pmLong time lurker here, but got some good news today and thought I would post my timeline for others.
Application submitted online: September 16, 2019
Email acknowledging receipt of documents: September 27, 2019
Confirmation of address email: June 1, 2021
Date added to FBR: June 9, 2021
Congrats email: June 9, 2021
FBR certificate received: Awaiting
I used a local solicitor who was happy to witness the forms for me. I think it cost me the princely sum of £20.Nilbog wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 4:54 pmHi all.
Brand new to this website, I'm a british citizen looking to become an irish one as I live in Greece normally but have now found in thrown into turmoil because of brexit.
I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to ask questions about Foreign Birth Registry but here goes.
I understand the process is currently suspended due to covid but I'm trying to get all my documents together in preparation for when it resumes. My grandparents were both born in Ireland but my dad was born in London in 1946. He told me he became an irish citizen in his 20s.
I'm applyying through him, which I believe is correct. I need my details and his in that case. One of my problems is that I don't personally know anyone in a profession on the witness list. I do know a social worker, but it's not listed. Would this be acceptable? Failing that, what are my options if I can't find someone on the list?
Sorry if this is not the correct place, but I'm a little desperate trying to find any kind of expertise on the matter.
Also, just looking at your post again. You should send off your grandparents documents as well as your dad wasn't born in Ireland so your claiming on the basis of a grandparent being born in Ireland.
If your grandparent was born on the island of Ireland then your father would automatically have been an Irish citizen at the time of his birth and so therefore would not have needed to register on the FBR. It may be that he only applied for a passport in his 20's but he would always have been entitled to it. So you'll need to go through your grandparent to get it.Nilbog wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 7:24 pmI thought my situation fell under this definition:
"Adult applicant whose parent is an Irish citizen through entry on the Foreign Births Register"
As my dad became an Irish citizen I imagine on the foreign births register or am I missing something? Was he not put on through Foreign Births when he did it or were his circumstances different when he went on, as his parents were irish.
I was not 100% about this part of the process, to be honest.
Grandparent:Nilbog wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 7:31 pmYeah this is what I feared to be honest.
If you don't mind answering, what are the details they would require? Birth Certificate, Death Certificate, and Marriage? Can I get official copies sent to me or do I have to have the original documents, i don't know if that will be possible.
Thanks regardless.
