FBRLurker02 wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 12:11 amI'm in a similar position of not being able to provide my grandparent's photo ID. My maternal grandfather is still alive but completely uncontactable; my grandparents divorced when my mother was a teenager, and that was the last time she ever saw him - I've never met him.loobyloo wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 1:38 pmHi Everyone
Looking for advice/experience of anyone applying without the grandparents photo id. I have just successfully applied for my first Irish passport as my mum was born in Northern Ireland. I am now starting the process of adding my two kids to the regsitry of foreign births (which having read this board I can see will take some time!). I have discovered that I need a copy of my mum's (their grandparent) official id. My mum doesn't have a driving licence or passport so I called the Registry of Foreign Births helpline and got a very vague answer from them saying I could apply with a letter saying my mum doesn't have ID but they would probably ask for it at some point. Anyone had success in a similar situation? I have suggested to my mum she just applies for a UK passport to help resolve this but she doesn't want to do this as she sees it as a waste of time.
I emailed the Irish embassy (in the UK), and they spoke to the FBR office directly and advised me to apply with a letter explaining why I couldn't provide his ID. I did this, and also had an affidavit written up and printed out the email conversation to include with the application.
I did try to compensate, by including divorce records (separation agreement and decree nisi) - although they are not originals - and also a copy of my great uncle's ID. He lives in Northern Ireland and is also estranged from my grandfather so I was not able to notarise his ID. I explained all this in both the letter and the affidavit. All the other requested documents were submitted correctly.
Unfortunately I have been waiting for over 11 months (docs received email on 2nd June 2022) and have not had address confirmation. I suspect this might be delaying things, although they have not requested any additional documentation from me either - just complete silence. Not sure if maybe I've overcomplicated things to the point no-one wants to look at it or if they do just take longer for these applications. The current waiting time is supposed to be 6 - 9 months I believe.
Since you're in contact with your mum, it would probably be easier to submit it with some kind of ID? I think the process would at least be smoother if you could. You could try without, providing a letter etc, but I feel like they might ask why she doesn't have ID or look for an alternative from you, which could slow things down.
From what can be seen on here, 6 - 9 months does not seem accurate. Seems like just about 11 - 12 months for congrats email from what I've seen. I'm guessing these may be straightforward applications with all required evidence submitted without any qualification. Stay the course, I'm guessing you'll hear something soon.