My Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR, Naturalisation or Post Nuptial Citizenship.
Demand for this service increased significantly as a result of the Brexit vote in the UK. In 2015, prior to Brexit, less than 6,000 entries were made to the Foreign Births Register. In 2022, a peak number of 20,000 entries were made to the Register.
Arising from Covid-19 restrictions, and the subsequent reassignment of FBR staff to assist in the provision of essential passport and consular services, the Foreign Birth Registration service was paused for a significant period across 2020 and 2021. During this time, processing was available for emergency FBR applications such as those submitted by stateless persons.
Foreign Birth Registration, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation relating to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions. Such documents take considerable time to validate. A significant proportion of FBR applications are incomplete on initial receipt and require additional supporting documents in order to allow the Passport Service to progress the application. The Passport Service contacts applicants to request required additional documents. Given the complexity of the applications, it can take some time for applicants to submit all of the required documents.
My Department has put in place a number of measures that have addressed the volume of FBR applications over the past year and has made significant progress in reducing the processing time for these citizenship applications. The processing time has reduced from 18 months to 2 years in 2022 to under 9 months in 2023. The Passport Service will continue to invest additional resources in the FBR unit with a view to further reducing the processing time by end of this year.
There are currently 4,000 FBR applications in the system for more than 12 months. These are applications that are incomplete and are on hold pending receipt of additional information or documentation from the applicants.
The figures requested by the Deputy are outlined below in tabular form.
FBR applications on hand with the Passport Service 2018-2023
|
Year Application Received
|
FBR Applications On Hand*
|
|
2018
|
550
|
|
2019
|
1,000
|
|
2020
|
550
|
|
2021
|
550
|
|
2022
|
3,400
|
|
2023
|
23,000
|
*Applications on hand that were received between 2018 and December 2022 are on hold pending receipt of additional required documentation from the applicants.
FBR application turnaround times 2018-2023
|
Year
|
Turnaround Time
|
|
2018
|
6 months
|
|
2019
|
12-18 months
|
|
2020
|
12-18 months - Service paused due to Covid
|
|
2021
|
24 months - Service paused due to Covid until November 2021
|
|
2022
|
18-24 months
|
|
2023
|
9 Months
|
