If you’re an Irish citizen through a parent, or you’ve already registered yourself on the Foreign Births Register through a grandparent, your child doesn’t automatically inherit that citizenship just because you have it β they need their own Foreign Births Register entry, in their own name, before they can get an Irish passport. This is the part that trips people up: registering yourself and registering your child are two separate applications, done in a specific order, and mixing up that order is the most common way families waste months. Here’s how it actually works.
First: What Order Do You Actually Need to Do This In?
This depends entirely on how you yourself are connected to Irish citizenship.
- Your parent was an Irish citizen (Ireland-born or FBR-registered), and you’re already registered or Irish by birth. You’re clear to register your child directly — you’re the “Irish citizen parent” for their application.
- Your grandparent was born in Ireland, and you registered yourself on the FBR already. Same as above — once your own FBR registration is approved, you’re an Irish citizen and can register your child.
- Your grandparent was born in Ireland, but you haven’t registered yourself yet. Stop here and register yourself first. You cannot register your child before you are yourself a registered Irish citizen — there’s no way to file both applications in parallel and have your child’s approved first. This sequencing catches a lot of people who assumed they could fast-track their kids while sorting their own registration out later.
For the full eligibility rules — who qualifies through a parent versus a grandparent, and the “critical rule” about intermediate generations needing to have registered — see our main Irish Citizenship by Descent guide. This article assumes you’ve already cleared that question and are ready to register your own child.
Step 1: Register Your Child on the Foreign Births Register
Applications go through fbr.dfa.ie, and as of the current process, every application — regardless of where you live — is handled centrally by the FBR office in Dublin. Local Irish embassies and consulates no longer process these directly; if you’re working from older information that says to file at your local consulate, that’s out of date.
What the application needs:
- Your child’s long-form birth certificate showing both parents’ details
- Four passport-style photographs of your child
- A certified photocopy of your child’s (or the applying parent’s) state-issued photo ID
- Two proofs of address
- The full document chain proving your own Irish citizenship — your FBR certificate (if you registered through a grandparent) or your own Irish birth certificate, plus the underlying birth/marriage/death certificates connecting you back to the Irish-born ancestor
Every document needs to be witnessed. A currently practicing professional who personally knows you — not a relative — needs to countersign the application form, certify the ID photocopy with the specific wording “Certified to be a true copy of the original seen by me,” and sign and date two of the four photographs, along with their own name, address, occupation, and contact details.
The fee is €153 for a minor (versus €278 for an adult applicant), and it’s non-refundable regardless of outcome. Current processing time runs around 12 months, handled in strict date order with no online status tracker — a real wait, but a much shorter one than the 2–4 year backlogs that were common a few years ago during the post-Brexit application surge.
What If Your Baby Arrives While Your Own FBR Application Is Still Pending?
If you’re mid-way through registering yourself and expecting a child, flag that clearly on your own application and be ready to contact the FBR unit if your child arrives before your registration is approved. Be realistic about what this does and doesn’t get you, though: there’s no formal fast-track for expectant parents or newborns built into the process. Flagging it keeps the office informed of your situation; it doesn’t move you up the queue. Practically, this means your child’s own application generally can’t be filed until your registration clears — which reinforces the sequencing point above. If you know children are part of your plan, there’s a real case for starting your own FBR registration as early as possible rather than waiting until you’re expecting.
Step 2: Apply for Your Child’s Irish Passport
Once your child’s FBR registration is approved and you have the certificate in hand, you apply for their passport separately, through passportonline.dfa.ie — Passport Online now handles first-time child passport applications from anywhere in the world, not just from inside Ireland or the EU.
A few things specific to a child’s application:
- Consent from all guardians is required and verified as part of the application — this is treated as a “complex” application specifically because of that verification step.
- The application still needs to be witnessed, similar to the FBR process; which witnesses qualify depends on the country you’re applying from.
- The FBR certificate (or your child’s Irish birth certificate, if applicable) is what actually proves the citizenship the passport application relies on — you can’t get the passport first and sort out FBR later.
A child’s passport costs €20 through Passport Online and typically takes around 15 working days once submitted correctly — noticeably faster than the FBR step. Applying by post instead is slower and less predictable, generally quoted at 8 weeks minimum before postage time, so Passport Online is the more practical route for almost everyone doing this from abroad.
The One Real Deadline: Before They Turn 18
Foreign Births Register applications for a child have to be filed before that child turns 18. After that, the person has to register on their own behalf as an adult — which they can still do, but it’s no longer something a parent files for them. If you have multiple children at different ages, it’s worth registering the older ones sooner rather than assuming there’s plenty of time; a 12-month-plus processing queue eats into that runway faster than it seems.
Realistic Timeline, Start to Finish
Assuming you (the parent) are already a registered Irish citizen and are only registering your child:
- FBR registration: roughly 12 months, given current processing volumes
- Passport application after approval: about 15 working days through Passport Online
Budget just over a year, start to finish, for a child who isn’t yet in the system at all. If you’re not yet registered yourself, add your own FBR timeline on top of that before your child’s application can even begin — which is the real cost of getting the sequencing wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my child automatically become an Irish citizen because I am one?
Not automatically in the sense of needing no paperwork — they need their own Foreign Births Register entry (or, if you were born in Ireland yourself, their Irish citizenship can be established more directly). Either way, you still have to register them and then apply for their passport separately; neither step happens on its own.
Can I register my child before I’ve registered myself?
No, if your own claim runs through a grandparent and you haven’t registered yet. You have to be a registered Irish citizen before your child’s registration can be approved. Register yourself first if this applies to you.
How long does the whole process take for a child born abroad?
Budget around 12 months for the Foreign Births Register step, plus roughly 15 working days for the passport once that’s approved — just over a year in total if you’re already registered yourself.
Is there a way to speed up the Foreign Births Register for a newborn?
Not formally. You can flag an expected or newborn child on a pending application, but there’s no official fast-track, and applications are processed strictly in the order received.
What’s the deadline for registering my child?
Before they turn 18. After that, they’d need to apply for Foreign Births Registration on their own behalf as an adult.
See also: Irish Citizenship by Descent (Full Guide) | Irish Citizenship by Descent: FBR Overview | Do I Qualify? | Document Checklist | Timeline Guide | AIRE Registration & Italian Passport (a similar process, for Italy)
Ready to take the next step? Book a consultation call β we’ll map out the right path for your situation.
