After my last thread I got an expedited UK passport 3 working days after my appointment. The day after it arrived the Irish passport office emailed me asking if I wanted theirs or to cancel it (4 months after my application started).

So…is the Irish passport worth the £80 when I have a UK one? Realistically I’ll do maybe 1-2 trips abroad per annum: USA and Turkey pretty certain next year. (I’m half considering chucking in work and cycling across Europe next year also, I doubt it would matter much at road borders).

The biggest benefit of an Irish passport is not having to only spend 90 days in any 180 day period. A couple of holidays plus a cycing trip could exceed that. With an Irish passport you can stay as long as you want.

Yes.
If you have children they may also be eligible.

If you don’t want it can I have it?

I’d have the Irish one if only enabling stay longer than 90 days.

@ji you mean in Europe?

Thanks all

I travel into Europe on my Irish passport and out again on my British one. The Irish one opens doors, the British one gets you laughed at.

Seemed to get through French customs a few weeks back quicker than those around me on UK passports.

Who would have a U.K. passport if they could have an Irish one?

I chose Irish over British when I renounced by US citizenship/passport, it is much more flexible than the British passport and CTA in place, there are really no restriction in UK either.

When I return to the UK, I would probably apply for a British passport too – in case of any changes in legislation.

£80 – bargain. Junior was pleased he had a French passport on the Mongol rally. The Europeans drove through Iran whilst the Brits sat for 5 days waiting for a boat to take them around it.

Thanks guys, I guess I’ll keep it

@prettygreenparrot – someone who had a holiday coming up and was tired of the wait for the Irish one.

Struggling to see why you’d not want the Irish one. Opens so many more doors now.

If you’ve got kids it has the potential for them to be able to work throughout the EU in the future without the massive hurdles our rabid brexiteer pals have managed to erect.

I’d give my eye teeth for an Irish, or any EU nation, passport/nationality right now.

someone who had a holiday coming up and was tired of the wait for the Irish one.

If you have both, if one expires or gets lost, you always have a backup.

We are going to get our Irish passports when it is likely that we will be travelling overseas again. Will be keep UK passports too.

Partly it’s to facilitate travel to Europe and party as personal **** you to Brexit.

I’m eligible for an Irish passport through my father, if I get one would I then be able to apply for wife / kids passports? Is having a passport enough to retire to somewhere in EU?

My wife’s dad is Italian and we will probably get passports so the kids can travel and work as they get older, I may even qualify for one even though there’s nothing remotely Italian about me 🙂

edit: Fooman yes you apply then your kids apply based on yours. Not sure about spouses the rules are different for each country but worth a try. Not sure about retirement but yes you have the right to remain

edit: Fooman yes you apply then your kids apply based on yours. Not sure about spouses the rules are different for each country but worth a try. Not sure about retirement but yes you have the right to remain

I think that is slightly to incorrect, your children apply based on their grandparent not parent as you were not an Irish citizen when they were born. iirc spousal entitlement requires residency in the Republic for a period of time.

https://www.dfa.ie/citizenship/

What’s the most distant Irish relative you can have to enable you to have an Irish passport? Would a great great grandma qualify you? Asking for a friend 😉😂

I’m eligible for an Irish passport through my father, if I get one would I then be able to apply for wife / kids passports? Is having a passport enough to retire to somewhere in EU?

Don’t take this as gospel, as your father is Irish you can claim a passport, as your children’s grandfather at the time of their birth was Irish can also apply, If however you were using your grandfathers status, your children could not apply as their father or grandfather was NOT Irish at the time of their birth.

Your wife is AFAIK not entitled, but EU rules on spouses apply, and you would be ok everywhere apart from Ireland, though CTA covers most of that so no issue there.

On living in the EU you would be an Irish citizen, though there may be issues around healthcare, pensions and the like which I haven’t looked into. You wouldn’t have paid into the Irish system and this might have some bearing, Think EHIC cards, just because you have Irish citizenship doesn’t mean you can apply for an Irish EHIC.

I’m applying for an Irish passport as hopefully going to spend a lot of time in Europe in the future and British one is kaput for that. Just found all the documents I need though I think the application process is on hold at the moment, happily inform me if I’m wrong .

There seems to be confusion about this. Me and my partner are Irish citizens- as defined by the Irish Government – already because our parents were born on the island of Ireland. This citizenship exists whether we apply for passports or not. But it does get the citizenship identified and recognised.

The quote from the Irish Govt site is:

“If you or your parent were born on the island of Ireland before 2005, you are an Irish citizen. You can apply for an Irish passport without making an application for citizenship”

The fact we have never been considered as anything other than British affect that – we are British and Irish citizens already.

Grandchildren need to apply for citizenship through descent – ie not automatically Irish citizens

It’s all here…

https://www.dfa.ie/citizenship/

In terms of retiring to the EU – I would very carefully check the terms of UK state or public sector pensions. When we were in the EU the same terms applied as if you were living in the UK. Now we are not they may not apply

mrmo
Free Member

Don’t take this as gospel, as your father is Irish you can claim a passport, as your children’s grandfather at the time of their birth was Irish can also apply, If however you were using your grandfathers status, your children could not apply as their father or grandfather was NOT Irish at the time of their birth.

Aye that’s correct. I can get one thru my grandparents(I need to get my self on the foreign birth register and get citizenship first), but if I ever decided to have any children(unlikely no interested), I’d need to get one before they were born to make them eligible. (They couldn’t get through my father as although he’s automatically a citizen, the grandparent needs to be born in Ireland)

Going thru the foreign births reg route if you have to is quite a bit more expensive than if you have parents born in Ireland giving you automatic citizenship.

it basically cost you to get the citizenship if you don’t have it, otherwise, it’s just the same cost as a brit passport really.

My brit passport is up next month, will need to go through the process soon enough I think. Shall do it when I’ve got the money spare.

I’m half considering chucking in work and cycling across Europe next year also

Why are you here asking this question then? Get that passport sorted now.

I’ve no current plans to travel in Europe for more than 90 days in every 180, nor to work in the EU. If the option was available to me to pay £80 every ten years to have (retained) that right I’d consider it a great deal and happily pay for the time when it might be useful. Christ, £8 a year for the possibility to skip the queue on arrival at EU airports would seem like a good deal!

As far as I am aware there are no downsides (other than the cost) only possible benefits.

Plus, I dunno about you but when I was a kid I thought having more than one passport was basically like being a secret agent. On the plane, wondering who to be today…

You’re one of the lucky ones. I’d rip their arm off if I was offered an easy way off this xenophobic island. Brexit, the gift that never starts giving.

I sent the paperwork in for my daughters to go on the foreign births register in Nov 2019 and am still waiting for it to be returned. There is apparently something of a backlog.

What’s the most distant Irish relative you can have to enable you to have an Irish passport? Would a great great grandma qualify you? Asking for a friend 😉😂

Depends, if you’re an any way handy professional soccer player a great great grandma who at some stage may have spoken to an Irish person would qualify you. Otherwise, probably not 🙂

As an Irish passport holder living in the UK the only downside I’ve found of not having a British passport is when I had to renew my British drivers license, it’s a bit of a faff for non nationals getting forms / photos signed. Otherwise as an Aussie I met in Morzine with an Irish passport said it’s the effing golden ticket, Allows you pretty much full UK and EU rights simultaneously. I keep waiting for Patel or Borris to find a reason to end this!

The rule of thumb is to get as many passports as you are legally entitled to.

Why? Because you can. Sort the rest and their thinking.

One other consideration,

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/consular-protection/

I know no one wants to think about what can happen when things go wrong, but an EU passport does offer the potential for more help.