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Please be advised that this page has moved and this content is no longer being updated. Up-to-date information is now available at Ireland.ie/dfa/passports/documentary-requirements.

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Application type: My child is a first time applicant born abroad

My child was born abroad. One parent was born on the island of Ireland

Passport Online is the fastest way to apply for your passport. View our current turnaround times.

We can only begin to process the application when we receive the supporting documents.

Remember, we cannot return your original documents while the application is being processed. Please do not submit an original Irish passport. Please consider other options such as an original birth certificate, rather than submitting your own passport.

Any passport submitted will be returned within 20 working days of the passport issuing however local postal delivery may take longer. You should not book any travel until you have all travel documents.

We need your child’s original documents but we will return these to you. Please submit:

  • Guardianship documents (if required). Guardianship and consent is a complex area - find more detailed information in our Consent for Children section.
  • Full original civil birth certificate (version that includes the name(s) of the parent(s)) from the country where your child was born. If it is not in English or Irish, you must include a certified translation into English or Irish.

Please submit one of the following documents for the Irish citizen parent:

  • A photocopy of the Irish citizen parent’s current Irish passport. Do not send the original.
  • The Irish-born parent’s full original civil birth certificate. The version that includes the name(s) of their parent(s). We do not accept baptismal certificates or birth certificates that do not show the name(s) of the parent(s). We do not accept laminated certificates.
    • If the parent’s name is now different to their name on the child’s birth certificate, they will need to link their identity to the child’s birth certificate. For example, they could have changed their name through marriage or divorce. We will require the original documents such as a original civil marriage certificate or the separation agreement, your judicial separation court order, or your divorce decree. This must be certified by a solicitor or by the court.

My child was born abroad. One parent was an Irish citizen at the time of my child's birth

You need to apply for Foreign Birth Registration for your child before you can apply for your child’s Irish passport.

Foreign Birth Registration

My child was born abroad. One parent was an Irish citizen at the time of my child's adoption

Passport Online is the fastest way to apply for your passport. 

If your child was born abroad and adopted by you under Irish Law, we need your child’s original documents but we will return these to you. Please submit:

  • Guardianship documents (if required). Guardianship and consent is a complex area - find more detailed information in our Consent for Children section.
  • The adoption certificate by the adoption authority where adoption was effected - if adopted before 1 November 2010, or the Intercountry Adoption certificate issued by Adoption Authority of Ireland if adopted on or after 1 November 2010.

We need your (the parent’s) original documents but we will return these to you. Please submit one of the following:

  • The Irish citizen parent’s Irish passport at the time of the adoption. If this is still valid, please send a photocopy, not the original passport.
  • The Irish-born parent’s full original civil birth certificate. The version that includes the name(s) of their parent(s). We do not accept baptismal certificates or birth certificates that do not show the name(s) of the parent(s). We do not accept laminated certificates.
    • If the parent’s name is now different to their name on the child’s adoption certificate, you will need to link their identity to the child’s adoption certificate. For example, they could have changed their name through marriage or divorce. We will require the original documents such as a original civil marriage certificate or the separation agreement, your judicial separation court order, or your divorce decree. This must be certified by a solicitor or by the court.
  • The Irish citizen parent’s original naturalisation certificate OR original Foreign Birth Registration Certificate OR original Post Nuptial Certificate. This must be dated before the date of the adoption.