My grandmother was born in ireland...I'm from the USA...can I?

Show all answers

Answers_to_questions

In your case you are eligible for Irish citizenship.
In general a person acquires Irish citizenship through one of the following ways:
1)by an entitlement to Irish citizenship by birth in the island of Ireland;
2)by descent if one of his or her parents was an Irish citizen at the time of the person's birth;
3)by marriage to an Irish citizen (post-nuptial citizenship);
4)by naturalisation.

For people born OUTSIDE of Ireland, citizenship rights cannot skip a generation. Where a foreigner has a grandparent that was born in Ireland they can claim Irish citizenship. Citizenship can pass down from one generation to the next if the parent has claimed citizenship before the birth of the next generation (in your momâ€™s case she does not need to claim citizenship, itâ€™s automatic as her parent was born in Ireland).
All very confusing so will use you as an example

Your grandmother was born in Ireland. Therefore you would be entitled to Irish citizenship. You have not yet claimed it. Therefore any child you have already given birth to is not entitled to Irish citizenship (because you were not born in Ireland & are not a citizen at the time of their birth). If you now claim Irish citizenship & then have another child then the second child would be entitled to citizenship. As of about 3/4 years ago being married to an Irish person no longer is grounds for Irish citizenship in itself. If someone wants to claim Irish citizenship through marriage they must to live together in Ireland for a couple of years. Clear as mud?

Of you obtain Irish citizenship you then are also an EU citizen. As an EU citizen you could go & live in any of the 27 member states with full rights too.

If you are asking because you want to go on vacation to Ireland, if you are a US citizen you are not required to have a visa to enter but are subject to rules about permission to land. Generally permission is granted for up to 3 months, if staying beyond this permission must be sought from An Gardai & any foreigner staying over 3 months must register. We do allow resident non citizens voting rights & to what extent depends on their status (EU national, national of third countries etc)

In theory, there really is no limit to how many generations away from being Irish born citizenship can be passed down as long as each generation claims their Irishness before the next generation comes about.

Expect for it to take less than a year for the whole process & for it to cost less than $500, really one of the easiest & least expensive citizenship qualifications (perhaps too easy) around.

Pretty much you just need your grandmothers long form birth certificate (to show she was Irish born), your moms birth certificate (for showing she is the child of an Irish born citizen) & your birth certificate (showing you are the child of a your mothers). Your mom not having an Irish passport has nothing to do with her being or not being an Irish citizen so donâ€™t worry about that. It really is amazing how many people donâ€™t have any passports at all! (You do need to be a citizen of a country to get a passport from there)

Ireland does allow dual citizenship so you should not have to give up the citizenship of the country you have it from now (unless the country you have citizenship from now does not allow dual citizenship in which case you will have to rescind your present citizenship to become Irish).

Here are some useful links:
2nd link below is especially good.
You can check out our Government department that deals with such matters (foreign affairs) at
http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/home/index....

Here is link to a government general info on citizenship that is fairly user friendly.
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/inis/citgenera...
eralInformation.rtf

This is an info link to a newsletter for non-nationals re immigration in Ireland (deals with non-EU citizens)
http://www.information.ie/publications/r...

This is a great website, the citizen's information board. Lots of interesting things on it!
http://www.citizensinformationboard.ie/...

& this one is good too; it's where the old OASIS website merged into.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/catego...

ljb

It would seem so.

According to the Embassy of Ireland:

Anyone born outside Ireland, whose father or mother is an Irish citizen not born in Ireland, can become an Irish citizen by having his or her birth entered in the Irish Register of Foreign Births at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin or at the nearest Irish diplomatic or consular mission. In the United States there are five offices who process Foreign Birth Registration applications. Please note that the application must be submitted to the office which has responsibility for the jurisdiction which the applicant is currently resident.

For individuals applying for registration, the usual situation is one where citizenship derives from an Irish-born grandparent. Application forms and a factsheet detailing the registration process may be requested from one of the above offices. It is important to contact the office that covers your state of normal residence as some of the documentary requirements may vary from office to office due to administrative differences from one state authority to another.

And from the Web site referenced in the answer above:

If you had an Irish-born grandparent, you may still become a citizen. But, you'll have to provide proof of direct kinship.

And from the U.S. State Dept:

...a person who acquires a foreign citizenship by applying for it may lose U.S. citizenship. In order to lose U.S. citizenship, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily, by free choice, and with the intention to give up U.S. citizenship. [...] Intent can be shown by the person's statements or conduct.

While I don't know anyone who has applied for dual citizenship in Ireland I do know a few people who have applied for dual citizenship in Italy -- also based on the status of their *grandparents.*

Hope that helps.

murnip

Yes, you can have Irish citizenship. See http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/moving-country/irish-citizenship/irish_citizenship_through_birth_or_descent and scroll down to "Citizenship through descent from Irish grandparents"

Indeedy

I doubt it. Check here... http://www.movetoireland.com/movepag/pascitzn.htm ....for some info

Science and Math for Life

I think it requires one or both of your parents to be Irish, but check the Irish embassy web-page to be sure.

Kris L

No you can't. The only way you can get a 'dual citizenship' is if one or both of your parents are from one country and you are born in a 'different country' from the one they are citizens of at the time you were born.

Jeana

um sure but i think thats only with your parents from ireland you born here kinda situation.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: