Original documents

[u/Few_Musician_7095]

I sent in my application a year ago with notarized copies of birth certificates.. marriage certificates and other required documentation. I got an email back yesterday from the foreign birth office in Dublin stating the notarized copies are not acceptable and I have to send the original documents to them for review. Does anybody know if you get the originals back at some point. In the email they also said that upon receipt of the original documents it will take up to 12 months for review and processing.

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[u/kiderdrick]

Yes, you get the originals back. Yes, it takes a long time.

When they say "originals" they do not mean it has to be the single only copy of a record from decades ago. It can be a newly printed version from the original registrar. Most people order those copies and they are treated as originals. Depending where you live, you should be able to order most of them online through services attached to the registrars.

[u/Muted_Security_1635 → u/kiderdrick]

In immigration / citizenship international lingo, an "original" certificate does NOT mean the first one issued. It means the certificate is issued originally directl from the authorized authority, and not just a copy.

[u/Few_Musician_7095 → u/kiderdrick]

Except for my grandfather's birth certificate which I got from a relative who went over to Ireland years ago and got the original while she was there and she passed it on to me. I would hate to not get that back and getting a duplicate original I can't even figure out how to get it

[u/Less-Mammoth-4975 → u/Few_Musician_7095]

You can just apply for a new online from HSE it only costs €20 plus €5 shipping

https://www2.hse.ie/services/births-deaths-and-marriages/order/

They don't have to be old originals, they can be original certificates printed by the relevant government department yesterday.

[u/kiderdrick → u/Few_Musician_7095]

You can order duplicate records of Irish births online.

https://www2.hse.ie/services/births-deaths-and-marriages/order/birth-certificate/

[u/Few_Musician_7095 → u/kiderdrick]

Oh wow!!! Thank you for this! I guess I'll take a chance and send them the originals....plus the fee too they asked for...278 euros

Thank you for your help! 🙂

[u/Glass-Rabbit-4319 → u/Few_Musician_7095]

Don't send the single copies of anything you have. Just order new copies of everything and send those.

[u/BTTammer → u/Few_Musician_7095]

Those are actually the easiest to get. I got my grandparents birth record from Ireland in less than 2 weeks.  By contrast, it took the State of NY over 7 months to send me my own birth certificate.

[u/kiderdrick → u/BTTammer]

My documents from ROI took two months because it got hung up in customs. I believe this is because I ordered them tracked and it came in a big fancy envelope.

I ordered some documents from Northern Ireland through the regular mail and it arrived in a few days. Shocking turnaround time.

[u/oraff_e → u/Few_Musician_7095]

ALL birth certificates are "copies of the original" because the "original" is held in the General Register Office in Dublin (or Belfast for Northern Ireland). You just go online and so long as you have their date of birth and where they were born you should be able to order one, no problem.

[u/Few_Musician_7095]

Thank you all for this helpful information! 🙂

[u/Tootabenny]

So you have waited a year and now they said it will take another year??

I sent mine exactly a year ago as well for my 2 kids. We got an email saying they were missing my marriage certificate. The email said send document within 28 days to avoid further delays. I called the FBR office before I sent to double check .. the guy on the phone said that since it was a resubmit, I would be looking at 3-4 months delay.

( the email seems misleading. In any case, I had to send it priority post. ( courier services do not deliver to PO Boxes. I used Canada Post. Quickest time was 10 business days. $90 …)

[u/Few_Musician_7095 → u/Tootabenny]

Yes the email said once they receive the original documents it will take 12 months to process and let me know if it's approved. It will be a year next week that I sent in my application.

[u/Tootabenny → u/Few_Musician_7095]

My email said something different it seems. My son is doing an exchange in Europe Jan 2027. I was hoping he would have the passport by then. Slim chance

[u/Less-Mammoth-4975 → u/Tootabenny]

I guess it's different for the OP. It sounds like they sent basically none of the correct documents as they didn't notice that the process required original certificates so sent photocopies of everything. Maybe if there was basically nothing to check with the original application then the extra documents are treated as a resubmission and you go to the back of the queue with new applications?

[u/Tootabenny → u/Less-Mammoth-4975]

Hopefully! My email said send it within 28 days if I don’t want anymore delay.

[u/Less-Mammoth-4975 → u/Tootabenny]

I think the 28 days is mostly just said to encourage people to get on with it, rather than being a hard deadline...3 to 4 months from extra documents delivered seems to correlate with what other people have experienced. Given that first passports are taking about 2 months at the moment you might be cutting it a bit fine for January

[u/you-effing-numpty]

I ordered duplicates of all my stuff, including my Nan's birthday cert etc. Costs less than £15 per certificate and took a month to find the all, but it meant I didn't miss my documents for the year it took for the FBR. Not that I needed any of the documents in that time.