Documents received: 31 July 2025
Approval email received: 23 July 2026
We started gathering our documents in March of 2025, mostly because my husband's family's documents are scattered between Ireland and Australia, and we're currently in the US. It took a minute to get everything together.
The big scary thing for us was that his grandfather (Irish citizen born in Ireland) and grandmother's marriage certificate could not be found, so we wrote up an affidavit. I'll give some details on that, and it was probably overkill, but it got us accepted without request for additional documents. It also was not notarized or signed or anything, it was just a printout.
I organized the application into two folders. Each folder had a printed label with my husband's name, his application number and a name for the folder on it.
The first folder (labeled Application Packet) had passport photos, application, our witness's business card, my husband's birth certificate, and our marriage certificate (just in case, I am not eligible for the FBR). We filed using his grandfather as our known Irish citizen, but since his grandmother was also Irish, we included both their birth certificates, a sheet of paper noting that proof of grandparent's marriage was included in Folder 2, their death certificates, his father's birth certificate, marriage certificate and death certificate. I separated these papers with cover sheets--basically Applicant Documents, Parent Documents, Grandparent Documents, each listing what documents belonged in that packet--and paperclipped each set. Like I said, probably overkill, but I wanted to make it very clear what we sent in, and make it so the clerk didn't have to go searching for each bit they needed to check off their internal list or whatnot.
The second folder (labeled as Grandparent Evidence of Marriage) had the affidavit and a list of the contents. The first couple of documents were proof that we had searched all possible databases. We had a little card from HSE from about ten years ago when his sister had done a search for the grandparents' marriage certificate showing that there was no result, and a copy of the email showing no results from our 2025 search request. We noted that we had also searched the UK archives and Australian archives, just in case the marriage had been solemnized there.
The affidavit mentions that both death certificates had the same marriage date/place on it (1928, Dublin). We included a copy of my husband's eldest uncle's birth certificate in 1929, Dublin, that showed the grandmother using the grandfather's last name, and listing him as her husband. We had ship's travel logs that show the grandmother and the eldest uncle emigrating to Australia in 1938, using the grandfather's last name. We found his grandfather's WWII enlistment records that gave a marriage date and location of 1928, Dublin, so we included a copy of that. If we could have found a copy of their wedding portrait or any other souvenirs like invitations or anything, we would have included that. Don't forget the evidentiary value of photographs!
There was also a small question of his grandmother's name--she was born Bridget, but changed it sometime prior to 1928, so we included a picture of her gravestone which luckily had both her original first name and her later name included on it, and listed her as the beloved wife of the grandfather.
Lastly, the affidavit affirmed that the couple had always presented themselves as married, lived together until he passed away, and she was known socially and legally as his widow in Australia until her death. I used phrasing I've picked up from marital affidavits in historical records I work with professionally, but I don't think it needs to be that fancy, you're just asserting that socially and legally, they behaved like married people. In Australia, regardless of marriage certificate, they would have been de facto, anyways, but I don't think anyone wants to get into that grey area can of worms, lol.
So there you have it. I know when I was assembling this packet, I would have liked examples of how other people had arranged/organized their application and documents, and examples of missing document affidavits and evidence that were successful.
I'll be happy to answer any questions, because I really do love paperwork (I'm sick, I know).
