The short answer
- Who you are: a certified birth certificate, plus identity documents worth 150 points. A certified copy of a valid passport covers that alone.
- Where you’ve lived: 150 points a year for every year you claim, with at least one strong document, like a bank statement or your Employment Detail Summary.
- Your route’s extras: a marriage certificate and your spouse’s statutory declaration, a refugee’s travel document and affidavit, or a child’s school letters.
- Certify copies in person with a solicitor, commissioner for oaths, notary public or peace commissioner. Translate anything not in English or Irish.
- €175 to apply. Anything ISD asks for later is due within 28 days.
Build your list
Citizenship document pack
Choose how you’re applying for the full list of what to upload, then tick things off as you get them ready.
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Nothing you choose or tick is sent to us or saved. From ISD’s Becoming an Irish citizen guide, checked 3 October 2026. Upload only what you need: ISD will ask if it needs more.
What most applications need
| Document | What it proves |
|---|---|
| Certified birth certificate | Who you are |
| Certified copy of your passport’s photo page, with the certification form | Your identity and nationality |
| Identity documents worth 150 points | That your identity is verified |
| Your IRP card, unless you’re an EU, EEA, Swiss or UK citizen | That you live here legally |
| Residence proof, 150 points a year | That you lived here in each year you claim |
| Declarations | That what you’ve said is true |
By how you’re applying
| Route | Residence you prove | Also upload |
|---|---|---|
| Adult, 5 years | The 12 months before you apply, and 4 of the 8 years before that | |
| Spouse or civil partner of an Irish citizen | The 12 months before, and 2 of the 4 years before that, on the island of Ireland | Marriage or civil partnership certificate and its certification form, proof your spouse is Irish, their statutory declaration, and 3 documents each at your shared address for the last 3 months |
| Refugee or stateless person | 1 year before, and 4 more, all after your status was granted | Irish travel document, the letter confirming your status, and a passport affidavit, instead of a national passport |
| EU, EEA, Swiss or UK citizen | Your history of living here, without a reckonable residence count, if you’ve held your nationality for more than 5 years | |
| Irish descent or associations | Whatever applies: the Minister can waive the conditions | A cover letter and evidence for ISD’s connection scores |
| A child | 3 years of original school letters, or other letters if not at school that long | Your child’s passport and birth certificate, plus your naturalisation certificate, Irish associations or your own passport and IRP, depending on the route |
Refugees who applied before 8 December 2025 are processed under the previous 3-year rule.
Identity: the 150 points
A certified colour copy of your valid passport is worth 150 points on its own. Without one, combine documents: an expired passport (75 if it expired less than a year ago, 50 if longer), a certified IRP card (75), a national ID card (50), a Public Services Card or PPS letter (25 each) or a driving licence (10). The full scale is in documents for each year.
Refugees don’t need a national passport: upload a certified copy of your Irish travel document, the letter confirming your status, and a passport affidavit with your names, dates of birth, why you can’t get a passport and how you came to Ireland.
Residence: 150 points a year
Each year needs one strong document (100 points), such as bank statements, your Revenue Employment Detail Summary, a Social Protection contribution statement or an employer’s letter, plus supporting ones like bills (50). Upload only what reaches 150, one file per document, in the right year. Score your years with the residence scorecard.
Two special cases ISD names: HSE and voluntary hospital doctors can use a Medical Practitioner Employment History Summary, and dependent young adults aged 18 to 23 can use a school or college letter as one of their proofs.
Getting documents certified
- Make a full-colour photocopy of the original.
- Bring the original, the copy and the certification form to a practising solicitor, commissioner for oaths, notary public or peace commissioner. In person: not by post, email or a scanned signature.
- They complete the form, then sign and date the copy and the form, with their name and role.
- Upload both the certified copy and the form.
There are forms for your passport and your marriage or civil partnership certificate. A friend, your employer or a garda can’t certify anything.
Translations
Any document not in English or Irish needs a professional translation, with the translator’s contact details and signature, plus a copy of the original. Birth, marriage, death and divorce certificates from the EU, EEA or Switzerland need no legal stamps, and no translation if you get a Multilingual Standard Form from the office that issued them.
Declarations and affidavits
- Spouses and civil partners: your Irish spouse or partner signs a statutory declaration (or the civil partner version) confirming the relationship is genuine, you’re together and you live in the same home. They sign it after you’ve signed your part of the application.
- Children: the parent or guardian gives a declaration of consent. Children aged 16 and over must also be of good character.
- Affidavits are only for documents that genuinely can’t be obtained: there are templates for residence, passports, birth certificates and a child’s birth.
Declarations and affidavits are signed in front of a solicitor, commissioner for oaths, peace commissioner or notary public. A garda can’t witness them. Giving false information is a criminal offence: up to €50,000, 5 years in prison, or both.
Uploading and after you submit
- Apply on the Online Form Portal. Files must be PDF or JPG under 5MB, one file per document, named clearly, such as “Amina Yusuf – Bank Statement Jan 2024”.
- If you skip a required field or use the wrong file type, you may not be able to submit. Once you submit, you can’t see the form again: save a copy first.
- You’ll get an acknowledgement email with a link to Garda e-vetting.
- Requests for more documents arrive on the Online Form Portal under My Forms, then Additional Forms. You have 28 days, with a reminder at 18. Miss it and the application is refused, the fee isn’t refunded, and you start again.
- Track your application’s status on the Customer Service Portal.
Paper forms (Form 8 for adults, Forms 9, 10 and 11 for children) are only on request through the Customer Service Portal, with the €175 fee as a banker’s draft from an Irish bank. ISD says online applications are much faster.
Fees
| Fee | |
|---|---|
| Application, everyone | €175 |
| Certification, most adults | €950 |
| Certification, a child, or a widow, widower or surviving civil partner of an Irish citizen | €200 |
| Certification, refugees, stateless people and programme refugees | None |
If an application is refused or returned as incomplete, the €175 isn’t refunded.
Common mix-ups
Common questions
What documents do I need for Irish citizenship?
Most adults upload a certified birth certificate, a certified copy of their passport's photo page with the certification form, a copy of their IRP card if they have one, 150 points of residence proof for each year they claim, and the declarations in the form. Spouses of Irish citizens, refugees and parents applying for children upload more.
Do I need my birth certificate?
Yes. ISD's guide says every applicant uploads a certified copy of their birth certificate. If you genuinely can't get one, there's a birth affidavit, but only in exceptional cases.
Do I send my original passport?
No, not since 20 April 2023. Upload a certified colour copy of the photo page with the completed passport certification form. ISD may ask a random sample of applicants to show the original later.
Who can certify my documents?
A practising solicitor, a commissioner for oaths, a notary public or a peace commissioner, in person. Not a friend, your employer or a garda. They sign and date the copy and complete the certification form.
What if I can't get a document?
Use an affidavit only when a document genuinely can't be obtained: ISD has templates for residence, passports, birth certificates and a child's birth. If the document can be obtained, ISD will ask for it instead, and may ask for proof you tried.
What happens if ISD asks for more documents?
You get a secure message on the Online Form Portal, under My Forms, then Additional Forms. You have 28 days, with a reminder after 18. Miss it and the application is refused, the €175 fee is lost, and you start again.
How much does it cost?
€175 when you apply. If you're approved, a certification fee follows: €950 for most adults, €200 for a child or a widow, widower or surviving civil partner of an Irish citizen, and nothing for refugees and stateless people.
Sources
All sources checked on 3 Oct 2026.
- Becoming an Irish citizen guideImmigration Service Delivery
- Changes to citizenship for people granted international protectionImmigration Service Delivery
- Applications based on Irish descent or Irish associationsImmigration Service Delivery
- Statutory declaration, spouse of an Irish citizenImmigration Service Delivery
- Passport certification formImmigration Service Delivery
- Becoming an Irish citizen through naturalisation (fees)Citizens Information