Irish Dual Citizenship

Who is eligible:

Anyone who has an Irish-born parent or grandparent may apply for dual citizenship. For US citizens, it does not require you to drop your current citizenship. Others who are eligible for Irish citizenship include those of Irish birth, marriage to an Irish citizen, or residing in Ireland.

Further reading

How to apply for dual citizenship:

You need to have the following documents:

Proof of Irish citizenship in the form of a birth certificate and marriage license- be it your parents or grandparents. You will also need a copy of your own birth certificate. All of these documents must be official.

This link, from the Embassy of Ireland, details the steps necessary to acquire an Irish passport.

Application Forms

Benefits of an American-Irish Dual Citizenship

With dual citizenship, you are able to live and work in any member country of the European Union (EU), purchase property, receive unemployment compensation, health insurance, and pension rights, among many other benefits. Here's a helpful article further detailing the benefits & process.

Helpful information

Here is a Chicago, Illinois based business that may be helpful in determining eligibility & aiding in the process of acquiring a dual-citizenship.

Passport Officer
Embassy of Ireland

2234 Massachusetts Ave NW

Washington D.C. 20008

Main Tel: 1-202-462-3939

Fax: 1-202-232-5993

Hours: Monday-Friday 09.00-13.00, 14.00-16.00

Countries which allow Dual Citizenship:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus, Egypt, El Salvador, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan*, Portugal, Serbia and Montenegro, South Africa*, Spain (only in certain cases), Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tonga (only in certain cases), Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America, Western Samoa.

* Persons retain their former citizenship if they apply to retain it before taking out Australian citizenship.

Countries which do not allow dual citizenship:

Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Burma, Chile, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran*, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.

* Iran does not recognize dual citizenship but continues to recognize its citizens as Iranian.
* Note that Germany has recently amended its citizenship laws so that in some exceptional circumstances, dual citizenship is now allowed. Consult the German Foreign Office web site for details.
* Also, India announced on 8 January 2002 that it will shortly change its law to allow dual citizenship for Indians settled outside India.

This information was taken from Attachments A and B of the Government's June 2001 Discussion Paper with updates that we have become aware of since then. Please note however that laws may change in some countries and we cannot guarantee that this list is completely up to date.