Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2017
599. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 138 of 2 March 2017 and in view of the fact it is claimed that these birth certificates were not returned from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, the avenue open to these persons in view of the fact the original birth certificates were issued in South Africa and it can take up to two years to obtain a replacement original. [13794/17]
View answerAs stated in my response of 2 March, under the Passports Act, 2008, my Department must be satisfied as to the identity of an individual before a passport can issue. The provision of an original birth certificate is a key requirement for the purposes of identity verification before the issuance of a passport.
All citizens are required to submit full, civil birth certificates in order for their application to be considered. The onus is on the applicant to provide my Department with documentary evidence of their identity. In this case, the applicant should pursue this matter with the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service in order to retrieve the birth certificates before submitting a passport application.
