Eligibility Quiz
At the time of the adoption, was at least one of the adopters an Irish citizen?
Requirements
To qualify for automatic citizenship through this pathway, the adoption must meet specific criteria regarding the parents' status and the legal recognition of the order.
- Adopter Citizenship: At least one of the adopters must be an Irish citizen at the time the adoption is finalized. If a couple is adopting, it is not necessary for both to be Irish; as long as one spouse holds Irish citizenship, the child qualifies.
- Child’s Status: The child must not already be an Irish citizen at the time of the adoption.
- Legal Recognition in Ireland: The adoption must be legally valid under Irish law. This is satisfied in one of two ways:
- Domestic Adoption: An Adoption Order is made within Ireland by the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI).
- Intercountry Adoption: An adoption finalized outside of Ireland that is recognized under the Adoption Act 2010 and entered into the Register of Intercountry Adoptions (RICA).
- Age and Residency: There is no specific age limit for the child to acquire citizenship this way, provided the adoption itself is legally valid. The child does not need to be resident in Ireland at the time of the adoption to become a citizen, provided the Irish citizen parent meets the legal requirements for adopting abroad.
Conditions & Warnings
Citizenship is only granted if the adoption is legally recognized by the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) and entered into the Register of Intercountry Adoptions (RICA).
Private adoption arrangements or foreign decrees not registered in the RICA do not grant citizenship.
Adoptions from non-Hague Convention countries are significantly more difficult to have recognized.
Qualifications
No language requirement for citizenship by adoption.
Fees
Fee for a certified copy of the RICA entry; passport fees are separate (€30 for children).