Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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123. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the processing times for foreign birth registrations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52768/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Foreign Birth Registration, by its nature, can be a detailed and complex process often involving certificates covering three generations and several jurisdictions. Applications requiring clarification or further documents can take longer to process.

The volume of applications for citizenship through Foreign Birth Registration is particularly high at present.

Along with an increase in applications received this year, an increase of incomplete applications has also been seen. Up to 50% of applications received are not complete.

Applications generally take 5-6 months to process from the time all the required documentation has been submitted to the Foreign Births Registration Unit. In 2018, to date, 88% of applications for Foreign Birth Registration were processed within six months.