Sir, – I was born in the Bahamas in 1982 to Irish parents. Shortly after I was born, we returned to Ireland. I obtained an Irish passport (naturally my parents, grandparent, etc, were all Irish) and lived in Ireland until I was 30 years old. I now live in the UK. I always considered being born in the Bahamas as an interesting anecdote to my life – until I wanted to get married in Ireland.
My fiancé is also Irish and we recently attended a HSE “intent to marry” appointment.
I was told that, according to the HSE, I would require an apostille stamp on my original birth certificate. An apostille stamp is “an international certification comparable to a notarisation in domestic law, and normally supplements a local notarisation of the document”.
Why do Irish citizens need this? I understand that if you were not an Irish citizen and were not born in Ireland that you would need to do this. However, you do not require this additional documentation to obtain an Irish passport. I can vote in Ireland but I cannot marry unless I obtain this document and present it with my birth certificate.
For many people (born in Northern Ireland, the UK and the EU) this is a costly inconvenience, but for those Irish citizens born outside the EU, this is a very costly and time-consuming meaningless activity, with no clear benefit to the Irish Government or its marriage policies.
Can somebody in the HSE explain the reason for this blatant bureaucracy? I was told that the reason for this was to add “an additional stumbling block” for those marrying for the sole purpose of seeking Irish citizenship. But I am an Irish citizen so why does it apply to me?
The process will cost me over €300 – never mind the numerous calls I had to make to the Bahamian department of foreign affairs inquiring how I go about this.
What has made my blood boil even more is the fact that if we were to marry in the UK (where we now live), I would not be asked for our birth certificates but just – you guessed it – our passports! However, my marriage here in the UK would be legally recognised in Ireland too.
So here are our options: pay the money and get the documents so we can marry in Ireland, or get hitched in the UK prior to our wedding in December. What an absolute farce of a system the HSE continues to uphold! – Yours, etc,
Dr THERESE MURPHY,
Exeter,
Devon, England.