Foreign Births Register (FBR) applicants have reported fresh postal holdups at the UK–Ireland border this bank-holiday weekend. A thread posted yesterday on r/IrishCitizenship describes an application packet—including irreplaceable adoption and name-change certificates—sitting un-scanned in An Post’s import depot for four days after leaving Heathrow. Other commenters confirmed similar delays of up to ten days, attributing the bottleneck to manual customs inspections introduced after the expiry of EU-UK grace periods on 1 July 2026. Under the post-Brexit trade rules, documents sent by Royal Mail must clear Irish Revenue’s new low-value consignment system even if marked “documents only”. If staff flag discrepancies—such as the absence of a CN22 form—the item can be routed for secondary screening. With Monday (5 August) also an Irish bank holiday, logistics operators warn that backlogs could extend beyond a week. The Department of Foreign Affairs says it cannot start processing FBR or passport packages until they are physically signed in, potentially pushing citizenship timelines well past the current 12-month service target. Applicants with time-sensitive documentation (for example, passports expiring before an overseas assignment) are being advised to use courier services that pre-clear customs electronically and to keep certified copies of every original in case of loss. For global-mobility teams, the episode is a reminder that seemingly minor administrative steps—like mailing birth certificates—can become critical-path items in cross-border moves. HR managers moving talent between the UK and Ireland should budget extra lead-time for any paperwork that still relies on physical originals and consider local notarisation in Dublin to avoid cross-Channel transit altogether.
Source: Reddit – r/IrishCitizenship
