Stamp 6 is the quietest stamp in the Irish system, and the only one reserved for citizens. If you are an Irish citizen who also holds another nationality, and you use your non-Irish passport day to day, Stamp 6 puts the words "without condition" into that passport. It is evidence, not permission. You already have every right an Irish citizen has; the stamp simply makes that visible to airlines, immigration officers and employers who only ever see your foreign passport.
The application is refreshingly simple. There is no form, no fee and no immigration registration, just a letter to Immigration Service Delivery with the right chain of certificates for how you became Irish. The catch is that the chain must be exactly right, your original passport travels with the application, and ISD gives no processing timeline. We make sure the package is complete first time so your passport is away for as short a time as possible.
Made for people like you
Dual citizens living on a foreign passport
You are Irish and something else, and the passport in your pocket is the other one. Stamp 6 lets that passport carry proof of your Irish rights.
Citizens by descent
Your claim runs through an Irish-born parent, or through a grandparent via Foreign Births Registration, and you have not taken out an Irish passport.
Naturalised citizens
You naturalised in Ireland but still travel on your original passport, and you want your citizenship visible in the document you actually use.
Anyone asked to prove the right to work
Employers and officials often expect an IRP card. Citizens do not have one, and Stamp 6 is the clean answer to that awkward conversation.
Do you qualify?
One question decides everything: are you an Irish citizen? To qualify for Stamp 6 you must hold, or have the right to hold, an Irish passport. How you became Irish only changes which certificates you post.
You will need
- Irish citizenship, or the right to it: you hold or are entitled to hold an Irish passport
- A current non-Irish passport for the endorsement to be placed in
- The certificate chain for your route: long-form birth certificates, a Foreign Births Registration certificate, or an original naturalisation or post-nuptial citizenship certificate
- A covering letter with a forwarding address, since there is no application form
- If renewing, the expired non-Irish passport containing your old Stamp 6
This route is not for you if
- You renounced your Irish citizenship, the right to Stamp 6 goes with it
- You are a long-term resident but not a citizen, look at Stamp 5 or naturalisation instead
- Your claim runs through a grandparent but you have not completed Foreign Births Registration yet
- You only ever use your Irish passport, in which case you may not need Stamp 6 at all
Stamp 6 vs Stamp 5, the two "without condition" stamps
Stamp 6, Without Condition
For citizens- Who it is for
- Dual Irish citizens
- Cost
- Free, no form and no fee
- Threshold
- Irish citizenship, or the right to an Irish passport
- Registration
- None, no IRP card ever
- Conditions
- None, your rights come from citizenship
Stamp 5, Without Condition As To Time
- Who it is for
- Long-term residents, not citizens
- Cost
- €300 registration fee
- Threshold
- 8 years (96 months) legal residence on qualifying stamps
- Registration
- Yes, registered on an IRP card
- Conditions
- Continuous residence expected, absences of no more than 4 months a year
How the journey works
- 01
Confirm how you are Irish
Day 1Birth to an Irish-born parent, descent through a grandparent via Foreign Births Registration, naturalisation, or post-nuptial citizenship. Each route has its own document chain, and we pin yours down before anything is ordered.
- 02
Gather the certificate chain
Week 1-2Through an Irish-born parent: your parent's long-form Irish birth certificate, your own long-form birth certificate, and your mother's marriage certificate if the claim runs through her. Through a grandparent: your Foreign Births Registration certificate. Naturalised or post-nuptial citizens: the original certificate, or your current Irish passport.
- 03
Write the covering letter
Week 2There is no application form. Your letter asks for Stamp 6, explains your route to citizenship, lists the enclosures and, crucially, gives the forwarding address ISD should return your passport to.
- 04
Post the package to Burgh Quay
Week 2Everything goes by post to the Stamp 6 Section, Unit C, Domestic Residence and Permissions Division, Immigration Service Delivery, 13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2, D02 XK70. Your current non-Irish passport travels with it, so we plan the posting date around your travel.
- 05
Wait while ISD processes
ISD publishes no timeline for Stamp 6 and openly flags very high volumes and delays. Because your rights come from citizenship, not from the stamp, you remain fully entitled to live and work in Ireland throughout the wait.
- 06
Receive your endorsed passport
Your passport comes back with "without condition" placed in it. From then on, that single page answers questions about your status at the airport, at work and at the bank.
- 07
Renew with each new passport
The stamp lives in the passport, so when your foreign passport is replaced you post the expired one containing the old Stamp 6 together with your current passports, and ISD endorses the new document.
What to gather
Start collecting these early. Weak or missing documents are the most common avoidable cause of delays and refusals.
Current non-Irish passport
The original, since the stamp is placed inside it
Covering letter with forwarding address
There is no application form, the letter carries the application
Your long-form birth certificate
For the Irish-born parent route
Parent's long-form Irish birth certificate
Proves your parent was born in Ireland
Mother's marriage certificate
Needed whenever the claim runs through your mother
Foreign Births Registration certificate
The grandparent route, descent alone is not enough
Naturalisation certificate
Original required for naturalised citizens
Post-nuptial citizenship certificate
Original, for citizenship declared through marriage before that route closed in November 2005
Current Irish passport
Accepted instead of the certificate for naturalised or post-nuptial citizens
Expired passport with the old Stamp 6
Only for renewals, alongside your current passports
Every case is different. We confirm your exact list at consultation.
What it costs
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp 6 application | €0 | No application form and no State fee at any stage. |
| IRP registration | Not needed | Dual citizens do not register with ISD, so the €300 registration fee never applies. |
| Certificates for your route | Varies | Long-form birth, marriage or FBR certificates are ordered from the issuing registry at its standard rates. |
| Our consultation | Fixed fee | Agreed up front at booking, no surprises. |
Stamp 6 itself costs nothing. If you decide you would rather carry an Irish passport instead, that is a separate application to the Passport Service with its own fee, and we can talk you through which suits your situation better.
How long it takes
Guide figures from current official processing information. Individual cases vary.
Gathering certificates
A few weeks
Ordering long-form birth and marriage certificates is usually the slowest step you control, so we start it first.
ISD processing
Not published
ISD gives no target for Stamp 6 and flags very high volumes and delays. Plan for a long wait rather than a quick turnaround.
Passport away by post
The full wait
Your current passport travels with the application, so time the posting around any trips or travel on your Irish passport meanwhile.
Renewals
Each passport
The same postal application repeats whenever the passport holding the stamp is replaced, with the expired stamped passport enclosed.
Why applications get refused
Most refusals are preventable. These are the patterns we see and design out of every application.
The certificate chain does not prove citizenship
ISD needs to trace your Irish citizenship document by document. Short-form certificates, missing links or photocopies where originals are expected leave the chain broken.
Avoid it: Use long-form certificates throughout and lay the chain out in your covering letter so the connection is obvious.
Claiming through a grandparent without FBR
Descent from an Irish grandparent does not make you a citizen by itself. Citizenship through a grandparent only exists once your Foreign Births Registration is complete, and Stamp 6 needs the FBR certificate.
Avoid it: Finish Foreign Births Registration first, then apply for Stamp 6 with the FBR certificate and your current passport.
Missing your mother's marriage certificate
When the claim runs through your mother, ISD asks for her marriage certificate as well as the birth certificates, because it links the names across the documents.
Avoid it: Include the marriage certificate whenever your route runs through your mother, even if the surnames look consistent to you.
You renounced Irish citizenship
Renunciation ends the entitlement. A person who formally renounced Irish citizenship loses the right to Stamp 6 along with it.
Avoid it: If you renounced and want your status back, the conversation is about resuming or reacquiring citizenship, not about Stamp 6.
No forwarding address in the package
There is no form, so ISD relies on your letter for everything, including where to send your passport back. A missing or unclear forwarding address stalls the whole application.
Avoid it: State the forwarding address prominently in the covering letter and keep it stable until your passport returns.
Applying for the wrong stamp entirely
People with long residence but no citizenship sometimes apply for Stamp 6 when they mean Stamp 5, which is the without-condition-as-to-time stamp for non-citizens with 8 years of legal residence.
Avoid it: Check the threshold honestly. Citizens go the Stamp 6 route; long-term residents who are not citizens look at Stamp 5 or naturalisation.
Common questions
I have an Irish passport. Do I need Stamp 6 at all?+
Usually not. If you live, work and travel on your Irish passport, that passport is already complete proof of your rights. Stamp 6 exists for dual citizens who use their non-Irish passport, so the document they actually carry shows their Irish status.
Why would a citizen need a stamp in the first place?+
Because the world only sees the passport in your hand. If yours is the foreign one, airlines, immigration officers, employers and banks have no way of knowing you are Irish. The "without condition" endorsement answers that at a glance, with no need to explain your family tree at a check-in desk.
Can I hold Stamp 6 alongside my other citizenship?+
Yes, that is exactly what it is for. Ireland allows dual citizenship, and Stamp 6 is only ever placed in a non-Irish passport held by an Irish citizen. Whether your other country permits dual citizenship is a matter for that country's law, which is worth checking before you take up Irish citizenship rather than after.
How much does it cost and do I get an IRP card?+
It is free. There is no application form and no fee, and because dual citizens do not register with Immigration Service Delivery, there is no IRP card and no €300 registration fee, ever. You also never pay renewal fees. Re-endorsing a replacement passport is free too, and there is no IRP card to renew.
How long does it take?+
ISD does not publish a timeline for Stamp 6 and warns of very high volumes and delays. Realistically you should plan for a long wait and remember your non-Irish passport is with ISD for the duration, so time the application around your travel. Your right to live and work in Ireland is unaffected while you wait, because it comes from citizenship, not from the stamp.
Do I really have to post my original passport?+
Yes. The endorsement is physically placed in your current non-Irish passport, so the original goes in the post to the Stamp 6 Section at 13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2, with a forwarding address for its return. If you hold an Irish passport too, you can travel on that in the meantime.
What happens when the passport holding my Stamp 6 expires?+
The stamp expires with the passport, so you apply again by post. The renewal package is simple: the expired non-Irish passport containing the old Stamp 6, plus your current passports. ISD then endorses the new document, again for free.
My other passport is visa required. How do I get back into Ireland?+
As an Irish citizen you have the right to enter Ireland and need no visa to return, whatever passport you carry. The simplest route is to travel on your Irish passport, which needs no visa for Ireland. If you are travelling on your non-Irish passport instead, the "without condition" Stamp 6 inside it is your evidence of Irish citizenship. Ireland no longer runs the old re-entry visa scheme that once applied to residents, and as a citizen you were never inside it, so there is no re-entry visa for you to apply for. If an airline ever queries a visa-required passport at check-in, showing your Irish passport is the cleanest fix, which is why our team usually suggests holding one.
Grounded in official sources
Ready to talk through your next step?
Book a consultation with our team and leave with a clear, personal plan grounded in the official rules.
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