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Citizenship

Generally there are four ways for a person to become an Irish citizen.

  1. By Entitlement through birth in Ireland (N.B since 2005 one requirement to this entitlement is that at least one of your parents must already be an Irish citizen.)
  2. By Descent,  if one of your parents is an Irish citizen at the time of your birth. If either of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, you are an Irish citizen, irrespective of your place of birth
  3. Post - Nuptial citizenship (through marriage to an Irish citizen)
  4. By Naturalisation

Post-nuptial Citizenship

A non- national whose marriage to an Irish citizen has been in existence prior to the 30th November 2002 may be able to make an application for post-nuptial citizenship after they have been married for a period of three years.
However this does not apply to marriages that where entered into after the 30th November 2002.  Such parties can now only apply for citizenship through the naturalisation process.

Naturalisation

Entitlement to citizenship under this category is subject to the following conditions. You must;

  1. Be 18 years or older.
  2. Be of good character. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will take into consideration any previous criminal conviction or ongoing proceedings (criminal or civil) in deciding whether or not to grant naturalisation.
  3. Have at least 5 years reckonable residence within the state. Such a term can be calculated out of a period of 9 years prior to your application.
    Note that you must have had 1 year continuous residence in the state prior to making your application.
  4. Intend,  in good faith,  to continue to reside in the state after naturalisation.
  5. Make a declaration of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the state.

The Minister has the power to waive one or more of the above conditions in the following circumstances.

  1. If you are of Irish descent or of Irish association.
  2. If you are a naturalised parent applying on behalf of a minor child.
  3. If you are a spouse of an Irish citizen.
  4. If you have been resident abroad in the public service.
  5. If you are recognised as a refugee.

Reckonable Residence

Reckonable Residence means the period of residence that the Minister will take into account when examining a person’s application for naturalisation.

In calculating such periods the minister will only take into consideration periods of legitimate residency. i.e. the person must have had a legal right to be present in the state.

However the follow periods of legitimate residency will not be taken into account:

  1. Permission to remain for the purpose of study. i.e. if you were here on a student visa.
  2. Permission to remain on foot of a working holiday visa.
  3. Permission to remain while your claim for asylum was being examined.

The Processing of an Application

The minister will normally acknowledge receipt of your application within a period of 15 working days. At this stage you will be given a reference number. This number is unique to your application and should be quoted when making any additional enquiries regarding your application.

Applications are processed in chronological order and,  as a result of the back log in applications,  the current waiting period can be up to 3 years.

However,  we at Green Card Visa strive to ensure that our clients applications are dealt with as rapidly as possible and have,  on many previous occasions,  sought the court’s intervention by way of Judicial Review in order to do so.

If your application is successful you will receive a letter from the Minister informing you of this and outlining the final procedures that you must complete. (For example at this stage you must swear an oath of fidelity to the nation.)

Within 30 day of completing such formalities you will be issued with a Certificate of Naturalisation and are officially an Irish citizen. You may then apply to the Department of Foreign Affairs for an Irish passport.

Note that once an application is successful, the applicant must then pay the relevant fees. However a person who has made an application on the basis of refugee status does not have to pay such a fee.