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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 28 Oct 1992

Vol. 424 No. 5

Written Answers. - Irish Citizenship Applications.

Bernard Allen

Question:

188 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason applicants for naturalisation are told by the Irish Embassy in London, England, that there is over a three month wait between the date of application and the arrangement of the necessary interview; and whether this is a new procedure which has been implemented.

Inquiries concerning Irish citizenship by naturalisation are referred to the Department of Justice and are not the subject of Embassy interviews. I take it that the Deputy is referring to applications for citizenship by way of Post-Nuptial Declaration, which are processed by Irish missions abroad on behalf of the Department of Justice.

Two factors led to the present procedures being put in place at the London Embassy: (i) The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1986 tightened up the conditions under which the spouse of an Irish citizen can be accorded Irish citizenship by Post-Nuptial Declaration; (ii) Certain irregularities involving the granting of Irish citizenship were discovered at the London Embassy in 1987; these related mainly to false applications for Irish citizenship by way of Post-Nuptial Declaration.

To meet the requirements of the 1986 Act and to prevent any recurrence of abuse of procedure, more stringent documentary requirements were introduced and revised structures put in place. As part of these new procedures each applicant and his/her Irish spouse resident in the UK are now interviewed at the Embassy, London in the presence of two Embassy officers.
In the interests of efficiency, it is the practice of the Embassy to group applications and then to set aside a period of a few days to conduct interviews. The timing of interviews depends to a large exstent on whether applications are correctly completed when first received; on the availability of applicants and their spouses for interview during the nominated period; and on the other responsibilities of the Embassy officers concerned. There is no uniform waiting period and every effort is made to hold interviews as regularly as possible.
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