Written Answers. - Citizenship Applications.
Noel Ahern
Question:
162
Mr. N. Ahern
asked the
Minister for Justice
the criteria against which applications for Irish citizenship are considered; if the length of time in the country or the length of time on work permits are major criteria; if she will give an analysis of successful applications over the past few years by these two criteria; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[25176/96]
Noel Ahern
Question:
163
Mr. N. Ahern
asked the
Minister for Justice
the number of applications for Irish citizenship currently being processed; and if she will give details in this regard in respect of length of time in the country and the length of time since the application was lodged.
[25177/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 162 and 163 together.
With regard to the first part of the Deputy's question, I would refer him to my response to Question No. 307 of 20 November 1996 where I laid out the criteria for considering applications for citizenship. In that response I stated that—
"(t)here are three ways in which a person who is not a citizen of Ireland can obtain Irish citizenship: these are, by descent, by naturalisation and by marriage to an Irish citizen.
Descent
A person whose mother or father was an Irish citizen at the time of his or her birth is automatically an Irish citizen. A person whose grandfather or grandmother, but not his or her parents, were born in Ireland may become an Irish citizen by registering in the Foreign Births Register (FBR) at an Irish Embassy or Consular Office or at the Department of Foreign Affairs. There are also certain instances whereby a person can obtain Irish citizenship through his or her great-grand-father or great-grandmother. The following table sets out the position in tabular form—
|
A
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(Born in Ireland)
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Irish citizen
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|
B
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(Child of A)
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Irish citizen
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C
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(Child of B/grandchild of A)
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Must be registered to obtain Irish citizenship
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D
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(Child of C/great grandchild of A)
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May register for Irish citizenship, provided that “C” had registered by the time of “D's” birth
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Note: If “C” had registered prior to 31 December 1986, “D” would be able to register at any time. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1986 introduced a provision whereby registration in the FBR after the aforementioned date granted citizenship from the date of registration only.
Pending the re-integration of the national territory, a person, not otherwise an Irish citizen through descent, born in Northern Ireland after 6 December 1922 may declare himself or herself, in the prescribed manner to be an Irish citizen. If the person is not of full age, i.e. 18 years, his/her parent or guardian may make the declaration.
The President may grant Irish citizenship as a token of honour to a person or to the child or grandchild of a person who, in the opinion of the Government, has done signal honour or rendered distinguished service to the nation.
Naturalisation
Section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts, 1956, and 1986, provides that the Minister for Justice may, at her absolute discretion, grant a certificate of naturalisation, where statutory provisions are complied with. These provisions require that an applicant has resided in the State for five years, is of good character and intends to continue to reside in the State after naturalisation. Section 16 of the Acts provides that the Minister may, in specific instances, waive some or all of the statutory requirements when considering an application.
Marriage to an Irish citizen (post-nuptial citizenship)
Section 8 of the Acts provides that a person who is not an Irish citizen may, following three years marriage to an Irish citizen, lodge a declaration accepting Irish citizenship as post-nuptial citizenship, provided that the marriage is subsisting at the date of lodgment of the declaration and the couple are living together as husband and wife and the spouse who is an Irish citizen submits an affidavit to that effect." I am informed that there are approximately 100 declarations for post-nuptial citizenship from persons resident in Ireland under consideration in my Department at present. Declarations from persons resident outside the State are processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs through its embassies and consulates. Figures of the number of declarations being processed in this way are not readily quantifiable. There are no residency or work permit requirements attached to post-nuptial citizenship.
In so far as the naturalisation process is concerned, I am informed that there are approximately 400 applications for certificates of naturalisation at various stages of processing in my Department at present. Because of the nature of the process, it can take up to 12 months to process such applications.
The granting of Irish citizenship in this manner is a privilege and not a right and it is incumbent on both my officials and myself to be happy that applicants are deserving of the honour bestowed on them. As I mentioned above, one of the factors taken into account in considering applications for naturalisation is that applicants have been residing in the State for at least five years. For the benefit of the Deputy, and applicants, I would point out that residence in this sense is taken to mean properly documented full-time residence, i.e. that the non-national in question is properly registered with the Garda for the required period of time. Temporary residence in the State, e.g. as a student, is generally discounted as the individuals in question would have been admitted to the State for a specific purpose on the understanding that they would be leaving when that purpose had been achieved. Notwithstanding this general policy, the Acts provide that I may exercise my discretion in this area where I consider the particular circumstances of a case warrant the use of such discretion.
The Deputy also asks if the length of time on work permits is a major criterion in deciding to grant naturalisation. There is nothing in the Acts dealing with this issue,per se. However, it is a general requirement of Aliens law that persons who are nationals of certain countries may work in the State only where a work permit has been issued to their employers. The absence of appropriate work permits for such persons would mean that they were working illegally in the State and this is a factor I would have to take into account in reaching my decision in any particular case.
