Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 May 2004
185 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the average number of months it takes to process an application for citizenship; and if certain types of application are prioritised over others. [15991/04]
View answerBetween 2000 and 2003, the number of applications for naturalisation and declarations of post-nuptial citizenship being received increased by 250% and 80% respectively. Notwithstanding these increases, the processing time for such applications and declarations was reduced from two and a half years and 12 months at the start of 2001 to 18 months and nine months respectively at the end of 2003.
There is no general policy applied which prioritises applications on the basis of nationality, duration of stay in the State and so forth. However, there may be circumstances in an individual case which require a greater level of investigation than other cases. In some cases, delay can arise as a result of failure on the part of an individual applicant to respond to queries.
186 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding an application for citizenship by a person (details supplied) in Dublin 6 in view of the fact that this application has been delayed for a considerable period. [15992/04]
View answerAn application for naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in the citizenship section of my Department on 31 January 2002. The application is in the final stages of processing and I understand from my officials that it will be submitted to me for decision in the near future. As soon as I have reached a decision on the matter I will inform both the applicant and the Deputy of the outcome.
