Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 October 2005
231 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the way in which a person (details supplied) in County Wexford makes an application for Irish citizenship; and when this will be done; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30781/05]
View answerThere are four ways in which a person born outside of Ireland can obtain Irish citizenship; by means of a grant as a token of honour, by descent, by naturalisation or by marriage to an Irish citizen, post-nuptial citizenship. It is assumed for the purposes of this reply that neither honorary citizenship nor citizenship by descent are relevant in the context of this question. Furthermore, due to the date of the person's marriage, he is not eligible to make a declaration of post-nuptial citizenship. I have, therefore, set out below some general information about the naturalisation process.
The Minister may, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. In the case of a non-national applicant who is the spouse of an Irish national, those conditions are that the applicant must be of full age; be of good character; be married to the Irish citizen for at least three years; be in a marriage recognised under the laws of the State as subsisting; be living together as husband and wife with the Irish spouse; have had a period of one year's continuous residency in the island of Ireland immediately before the date of the application and, during the four years immediately preceding that period, have had a total residence in the island of Ireland amounting to two years; intend in good faith to continue to reside in the island of Ireland after naturalisation; and have made, either before a judge of the District Court in open court or in such a manner as the Minister, for special reasons allows, a declaration in the prescribed manner, of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State.
In other cases the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain more rigorous statutory conditions are fulfilled. Those conditions are that the applicant must be of full age, or by way of exception, be a minor born in the State; be of good character; have had a period of one year's continuous residency in the State immediately before the date of the application and, during the eight years immediately preceding that period, have had a total residence in the State amounting to four years; intend in good faith to continue to reside in the State after naturalisation; and have made, either before a judge of the District Court in open court or in such a manner as the Minister, for special reasons allows, a declaration in the prescribed manner, of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State.
It should be noted that in the context of naturalisation certain periods of residence in the State are excluded. These include periods of residence in respect of which an applicant does not have permission to remain in the State, periods granted for the purposes of study and periods granted for the purposes of seeking recognition as a refugee within the meaning of the Refugee Act 1996.
It appears from the information supplied by the Deputy that the earliest the person concerned can apply for naturalisation is October 2007. This is dependent on the person concerned having maintained his permission to remain in the State without any gaps since his arrival here in October 2002. He may also be eligible to apply for naturalisation in December 2007 on foot of his marriage. The administrative process is the same in both instances.
Further information and the necessary application forms may be obtained from my Department's website, www.justice.ie, or by telephoning the citizenship section helpline on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at lo-call 1890 551 500 or 01 6167700.
