Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 June 2023
247. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the current position in regard to an application for naturalisation by a person (details supplied); if provision can be made for a late renewal in respect of their stamp 4 residency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29050/23]
View answerThe person referred to by the Deputy previously held a Stamp 4 permission which expired on 10 February 2023.
Any period spent on a Stamp 4 permission is considered as reckonable residence when applying for citizenship by way of naturalisation, and an application for Naturalisation on behalf of this person was received by my Department on 25 August 2022.
However, it is important to note that all persons must keep their immigration permission up to date if they wish to continue to reside in the State. Citizenship cannot and will not be granted if the applicant does not hold a valid immigration permission.
The person cited by the Deputy will need to reapply for a permission letter as their previous permission has lapsed for a significant period of time. The person should apply to the Repatriation Division as they previously granted the prior permission.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas mail facility (inisoireachtasmail@justice.ie), which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up-to-date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the parliamentary questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
