Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
535. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice if she will provide an update in respect of a citizenship application (details supplied); if her attention has been drawn to delays in the processing of 2020, 2021 and 2022 applications whereas 2023 applications are being expedited; and if she will provide, in tabular form, the number of open applications in each of the years 2020 to date in 2023. [35032/23]
View answerThe naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department, with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation. It will be submitted to me for decision in due course.
Significant changes are underway within the naturalisation process as the Citizenship Division examines how it can become more efficient. As the Division moves from its old processing structure to a new model there may seem to be variation in how it processes files i.e. how long it takes to register, process and grant decisions. This will not disadvantage older applications and will ultimately help reduce how long it takes to process all applications in the system.
One of the improvements that has become visible recently has been the reduction in wait times for files to be registered. Last year it took on average about 7 months for a file to be acknowledged. This year it is done in a matter of weeks. A related improvement is that Garda vetting is now carried out earlier in the naturalisation process to help improve processing efficiency.
To ensure older files are also progressing under the new system my Department has recently written to 13,000 applicants with electronic links to commence eVetting. Over the last two months around 3,000 of these vetting files have been progressed and significant work in underway to ensure the remaining vetting is completed in the coming months with the aim of issuing invites to applicants for citizenship ceremonies by the end of this year.
To date in 2023, 6,061 naturalisation certificates have already issued and I can further advise the Deputy that approximately 8,700 of the applications on hand have in fact received a positive decision and are now in the process of making their final payment and/or being scheduled to attend a citizenship ceremony.
Our expectation is that applicants from each of the years below will be amongst those invited to citizenship ceremonies over the course of 2023.
My Department intends to communicate with all applicants on a quarterly basis to provide regular updates on progress in this regard.
Please see below table which shows applications on hand for each of the years referenced,
|
Year |
Applications |
|
2020 |
1,035 |
|
2021 |
5,510 |
|
2022 |
16,435 |
|
2023* |
7,178 |
|
Total |
30,158 |
*The 2023 figure is up to 30 June 2023.
