An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy was received in the citizenship section of my Department on 30 March 2005 and, in the normal course, it would fall to be finalised in or around March 2007. However, the person concerned entered the State in January 2001 and was resident here for less the statutory five year period at the time of his application. Since it was not evident that he belonged to a category of applicant to which a lesser residency requirement would apply, such as spouse of an Irish citizen, refugee or stateless person, he was not eligible to apply for naturalisation when he did.
The person concerned has had uninterrupted permission to remain in the State since January 2001 and now meets the statutory residency criteria. It is open to him to submit a new application at any time. Any such application will be examined against the other statutory criteria for naturalisation prior to being referred to me for a decision. My officials will be writing to the person concerned in the next few days setting out the position. A new application form will be forwarded to him at that stage.