Irish Citizenship by Naturalisation

Naturalisation can be defined as both a conscious decision of a foreign national to become a citizen of another country and a legal process defined by a sovereign state to confer citizenship on foreign nationals.

Irish citizenship by naturalisation is a legal process, as defined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956-2004, through which a foreign national can become an Irish citizen. Statistically speaking, most foreign nationals intending to become Irish citizens take the route of citizenship by naturalisation.

If you are a foreign national residing legally in any of the the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland (also referred to as the ‘State’) for five years or more, you may apply to become an Irish citizen through the legal process of naturalisation.

If you are a foreign national legally married or are a civil partner to an Irish citizen, you may apply for Irish citizenship by naturalisation after living legally on the island of Ireland for three years.

However, there will be several other requirements to meet in both scenarios before you can apply to become an Irish citizen by naturalisation.

Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) reviews the applications for Irish citizenship by naturalisation on behalf of the Minister for Justice. The Minister, however, has the final authority to decide whether or not an applicant will be granted citizenship.

Page Contents

• Overview of Irish Citizenship by Naturalisation
• Am I Eligible to Apply for Irish Citizenship by Naturalisation?
• What Is Reckonable Residency And How Can I Calculate It?
• Exemptions to Reckonable Residency
• Other Eligibility Requirements for Irish Citizenship by Naturalisation
• When the Minister of Justice Can Waive Eligibility Requirements
• How Do I Apply for Irish Citizenship by Naturalisation?
• What Documents Do I Need to Apply for Irish Citizenship by Naturalisation?
• Processing Time
• What If My Application Has Been Refused?
• What If My Application Has Been Approved?
• How Can IAS Help?
• Frequently Asked Questions

The first and foremost requirement a foreign national wishing to apply for Irish citizenship by naturalisation must meet is that of length of residency in the country.

In general, you need to be a legal resident in the State for at least five years out of the previous nine years, including one year of continuous residence immediately before your application date.

As a spouse or civil partner of an Irish citizen, a foreign national is required to reside legally on the island of Ireland for a period of at least three years. In this case, you can count legal residence in Northern Ireland as well.

An adult foreign national, who is from outside the EEA (i.e. the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), the UK and Switzerland, or is not recognised as a refugee, must pay attention to the concept of ‘reckonable’ residency.

A reckonable residence refers to residence in the State (or in the island of Ireland for spouses and civil partners of Irish citizens) that counts while calculating the applicant’s length of stay in Ireland. Usually, time spent in Ireland on stamps 1, 1G, 3, 4, 5 are counted as reckonable residency.

However, time spent as an international student (generally with a Stamp 2 or Stamp 2A) or as an asylum seeker (unless you have been granted refugee status later on) will not be counted. Time spent in the State while you were undocumented will also not be considered for the reckonable residency calculation purpose.

It is advisable to use the online residency calculator on the Department of Justice website to check if you meet the reckonable residency conditions. To calculate the length of your reckonable residence on this calculator, first check the type(s) of Irish immigration stamps you have on your passport and your Irish Resident Permit (IRP) card. You need to fill in the start and end dates of all your Irish immigration stamps on the calculator to determine the total length of your reckonable residency period.

If you are a foreign national legally married to or in a civil partnership with an Irish citizen, you need three years of reckonable residency instead of five years.

If you are unsure about how to calculate your reckonable residency status in Ireland, you may seek professional immigration advice. You can reach us online or call us on (+353) 061 518 025 to speak to one of our immigration experts today.

The condition of reckonable residency does not apply in cases of young adults, minor children, persons with refugee status, or EEA, UK and Swiss nationals.

If you are a young adult and do not have the required length of reckonable residence yourself, you can use your parent’s reckonable residence. To be considered a young adult, you must:

• be within 18-23 years of age at the time of your citizenship by naturalisation application
• have entered the State lawfully with your family
• be in secondary school or have gone straight to third level college in the State from school
• be financially dependent on your parents

Minor children (i.e. aged less than 18 years) of parents who have received citizenship by naturalisation must have lived in Ireland for three years to apply for the same.

If you have been granted refugee status in Ireland, you can apply for citizenship by naturalisation after completing three years of residency from the date of your arrival.

If you are an adult foreign national from the UK, Switzerland or an EEA country, a reckonable residence calculation is not required in your case. You need to provide documentary evidence of your residence history in Ireland with your application. We will discuss that further in the required documentation section of this article.

Apart from the residency requirement, a foreign national must also meet the following criteria to be eligible to apply for Irish citizenship by naturalisation.

• The applicant must be 18 years of age (or married if under 18 years)
• The applicant must be of ‘good character’
• The applicant must intend in good faith to continue to reside in the State (or the island of Ireland in cases of spouse/civil partners to Irish citizens) after naturalisation
• The applicant will attend a citizenship ceremony if their citizenship application is approved and make the declaration of fidelity and loyalty to Ireland

Additionally, in cases of spouse/civil partners to Irish citizens, they must be married or in the civil partnership for three years.

Please note that there is no legal definition of what ‘good character’ means in this context. Ireland’s national police, the Garda Síochána, put together a background report for each applicant and submit the same to the Minister of Justice. This report may contain your criminal record, traffic offences, pending criminal cases, certain civil cases as well as any ongoing investigations against you.

The applicants are provided with an opportunity to declare any such scenarios on the application form, where they can also explain the circumstances that led to police action in these cases.

The Minister of Justice has the power to waive one or more of the aforementioned eligibility requirements for citizenship by naturalisation if:

• The applicant is of Irish descent or of Irish associations (i.e. related through blood, affinity or adoption to a person who is or is entitled to be an Irish citizen, including deceased citizens)
• The applicant has been a resident abroad in the Irish public service
• The applicant has been recognised as a refugee or a stateless person

ISD takes around 19 months to process an application for Irish citizenship by naturalisation. However, processing time may vary on a case-to-case basis. You need to also factor in the time taken by the Garda Síochána to prepare your background report.

ISD may also get in touch with you during this period for additional documents or information. Please inform ISD if there is a change of address while you are awaiting a decision on your application, or if you are planning to be outside the State for longer than six weeks after submitting your application with reason thereof.

After processing an application, ISD submits their report regarding your application to the Minister of Justice. The Minister has the final authority to approve or reject your application.

In case of incorrect or incomplete forms, the application is straightaway returned to the applicant who needs to start the whole process again upon receiving that.

If any supporting documents are missing, applicants are given up to 28 days to provide them. Your application may be refused if you fail to submit those documents within the given timeline.

ISD will inform the applicant if their application has not been successful along with the reason for the same. The applicant is eligible to apply for Irish citizenship by naturalisation again at any time. They must pay particular attention to the reason for refusal of their previous application while re-applying.