A new Irish high court judgement has ruled full one year continuous unbroken residence before applying for citizenship by naturalization. This judgement is expected to affect thousands of citizenship applicants naturalizing for citizenship.
The landmark judgement by High court rules out six week leniency at the discretion of Minister for visits or stays outside Ireland during the year preceding the application, thus imposing a strict requirement.
Currently Ireland requires five years of residence condition to become an Irish citizen. That is have been legally resident in the State for at least 5 years (1826 days from permission stamps) out of the last 9 years. This includes 1 year (365) of continuous residence immediately before the date of citizenship application.
The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, has addressed the recent High Court judgment on citizenship, saying:
“I know that the ruling from the High Court has caused concern and may have been unsettling for people in the Citizenship process. I want to reassure people that my officials are carefully studying the ruling in consultation with the Attorney General’s Office. This issue is being dealt with as an urgent priority and I will take any necessary action to resolve it.”
INIS in the meantime will continue receiving and processing applications and advised citizenship applicants not to change any travel plans.
The Irish Naturalization and Immigration office (INIS) has issued an official statement on 19th july stating:
“We are aware that the judgment in this case has given cause for concern and may have been upsetting for many people who are in the citizenship process. We want to assure you that we are taking all appropriate steps to remedy the situation as quickly as possible. The best interests of applicants and future applicants are foremost in our considerations.
In the meantime, Citizenship Division is continuing to receive and process applications. Planning for the next Citizenship Ceremony in September is also underway. We are not advising citizenship applicants or future applicants to cancel any current or upcoming travel plans.
Our advice for people who are planning to apply for citizenship is to continue to collect all the necessary proofs that support your application and to submit a comprehensive application form. Once a solution is in place, if any additional information is required, you will be contacted as part of the processing of your application.
We do not believe that this ruling has consequences for anyone who has already obtained citizenship under the Act. We ask for your patience while we put in place a solution as an urgent priority. Further updates will be posted on this website when available.
If you would like to speak to us about your case, you can contact us as follows http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/contact-citizenship.”
