Foreign nationals with no Irish lineage can become Irish citizens by naturalisation after spending certain amount of time in Ireland. A naturalized citizen has virtually the same rights as an Irish citizen by birth, including the right to participate in elections and stay in and outside Ireland for as long as they please.
After the citizenship certification is granted, you will be eligible to obtain your Irish passport. The Irish passport is one of the strongest passports in the world, allowing visa-free access to a colossal list of countries in Europe and beyond.
Entry into Ireland. Visas and Permanent Residence
You could enter Ireland and qualify for permanent residence only if you apply for a long-stay “D” visa. These are visas for those who wish to work, invest, or join family members in the country for more than 90 days. Furthermore, you must have lived 60 months (5 years) under the correct visa, not have broken any immigration rules, and be of “good character” (not under investigation by the Irish Police).
Some examples of eligible visas that you may apply for are:
- Work: Employment visa. Van Der Elst visa (for up to 12 months) and employment (scientific researcher) visa.
- Family: Join family visas (for spouses, civil partners, or parents).
- Business: Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP)
While some work visas are for temporary work and cannot be extended, they can count towards your long-stay residence permit.
Your time in Ireland won’t be counted towards your permanent residence permit application if, among other things:
- You were a Student visa holder.
- You or your spouse/partner were an Intra-Company Transferee.
- You were an employee at a foreign embassy.
- You received Permission to Remain when under the Working Holiday Visa.
- You were a De Facto partner
- You are a parent of an Irish citizen.
The residence permit type will be identified by a stamp number. To illustrate, most work permits are indicated by Stamp 1. while Stamp 4 is for family reunification.
To obtain Stamp 5 – Permit Without Condition As To Time (WCATT) -, you must have legally spent 96 months or eight years in Ireland. Notwithstanding, you won’t need to apply for this stamp to obtain Irish citizenship by naturalisation.
All visas are processed via the AVATS Online Application Facility. The application to become a permanent resident or naturalised Irish citizen is submitted to and decided by the Minister of Justice through the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD). The decision is entirely discretional, and the Minister could deny the application even if there were no defects.
Be mindful that if you wish to file an employment visa application, your employer must first apply for an employment permit from the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment (DETE). These are the types of employment permits issued:
- General Employment Permit (for ordinary workers)
- Critical Skills Employment Permit (for jobs mentioned in the eligible occupations list)
- Intra Company Transfer Permit (for international employers who transfer an employee’s work temporarily)
- Scientific Researcher on Hosting Agreement
- Internship Employment Permit
Irish Citizenship
The first milestone towards being a naturalised Irish national is to qualify for this status. To do that, you should satisfy the requirements outlined in the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (as amended).
The requirements can be broken down into the following categories:
Age
You must be 18 years old or beyond If you want to apply on your own accord. Children under 18 can be included in a parent’s application only if:
- The child was born on the island on 1 January 2005 or after and had no birthright to be recognised as Irish.
- The child is of Irish descent or has Irish associations.
- The parent is a citizen by naturalisation.
Good Character
“Good character” is a vague legal concept in itself. However, for the purposes of a citizenship application, it relates to your criminal records and any ongoing investigations or warnings issued against you by the Garda Síochána or an Irish court.
You will be asked to provide a sworn declaration by which you can also try to explain the circumstances that prompted the investigations from your viewpoint. The Citizenship division could potentially summon you to answer questions about your criminal and migratory history.
Residence
Naturalisation will likewise hinge upon the length of time you have spent in Ireland, which has to be under a suitable leave or permit. This period is called “reckonable residence”.
Some examples of residence periods that are not reckonable include:
- Time spent as a student visa holder unless applying as a “young adult”.
- The period spent as an international protection applicant.
- All the time that elapsed without a proper permit or visa.
On the other hand, time counted as reckonable includes:
- All the time under an employment permit.
- Time as a dependent of a person on an employment permit or other type of legal residence.
- Time spent together with an Irish spouse or partner.
When it comes to time length, the prerequisites are as follows:
- You must have had a continuous reckonable residence of one year (365 days)
- During the eight years prior, you should have spent at least four years (1,460 days) on aggregate in the country.
- If you are married to an Irish citizen, you must have been married for three or more years within the past five years, and you ought to have lived continuously for 12 months before the date of the application.
Any absence for more than six weeks total per year will not be deemed reckonable for the purposes of a naturalisation application unless you can prove that it was motivated by an emergency.
Apply for Irish Passport (and Renew Irish Passport)
Once your application is approved, you’ll be invited to attend a ceremony where you will be asked to make a loyalty declaration. After the ceremony is over, you will receive your naturalisation certificate.
With this certificate, you can apply for an Irish passport using either the Passport Online or Post Passport services. You can also renew your Irish passport after expiration (ten years for adults and five for children) through these mediums or go over to the Passport Office and apply personally if you are in an emergency situation.
