inis.gov.ie : Irish Citizenship Through Birth, Descent & By Naturalisation Ireland

Name of the Organization : Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service
Type of Facility : Irish Citizenship Through Birth, Descent & By Naturalisation
Country: Ireland

Website : http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Citizenship

Irish Citizenship Through Birth & By Naturalisation:

In general a person acquires Irish citizenship through one of the following ways:
** by an entitlement to Irish citizenship for certain persons born in the island of Ireland;

Related : Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service British Irish Visa Scheme : www.statusin.org/7144.html

** entitlement by descent if one of his/her parents was an Irish citizen at the time of the person’s birth;
** by naturalisation at the absolute discretion of the Minister for Justice and Equality.

Detailed information on Irish Citizenship and Naturalisation can found by clicking on Irish Citizenship through birth, descent and by Naturalisation.

Residency Checker:
You can use the online Naturalisation Residency Calculator as a guide to whether you satisfy the naturalisation residency conditions and, if you don’t, give an indication of how long you should wait before making an application.

Many applications that are processed are deemed ineligible as the applicant did not have the required residency at time of application

Citizenship through birth in Ireland:
A person born in the island of Ireland after 1 January 2005 to parents, at least one of whom was an Irish or British citizen or entitled to reside in the State or Northern Ireland without any restrictions on his or her residence, has an entitlement of Irish citizenship. Otherwise, a person born in the island of Ireland after 1 January 2005 is entitled to Irish citizenship only if, during the four year period immediately preceding the person’s birth, one of the parents has been resident* in the island of Ireland for a period of not less than three years and neither parent was entitled to diplomatic immunity in the State.

Certain residence is not reckonable, including unlawful residence, residence granted for the purpose of study and periods where there was a provisional permission to reside granted pending determination of an asylum application.

Citizenship through descent:

If either of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, you are an Irish citizen, irrespective of your place of birth (unless one of the special conditions relating to birth outside Ireland applies; these are described below). If the parent through whom you derive Irish citizenship was not alive at the time of your birth, but would have been an Irish citizen if alive at that time, you are also an Irish citizen. You derive citizenship through an Irish parent whether or not your parents were married to each other at the time of your birth.

If you were born outside Ireland to an Irish citizen who was himself or herself born in Ireland, then you are an Irish citizen.

If you were born outside Ireland to an Irish citizen who was himself or herself born outside Ireland, and any of your grandparents were born in Ireland, then you are entitled to become an Irish citizen, and can do so by having your birth registered in the Foreign Births Register maintained by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. You can do this by applying to your nearest Irish embassy or consular office. A list of these is available on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs at www.dfa.ie. If you are entitled to register, your Irish citizenship is effective from the date of registration.

If you are of the third or subsequent generation born abroad to an Irish citizen (in other words, one of your parents is an Irish citizen but none of your parents or grandparents were born in Ireland), you may be entitled to become an Irish citizen by having your birth registered in the Foreign Births Register; this depends on whether your parent through whom you derive Irish citizenship had himself or herself become an Irish citizen by being registered in the Foreign Births Register before you were born.

If you are entitled to register, your Irish citizenship is effective from the date of registration. The Irish citizenship of successive generations may be maintained in this way by each generation ensuring registration in the Foreign Births Register before the birth of the next generation.

Citizenship through Naturalisation:
Naturalisation is a process whereby a non-Irish national can apply to become an Irish citizen. Applications are decided by the Minister for Justice and Equality, who has absolute discretion, even where the applicant meets certain conditions set out in the legislation, whether or not to grant naturalisation.

If you are applying for naturalisation based on your own residence in the State, the conditions for naturalisation are as follows:
** You must be of full age (i.e. eighteen years or older, or married if younger than eighteen).
** You must be of good character.
** You must have had a period of one (1) year’s continuous reckonable residence in the State immediately before the date of the application and, during the eight (8) years preceding that, have had a total reckonable residence in the State amounting to four (4) years (information on calculation of period of residence can be found by clicking on Calculation of period of residence in relation to application for naturalisation).
** You must intend in good faith to continue to reside in the State after naturalisation.
** You must make a declaration of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State and undertake to faithfully observe the laws of the State and to respect its democratic values (click If your application is approved for the point in the process at which this is required).