Irish Citizenship by Marriage Application

The Minister for Justice confers Irish citizenship to a person by furnishing the person with a certificate of naturalisation.

This is a discretionary power and the Minister must be satisfied certain conditions are met, such as, the good character requirement.

In GKN V Minister for Justice and Equality 2014 the comments of the Judge in Hiri V Secretary of State for the Home Department were recommended, where it was stated that ‘’all aspects of the applicants character’’ had to be considered. Good character does include an assessment of criminal convictions but not exclusively so.

The Minister can grant a certificate of naturalisation to a spouse of an Irish citizen if conditions are met.

The married couple must have been so for at least 3 years, must live together and a marriage affidavit must be completed.

Civil partners can also apply.

The applicant must have resided in the state on a continuous basis during the 1 year period immediately before the date of the application and the 5 year residence rule is reduced to 3 years for this application type.

Applications for citizenship can now be made online also.

Identity proofs documentation and residency proofs documentation must be provided with the application.

Documentary proof of the Irish spouse’s entitled to Irish citizenship is important, as are copies of residence proofs for the Irish spouse in addition to the standard residence proof documents for the applicant.

Cleary & Co. immigration solicitors advise on all Irish Citizenship matters and our contact details are are on our contact us page.  

Disclaimer

Please be advised that the above-mentioned material is intended as an overview and as a broad outline of the topic discussed. It should not be considered as complete and comprehensive legal advice, nor act as an appropriate substitute.
Due care has been taken in the publication of this article and we do not accept legal liability as a result of reliance on any material covered in the above article.