Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 228: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether there is a case for separately dealing with applications for post-nuptial naturalisation and processing them efficiently and quickly; and if he will make arrangements accordingly. [37918/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Citizenship on the basis of marriage to an Irish citizen, until recently, could be acquired in one of two ways. Section 8 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (INCA) provided that spouses of Irish citizens, who were citizens other than by naturalisation could claim citizenship as of right once they had been married for three years by making a declaration of post-nuptial citizenship. There was no residence requirement under this section. Spouses of Irish citizens, who had gained their citizenship by naturalisation themselves, were required to apply for naturalisation and comply with the normal statutory conditions for naturalisation contained in section 15 of INCA, namely residence in the State, being of full age and of good character and having an intention to reside permanently in the State after naturalisation.

Under an amendment to the INCA in 2001 post-nuptial citizenship was phased out over a three year period from the commencement of the Act on 29th November 2002 by a specific provision in Section 15A of the INCA. This provided, inter alia, for a three year rather than a five year residence requirement and a three year subsisting marriage requirement, both of which I am entitled to waive in cases where the applicant shows that they may suffer serious consequences in respect of their bodily integrity or liberty if not granted Irish citizenship.

In the interests of fairness to all concerned, it is the practice of the Citizenship Division of my Department to process cases in chronological order based upon the date of receipt of the application. As the conditions for naturalisation for the spouses of Irish citizens are generally the same as those for other applicants for naturalisation, I see no reason to deviate from the present practice in their case.

The only areas where the above practice is not observed involve applications by persons with refugee status or where the application is made on behalf of a minor. In the case of applicants with refugee status the Government has obligations under the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951. Accordingly every effort is made to ensure that applications from such applicants are dealt with as quickly as possible, having regard to the general volume of applications. Where applications made on behalf of minors are concerned, these generally require less processing than standard adult applications so it is usually possible to finalise them more quickly