A Guide to Applying for Irish Citizenship by Naturalization: Steps for Americans/Non-EU Applicants
This post is going to focus on how I, a non-EU citizen with no familial connection to Ireland applied for Irish citizenship through naturalization. Each person’s guide to Irish citizenship is different. It could be through marriage or descent, but this post will focus on my specific journey so this post will not be beneficial for everyone. Even if it is not useful for you, maybe you are just curious to know what the process is! Please note that I am not an immigration lawyer and my citizenship journey is my own. I am always open to questions about moving to/living in Ireland but I am not legally qualified to assist.
Before diving into the application process, it is essential to ensure that you meet the eligibility criteria set forth by the Irish government. To apply for Irish citizenship by naturalization, you must have 5 years' reckonable residence in the 9 year period ending on the day before your application and:
You have resided in Ireland legally for the 12 month period before your application
You are over 18
Legal residence (or reckonable residence) does not include time spent on a student visa or time spent while waiting for a decision on International Protection.
It is important to note that there are fees associated with the naturalization process, such as the application fee (€175) and the Citizenship Certificate (€950).
A totally unnecessary expense I paid for was visiting an immigration solicitor (lawyer) who was recommended by another American I know before submitting my application. I wanted to ensure I had everything right and to ask a few questions before officially applying for my citizenship. I was happy with my decision to go because the solicitor was so helpful and encouraged me to apply through the new online system (for reference, I applied in December 2023). This was SO much easier than applying with the old paper application! I was also able to get my documents certified by the solicitor at the appointment too.
So, without further ado let’s get into it!
Determine Eligibility
As mentioned earlier, you must have legally resided in Ireland for a certain period to be eligible for naturalization. This entails continuous residence, with absences not exceeding a certain number of days per year (as of writing this it is 70 days).
The residency requirement may vary based on certain circumstances, such as marriage to an Irish citizen or employment status. You can use the Naturalisation Residency Calculator here to determine if you have enough reckonable residence in Ireland to apply for Irish citizenship by naturalization.
Gather Required Documentation
Once you know you are eligible (or will be soon!), the next step involves collecting the necessary documentation to support the citizenship application. Gathering the necessary documentation is a crucial step in the process.
The Citizenship Guidance – How to submit identity documents and residency proofs to support your citizenship application document helps identify what you need to provide to prove your identity and demonstrate that you have been resident in Ireland for the required amount of time. The guide provides a list of the required documents and a scorecard to help guide what you need to submit. You must reach 150 ‘points’ for each year of residence.
As part of the application process you need 3 Irish citizen references. It is always polite to ask someone to be a reference so I would do this at this stage to make sure they are happy to do this for you. Note: my references were not contacted but I still had to provide their names and contact information as part of the application.
If you are neurotic like I am, I would recommend making a folder on your computer to keep all of your documentation organized. I named my folder ‘Naturalization’ and then had subfolders for each year of documents and a folder for my P60s/Employment Detail Summaries, copies of my passport, copies of IRP cards, etc.
Another thing I would recommend doing is getting together all of the addresses you have ever lived at and the dates (years are enough) that you resided at them. My dad told me to do this years ago and I am so glad I took an hour of time to do it then because I have needed this information a couple of times since and it was so handy to have it ready to go instead of scrambling last minute to get them. You will need this information for the Garda Vetting portion of the application process
Submit Application & Pay Fee
Once you know you are eligible and have all necessary documentation ready, you can submit your application. There are different application forms for different circumstances so it is important to apply for the one that matches your situation. Links to the different forms can be found on the ‘Become an Irish citizen by naturalisation’ webpage from the Department of Justice.
Citizenship applications can now be made online here. The solicitor I consulted before applying for my citizenship recommended applying online over the old paper application and I am grateful she told me this as it made the entire process much more straightforward. She also let me know the online application asks for far less information and tends to be processed more quickly.
I would recommend setting some quiet time aside to complete your application to ensure that you accurately fill everything out to avoid delays or complications in the process. Alongside the application, there is an application fee of €175 to be paid when you submit your completed application.
Processing and Waiting
After submitting your application, be prepared for a waiting period while your application is processed. This period can vary depending on various factors, including the volume of applications being processed and individual circumstances.
The solicitor I spoke with mentioned that INIS consider applicants receiving a decision within 2 years reasonable and when I applied the Department of Justice website stated, ‘Currently it takes 19 months approximately for a straightforward application to be processed from the date it is received to the date a decision is made. However, processing times can vary depending on circumstances.’
The overall timeline for my process is below:
Application Submitted: 5 December 2023
Application received Date: 5 December 2023
Acknowledgement Date: 26 March 2024
Vetting invitation form (NVB1) received/returned: 19 April 2024, completed and sent same day
eVetting link received: 25 April 2024, completed and sent same day
Approval: 28 June 2024
Date of Ceremony: 2 December 2024
I think I would have been invited to the 16 September 2024 ceremony but I did not send an address change document back in time. December personally suited me better and completing the process in under a year is still a win to me!
On that note, if you change your address or your email at any stage while your application is being processed, it is your responsibility to notify the Citizenship Division. Details on how to do this can be found here. You will also have to provide one proof of residence at your new address.
Citizenship Ceremony
If your application is successful, you will be required to pay the Citizenship Certificate fee (note: this is dependent on how you apply but I had to) of €950. It is important to note that this does not make you an Irish citizen! Once you pay your fee, you will be invited to attend a citizenship ceremony where you will take an oath of fidelity to the Irish nation where you will officially become an Irish citizen. You will not receive your Certificate of Naturalization at the ceremony as this is posted out at a later date. The ceremony was a special day and I think it is meaningful to mark such an important day!
A couple of other things!
I found this immigration board to be helpful to guess a timeline for my application. Be sure to find a board for your year of applying.
When filling out the Garda Vetting form type every little detail of your address out. I didn’t put an Eircode on one address as I thought the Dublin postcode (Dublin 1, Dublin 4, etc.) was sufficient and it was not. I had to do my entire Garda Vetting again. Not the biggest deal but just passing that tidbit along!