Irish Citizenship for a EU national

xavigar

Hello,

I am a Spanish citizenship living in Ireland for the last 7 years and I applied for Irish citizenship through naturalisation following the steps described in this link.

One of the requirements of this application is 3 proofs of address for 5 years living in the country. I have 3 proof of address for each year from 2003 to present, but for 2002 I only have 2 documents.

I am having problems with them because they keep asking me for proof that I have already provided, and they insist that I should send them 3 documents for 2002 (even though I consider that from 2003 to 2007 would make 5 years that I am in the country). I have suggested them that I can provide them with witnesses or I can go to their offices for an interview but they keep ignoring these suggestions. Also, I have asked them several other questions about my application and I have never got any response.

All the communication with the Citizenship department is done via post which is not convenient and it is quite slow. They have a phone number available during Tuesday and Thursday morning which I have tried a couple of times, but unfortunately I found the person attending the phone so unfriendly that I decided not to use it again.

Furthermore, a friend of mine asked an acquaintance that works in the Citizenship department about my application and she informed him that they only work with non EU citizens and that my application should not by handled the same way. However she was told able to provide my friend with the instructions that I should follow.

Has any other member of the EU applied successfully for Irish naturalisation? How did you find the experience? Is there anything that I am not doing right?

Zambia

By the end of the process you will at least feel like an Irish citizen, scared stiff of our own Civil servants and the time they take.

Sorry I cant help here

digitally-yours

Immigration department is a joke !

Normal processing time is 2 years :mad:


I had a teacher he was from Bangladesh who was living here since 7 years on work permit. He applied for his naturalization and they told him it will take 2 years.

The guy was satellite engineer along with some other highly valuable degrees.

He applied for USA green card and they processed his Green Card in 4 Weeks

He left Ireland and went to USA.

OP i suggest contacting the solicitor and ask him to send a letter threatening legal action It might work.

englander

Slightly off topic, but I'm curious............why do you want citizenship ?

I get asked occasionally whether I am going to apply to become an Irish citizen (as I have lived in Ireland a number of years now and married to an Irish lady).

Personally I dont see the benefit if you are an EU citizen.

Hope you get it sorted anyway..

Jackie laughlin

Englander,
My point exactly. I'm Irish but as an EU citizen, England and Spain are part of my homeland. I expect in those countries to be treated as a native.

Hotblack Desiato

It's easy to just blame the unfortunates working there but it's bad management that's the problem - clearly the area is grossly under-resourced.
Also, in a place like that anyone good enough to get promoted will leave it, anyone who can possibly transfer out will, nobody who has a clue would accept an assignment there in the first place... when you can't offer any incentive to get or keep good staff in a high stress, unattractive area it's no wonder that you will get problems.

xavigar

I'm applying for citizenship because I intend to spend in Ireland the rest of my life (or at least until I retire!). I do not see the point in staying national in another country when I am not going to live there. I am getting almost the same rights as an Irish citizen, but not all.

Also, I do not know for people in the UK but it is really hard work going to the Spanish embassy every 5 years to renew my passport. I have to take a day off work, join endless queues and then wait 4-6 weeks so that I can go back to the embassy to collect the passport again. And there is no way of renewing or replacing the passport urgently, so if my passport got stolen days before going abroad... tough luck!

Also, I would like to be able to vote in the Irish elections.

Zambia

xavigar wrote:

I'm applying for citizenship because I intend to spend in Ireland the rest of my life (or at least until I retire!).

I see your piont. So should anyone.

Even in the UK a lot of jobs in goverment are not open to non British citizens, so you have to empathise englander

Fratton Fred

Zambia232 wrote:

I see your piont. So should anyone.

Even in the UK a lot of jobs in goverment are not open to non British citizens, so you have to empathise englander

I believe that is quite recent, one of my colleagues used to work in a county court but while she was there they changed the law. She could keep her job but if an irish citizen applied they would not be eligible.

Also, there are certain rights that UK citizens get in Ireland that are above those other EU nationals would get, a privilage which is reciprocated by the UK government. For example, I am eligible to vote in (I believe) all elections but not referendums. EU Nationals can only vote in local elections.

sovtek

Its now taking about three years to process citizenship applications. You should see what non-eu nationals have to go through! Long Term Residency is now over a year, whereas it used to be a couple of months.
Lenihan is as bad or worse than McDowell!