Citizenship Trough Naturalization - processing time

NilsHolgersson

hey

I lodged my citizenship application (through naturalization) in September 2011. Within a few weeks I received a letter from the immigration office saying my application was put in chronological order...

The average processing time used to be over 25 months however it was significantly reduced by the new government and according to various government websites it's now only 6 months.

Does anyone have any idea how long more i'll have to wait?

blueythebear

NilsHolgersson wrote: »

hey

I lodged my citizenship application (through naturalization) in September 2011. Within a few weeks I received a letter from the immigration office saying my application was put in chronological order...

The average processing time used to be over 25 months however it was significantly reduced by the new government and according to various government websites it's now only 6 months.

Does anyone have any idea how long more i'll have to wait?

More than 6 months but probably less than 25 months. THe 6 month processing time has not been reached and I think it's intended to be in place for 2012. Applications are seemingly taking alot less time now though so I doubt you'll be waiting the whole 25 months.

NilsHolgersson

thanks for the quick reply

well ive been waiting for almost a year now... it would b great to get an answer from them before the end of the year. apparently they r flying through the applications so u never now... fingers crossed

Dandelion6

There are still some outstanding from well more than 25 months ago!

aacs

In that case they might take the new batch after clearing the old lot as was advised in the letter: chronological order. So patience is the key otherwise you should contact immigration office.

NilsHolgersson

sound everyone for gettin back
i suppose i cant do anything but wait...

Wisco

I have heard of a few people who applied for long term residency in the months before applying for citizenship who got approved for naturalisation in a few months because all the garda clearance stuff was already done for their LTR, but these cases are pretty few and far between. Back to waiting for everyone else....If it is anything less than the 26 months that my letter told me to expect I'll be happy.

later12

Can someone who is familiar with the matter explain what exactly the large delay is for?

So the civil servant in question checks out the details like the documents pertaining to the applicants reckonable residence in the Irish state... and then...?

I mean, how long can this really take?

blueythebear

later10 wrote: »

Can someone who is familiar with the matter explain what exactly the large delay is for?

So the civil servant in question checks out the details like the documents pertaining to the applicants reckonable residence in the Irish state... and then...?

I mean, how long can this really take?

Delays involved are for many reasons but Garda clearance is one of the major reasons. Other than that, it's just a case of there being so many applications that the DoJ can't cope.

later12

blueythebear wrote: »

Delays involved are for many reasons but Garda clearance is one of the major reasons. Other than that, it's just a case of there being so many applications that the DoJ can't cope.

Again, Garda clearance and search for things like European arrest warrants can be sorted in a day - less than a day in fact (and that's based on knowledge from about 5 years ago). It doesn't seem credible that this could cause a long delay.

25 months is in or around 700 working days. I just don't believe there are that many applications for citizenship through naturalisation that 700 working days is reasonable. It's slightly absurd.

Boyet

mine took 10 months to process, done the oathtaking my Irish passort is on process

blueythebear

later10 wrote: »

Again, Garda clearance and search for things like European arrest warrants can be sorted in a day - less than a day in fact (and that's based on knowledge from about 5 years ago). It doesn't seem credible that this could cause a long delay.

25 months is in or around 700 working days. I just don't believe there are that many applications for citizenship through naturalisation that 700 working days is reasonable. It's slightly absurd.

It's more than slightly absurd, it's downright ridiculous. The delay has been blamed on Garda Clearance taking so long. I don't know what the current timeframe to get Garda clearance is but to be honest the blame lies squarely at the door of the DoJ, as shown by the fact that they are able to promise a 6 month turnaround time from next year. How can they announce this if the delay isn't due to DoJ?

agriva8

One of the issues that my partner discovered is the immigration/citizenship staff only work 2 days a week and 10AM - 4PM (well, on citizenship applications)!

NilsHolgersson

later10 wrote: »

Can someone who is familiar with the matter explain what exactly the large delay is for?

So the civil servant in question checks out the details like the documents pertaining to the applicants reckonable residence in the Irish state... and then...?

I mean, how long can this really take?

im pretty sure they are holding on to them on purpose to make the processing time longer as it prevents a lot of ppl applying... i mean if it only took a few days every1 thats been here over 5 years would apply for it...
i kinda agree with a long processing procedure but 25 months is beyond ridiculous.. 10-12 months would b fair

NilsHolgersson

Boyet wrote: »

mine took 10 months to process, done the oathtaking my Irish passort is on process

when did u apply?

Dandelion6

later10 wrote: »

Can someone who is familiar with the matter explain what exactly the large delay is for?

Too many applications and too little time/people devoted to working on them. When your application is received, it gets checked to make sure you have sufficient reckonable residency, and if you do then it gets put on the shelf where it will be dusted off whenever they've finished dealing with the applications ahead of yours. There's absolutely no reason it should take as long as it does if the proper resources were devoted to it.

Used to be worse though. It used to just go straight on the shelf and the reckonable residency check didn't happen until it was your turn for processing. If it turned out you only had four years eleven months at the time of applying, you'd be rejected even though by this point you might be here for six or seven years. Then you'd have to reapply and go to the back of the queue again!

Boyet

I just file my application (form 8) together the list of relevant documents required and send it to heffernan house dundrum road in Tipperary, 10 months later i've got my confirmation

Wisco

Boyet, can I ask if you've recently gotten long term residency before applying for citizenship? 10 months is amazingly fast, maybe there's some hope for the rest of us! Congrats anyway

Boyet

Wisco,

I didn't saw it coming (DoJ 950euro, passport 88.50euro) I was expecting a lot longer (25 months). I guess i'm lucky enough, I do not have the long term residency... I tried to apply though (long term residency) unfortunately they didnt approve my application, they said that i do not have 60 months of recokanble residency base on various type of stamps on my passport (stamp 2,3,4) i think, a month later i sent my application for nutralisation

roonimirza

A friend of mine.. have been waiting for 3 years now.. and called couple of days ago .. and was told.. Immigration is waiting of some third party report..and lady on the phone couldnt say much.. what is that report.. he asked.. if it is Garda report.. and she said ...No.

We both wonder.. what is that report.. or may be immigration guys have outsourced the whole system?? And is there any way..we can expedite this third party report..?

robero

i my application is in april 2008, waiting everyday for post bringing good news. than peaple geting it in 10 month that not logic at all is anybody have same ,,,,,,,:mad:

cmos_ajay

The approach of Irish is to frustrate you till so that you give up in the end and leave the country. Smart technique I must say.
Ireland it seems does not want multiculturalism , nor social integration of foreigners. Instead they want only economic slaves from other countries.
Shame on Ireland!!!

User Friendly

cmos_ajay wrote: »

The approach of Irish is to frustrate you till so that you give up in the end and leave the country. Smart technique I must say.
Ireland it seems does not want multiculturalism , nor social integration of foreigners. Instead they want only economic slaves from other countries.
Shame on Ireland!!!

What a load of bollix.

here is probably the main reason the process takes the length of time it does,people do not provide the information they are asked to provide. people do not fill out the forms correctly.take your pick

Dandelion6

User Friendly wrote: »

here is probably the main reason the process takes the length of time it does,people do not provide the information they are asked to provide. people do not fill out the forms correctly.take your pick

People who have filled out their forms correctly and provided all information requested still face undue delays. It is an inefficient system, due to chronic under-resourcing.

ResearchWill

User Friendly wrote: »

What a load of bollix.

here is probably the main reason the process takes the length of time it does,people do not provide the information they are asked to provide. people do not fill out the forms correctly.take your pick

I know a solicitor who works in this area every application he has completed on behalf of clients is perfect yet it has still taken up to 3 years to get naturlisation.

cmos_ajay

Hello, If the GARDA clearance is taking too much time , then can we apply for the GARDA clearance say 6 months before the application. Then attach that document with citizenship application ??

DoesNotCompute

cmos_ajay wrote: »

Hello, If the GARDA clearance is taking too much time , then can we apply for the GARDA clearance say 6 months before the application. Then attach that document with citizenship application ??

No, they won't accept the Garda clearance, the DoJ will conduct their own checks regardless of whether you have done the Garda checks or not.

poppster

For what it's worth, I'm just after getting through to the office [1 hr of continuous redialling and 20 minutes on hold after getting through]

It's end of May 2012 and they are currently processing applications with the number 4000's... My application is close to 6,800... so they said they'd be getting to mine in 2-3 months.

It appears they've brought the waiting time down to 11-13 months or so! Progress is being made, but I don't think they'll reach their target of 6 month waiting times by late spring/early summer, given that we're here already!

It sure beats 26 months, though!

cmos_ajay

Hello,
I am a non-EU national working full time in Ireland. I will be applying for Irish citizenship after a few months. My question is regarding the documents needed during application process. I have GNIB residency stamps on my old expired passport and also on my new latest passport. I will be taking a photocopy of the residency stamp pages.

* The citizenship application form says, you need a color photocopy of the "latest" passport (front page with photo and also last page ). This copy must be attested by a legal authority.

** Do I also have to provide a photocopy (front page with photo and also last page ) of old expired passport ??
I will appreciate your answer.
Thanks in advance.

Cloudwolfe

cmos_ajay wrote: »

Hello,
I am a non-EU national working full time in Ireland. I will be applying for Irish citizenship after a few months. My question is regarding the documents needed during application process. I have GNIB residency stamps on my old expired passport and also on my new latest passport. I will be taking a photocopy of the residency stamp pages.

* The citizenship application form says, you need a color photocopy of the "latest" passport (front page with photo and also last page ). This copy must be attested by a legal authority.

** Do I also have to provide a photocopy (front page with photo and also last page ) of old expired passport ??
I will appreciate your answer.
Thanks in advance.

Yes you should submit copies of the pages containing all relevant information of your old passport too. Without the I.D pages of the old passport, they wouldn't be able to confirm that you are the owner of that passport. You should submit any pages of each passport that contain information relating to you or the passport itself.

Claire McCarthy Cork

In fairness to them, the Department of Justice are dealing with huge numbers - more than 25,000 in 2010 according to their Annual Report.

Still, the continuing delays are not good enough, and human rights groups have been campaigning for change (you'll find lots of info about that here: http://www.nascireland.org/campaigns-for-change/naturalisation/). The main issue is, perhaps, inconsistency. Why do some people receive a decision in under a year, while others wait, two, three, even four years for an answer?

The High Court used to say that the issue of delay was none of its business, since the decision whether to grant naturalisation is at the absolute discretion of the Minister for Justice. More recently though, a High Court decision confirmed that unreasonable delays in immigration and naturalisation decisions can be challenged (more info here: http://cmcsolicitor.ie/wordpress/news-2/). The man in question, from Iraq, has been waiting four years for a decision, with no explanation. Crazy. He has been granted leave for Judicial Review, and the case is pending. This is a deja vu case, which makes it even more daft...

The first High Court case where delay was found to be unreasonable also involved an Iraqi refugee, Mr. Salman, who had been waiting four years without explanation for a decision in his case. In that case, the Department never requested any additional documents or information, and they refused to say what was causing the delay. The Judge said that there was no evidence that there was a fair system in place for dealing with the applications in chronological order - the Department's letters simply stating that applications are dealt with in chronological order were not evidence that they were, in fact. The man was granted naturalisation on the eve of the hearing, but the Judge still examined the law in his Judgement, and granted the applicant his costs (ie said the state should pay his lawyers for him). The judgement makes a good review of the law - you can read it on the Courts Service website, here:
http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/09859e7a3f34669680256ef3004a27de/383d7d39af64ab8180257995004d4d11?OpenDocument

If you have been waiting a long time, and the delay is affecting your life, it might be worth writing a letter to the Citizenship section to let them know that. For example, maybe you can't travel for work because you need to apply for visas to go anywhere, or travel is difficult because you have a refugee travel doc? Mr. Salman is a refugee, and he had to stop travelling out of Ireland because of the hassle he had crossing borders with his travel doc every time. He had written to the Citizenship Section to explain that, and the judge mentioned that in his judgement. This is just an idea, not legal advice!

Good luck with your applications, future good citizens of Ireland!

ResearchWill

Claire McCarthy Cork wrote: »

In fairness to them, the Department of Justice are dealing with huge numbers - more than 25,000 in 2010 according to their Annual Report.

Still, the continuing delays are not good enough, and human rights groups have been campaigning for change (you'll find lots of info about that here: http://www.nascireland.org/campaigns-for-change/naturalisation/). The main issue is, perhaps, inconsistency. Why do some people receive a decision in under a year, while others wait, two, three, even four years for an answer?

The High Court used to say that the issue of delay was none of its business, since the decision whether to grant naturalisation is at the absolute discretion of the Minister for Justice. More recently though, a High Court decision confirmed that unreasonable delays in immigration and naturalisation decisions can be challenged (more info here: http://cmcsolicitor.ie/wordpress/news-2/). The man in question, from Iraq, has been waiting four years for a decision, with no explanation. Crazy. He has been granted leave for Judicial Review, and the case is pending. This is a deja vu case, which makes it even more daft...

The first High Court case where delay was found to be unreasonable also involved an Iraqi refugee, Mr. Salman, who had been waiting four years without explanation for a decision in his case. In that case, the Department never requested any additional documents or information, and they refused to say what was causing the delay. The Judge said that there was no evidence that there was a fair system in place for dealing with the applications in chronological order - the Department's letters simply stating that applications are dealt with in chronological order were not evidence that they were, in fact. The man was granted naturalisation on the eve of the hearing, but the Judge still examined the law in his Judgement, and granted the applicant his costs (ie said the state should pay his lawyers for him). The judgement makes a good review of the law - you can read it on the Courts Service website, here:
http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/09859e7a3f34669680256ef3004a27de/383d7d39af64ab8180257995004d4d11?OpenDocument

If you have been waiting a long time, and the delay is affecting your life, it might be worth writing a letter to the Citizenship section to let them know that. For example, maybe you can't travel for work because you need to apply for visas to go anywhere, or travel is difficult because you have a refugee travel doc? Mr. Salman is a refugee, and he had to stop travelling out of Ireland because of the hassle he had crossing borders with his travel doc every time. He had written to the Citizenship Section to explain that, and the judge mentioned that in his judgement. This is just an idea, not legal advice!

Good luck with your applications, future good citizens of Ireland!

Yes Salman has reopened the issue of Delay, may have got the good decision due to the fact that the matter stayed in the normal JR list and not the Asylum list. While certain judges in the Asylum list have stated Obiter that 4 or 5 years they may consider delay. I believe if anyone has been waiting more than 3 and a half years they will need to speak to a solicitor, as the taking of JR should never be taken lightly.

Claire McCarthy Cork

ResearchWill wrote: »

Yes Salman has reopened the issue of Delay, may have got the good decision due to the fact that the matter stayed in the normal JR list and not the Asylum list. While certain judges in the Asylum list have stated Obiter that 4 or 5 years they may consider delay. I believe if anyone has been waiting more than 3 and a half years they will need to speak to a solicitor, as the taking of JR should never be taken lightly.

Agreed. Thanks for that info ResearchWill