Wife - Irish Citizenship ?

snowguy

Hi,
I am an Irish citizen, born in Ireland in 70. Moved to Canada in 95 and
married a Canadian in 1999.
I now am a Canadian citizen, and our son has both Canadian/ Irish citizenship.

I'd like to get Irish citizenship for my wife, it can make life easier when
visiting Ireland or any European country. From my understanding of the rules,
they seemed to have changed in 2002/3/4. Before that it would have been
easy for her to get citizenship.
But now, she'd have to live there as a resident for 3 years.

Is my understanding correct ? Or, since we were married in 1999, does those rules apply.

TIA
S

finnigan

My wife got Irish citizenship before Christmas.
I remember filling out the forms with her and there is a period of time the applicant has to live here. I think it was the full year previous to application and 2 years of the 3 or 4 previous to that.

Dandelion6

snowguy wrote: »

Is my understanding correct ? Or, since we were married in 1999, does those rules apply.

The post-nuptial scheme is no longer available no matter when you were married.

Peregrinus

Yup. Between 2002, when your wife had satisfied the 3-year subsisting marriage rule, and 2005, when the law changed, your wife could have obtained Irish citizenship simply on the basis of having put up with you for three years. But she didn't, and under the rules which now apply , she'll have to reside in Ireland for three years in order to qualify for citizenship. The only advantage her marriage gives her is that it makes it comparatively straighforward for her to enter in and reside in Ireland for the necessary three years.

walrusgumble

snowguy wrote: »

Hi,
I am an Irish citizen, born in Ireland in 70. Moved to Canada in 95 and
married a Canadian in 1999.
I now am a Canadian citizen, and our son has both Canadian/ Irish citizenship.

I'd like to get Irish citizenship for my wife, it can make life easier when
visiting Ireland or any European country. From my understanding of the rules,
they seemed to have changed in 2002/3/4. Before that it would have been
easy for her to get citizenship.
But now, she'd have to live there as a resident for 3 years.

Is my understanding correct ? Or, since we were married in 1999, does those rules apply.

TIA
S

Marriage for 3 years, and out of that period , she must live in Ireland for 1 year. Then she can apply (without having to wait 5 years residency rule)

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/irish_citizenship/becoming_an_irish_citizen_through_marriage.html

snowguy

Thanks for all the info, I should have looked into it as soon as we got married. I assumed that if the law was changed, it would
not have applied retroactively.

Being able to live in any EU country is a great advantage ! Some people in Canada buy property in the US and spend time during
the winters in California/ Florida but are only allowed to stay for 6 months. Being able to retire and live in say Greece/ Southern
France for as long as you want is a huge bonus.

Thanks again

PS. Maybe I should send her to live with the in-laws for a year :-)

ResearchWill

snowguy wrote: »

Thanks for all the info, I should have looked into it as soon as we got married. I assumed that if the law was changed, it would
not have applied retroactively.

Being able to live in any EU country is a great advantage ! Some people in Canada buy property in the US and spend time during
the winters in California/ Florida but are only allowed to stay for 6 months. Being able to retire and live in say Greece/ Southern
France for as long as you want is a huge bonus.

Thanks again

PS. Maybe I should send her to live with the in-laws for a year :-)

There is nothing stopping both you and your wife residing any where is the EU, in fact it can be easier once EU treaty rights are invoked.

walrusgumble

ResearchWill wrote: »

There is nothing stopping both you and your wife residing any where is the EU, in fact it can be easier once EU treaty rights are invoked.

How will that assist the man's aim of getting his wife Irish citizenship. Your advice concerns residency, but not citizenship. (or are you responding to another poster who went slightly off the point?)

While you are correct, she would have little or no problems living in other parts of the EU , so long as he is exercising the rights, considering her nationality (no suspicions etc), their likely financial background (at minimum unlikely to require social welfare) I doubt this family would have problems trying to get residency in Ireland, under Irish Immigration law.

But for Irish Citizenship (which would help her to move around on her own ground - though, as you pointed, simply being a family member of an eu citizen will do the trick) she must live on this most excellent , superior than everyone else, island for 1 year

ResearchWill

walrusgumble wrote: »

How will that assist the man's aim of getting his wife Irish citizenship. Your advice concerns residency, but not citizenship. (or are you responding to another poster who went slightly off the point?)

While you are correct, she would have little or no problems living in other parts of the EU , so long as he is exercising the rights, considering her nationality (no suspicions etc), their likely financial background (at minimum unlikely to require social welfare) I doubt this family would have problems trying to get residency in Ireland, under Irish Immigration law.

But for Irish Citizenship (which would help her to move around on her own ground - though, as you pointed, simply being a family member of an eu citizen will do the trick) she must live on this most excellent , superior than everyone else, island for 1 year

I was replying to the following, it seems from this and the original post the reason the OP wants the citizenship is maybe to allow retirement to the south of Europe, I simply pointed out his wife does not need a Irish passport for that purpose.

"Being able to live in any EU country is a great advantage ! Some people in Canada buy property in the US and spend time during
the winters in California/ Florida but are only allowed to stay for 6 months. Being able to retire and live in say Greece/ Southern
France for as long as you want is a huge bonus."