Dual Spanish + naturalised Irish citizen, can still apply under EU Treaty Rights?

[arw7]

Hey everyone,

I'm a Spanish citizen who moved to Ireland 6 years ago exercising my EU Treaty Rights. I acquired Irish citizenship by naturalisation 2 years ago, and I've recently married my non-EU partner.

We were wondering if we can still apply to the EU Treaty Rights division using the EU1A form? Since I moved to Ireland using my EU Treaty Rights, will my application be accepted now that technically I'm also an Irish citizen? I understand applications with the EU Treaty Rights divisions are quicker (6 months max.) and my partner would get a temporary stamp4, which is not always the case for spouses of Irish citizens. We'd rather use this option instead of applying as the spouse of an Irish citizen.

Thanks in advance!

[Granista]

No, you cannot. EU treaty rights only apply when you live in a country of which you are not a citizen. You are not exercising any rights under the treaty as you are an irish citizen. Same if you were in Spain. You're not "technically" an Irish citizen, you are one. You need to apply as a spouse of an Irish citizen.

[citizenfour]

You may still be able to apply for residency under EU Law even if naturalised Irish citizen.

There was a decision from the European Court of Justice called Lounes in 2017 that says that you may still rely on EU law to qualify for residency even if you become a naturalised citizen of another EU country.

Lounes was a case from the UK where a Spanish citizen became a naturalised British citizen and tried to apply for residency for the non-EU family member under Free Movement Rights. UK refused saying as British citizen they cannot rely on Free Movement Rights

Court of Justice of European Union said that was slightly wrong. You cannot be treated less favourably under EU Law just because you became a naturalised Irish citizen

Here is the press release of the decision https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/doc ... 0121en.pdf

https://www.freemovement.org.uk/court-j ... ost-state/

[arw7]

You may still be able to apply for residency under EU Law even if naturalised Irish citizen.

There was a decision from the European Court of Justice called Lounes in 2017 that says that you may still rely on EU law to qualify for residency even if you become a naturalised citizen of another EU country.

Lounes was a case from the UK where a Spanish citizen became a naturalised British citizen and tried to apply for residency for the non-EU family member under Free Movement Rights. UK refused saying as British citizen they cannot rely on Free Movement Rights

Court of Justice of European Union said that was slightly wrong. You cannot be treated less favourably under EU Law just because you became a naturalised Irish citizen

Here is the press release of the decision https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/doc ... 0121en.pdf

https://www.freemovement.org.uk/court-j ... ost-state/

Thanks, this is really helpful! I ended up reaching out to them before seeing your reply and they confirmed I can apply with my Spanish citizenship:

"Thank you for your e-mail. Yes, you can apply on the basis of your Spanish
citizenship.

Best regards,

EU Treaty Rights Unit
Residence Division
Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service
13-14 Burgh Quay
Dublin 2"

[Granista]

Were you clear that you also have Irish citizenship?

I suspect it will not be as easy as you think.-

[arw7]

Were you clear that you also have Irish citizenship?

I suspect it will not be as easy as you think.-

Yeah, I told them that I'm Spanish naturalised Irish and asked if I could still apply to the EU Treaty Rights division, almost the same thing that I posted here. Their reply was that I can apply as a Spanish citizen, so we'll see what happens!

[littlerr]

Were you clear that you also have Irish citizenship?

I suspect it will not be as easy as you think.-

If the OP has been exercising EU Treaty rights before acquiring a second citizenship, their treaty rights cannot be taken away after they get the second citizenship.

An excerpt from the judgement:

if the rights conferred on EU citizens by Article 21(1) TFEU –– in
particular those citizens’ right to lead a normal family life, together with their family
members, in the host Member State –– are to be effective, citizens, in a situation such as Ms
Ormazabal’s, must be able to continue to enjoy that right in the host Member State, after
they have acquired the nationality of that Member State in addition to their nationality of
origin and, in particular, must be able to build a family life with their third-country-national
spouse, by means of the grant of a derived right of residence to that spouse.

For the OP, you will have to give proof that you have been continuously exercising your EU Treaty rights since you moved to Ireland, and that has not been broken since you got naturalised. (If you stopped exercising EU Treaty rights after you naturalised, you would no longer be a beneficiary under EU rules and the domestic rules would apply.)