NI dwelling Irish Citizen with Non EU Spouse applying for citizenship

[Shackleton_e]

Hey guys

I am a Northern Irish dual citizen living in the North of Ireland with a non EU American spouse.

She arrived into the UK (NI) in 2019 and then in November of 2020 she switched over to the 5 year EU-Pre Settlement Scheme. Thankfully with me having dual citizenship, she was able to do that.

She has been living with me in NI since April of 2019 and it's my understanding that she can apply for Irish citizenship through marriage.

I checked earlier this year and noticed that the application process has changed, this really upset me as I had a real rough time anxiety wise when I was applying for her UK Spousal Visa. (I actually had my first panic attack because of it)

I used a great forum to help me through it, so was hoping to check in here and get some guidance and support.

I was wondering if anyone had went through the new process? If I'm correct it seems to be through a point system now? This has me anxious slightly as due to covid and my wife's ill health she has only been able to work since around march of this year.

Thank you for this website, it really does change lives.

[meself2]

what exactly do you want to know though?
she can apply for citizenship indeed, as time spent in NI counts for citizenship purposes if married to an Irish citizen
for points system - honestly not sure what kind of answer do you expect here; yes, it's points system; this might be a good topic to start with - ireland/northern-ireland-non-eu-residen ... 24391.html
also, point to note: it'll take a while (1,5 - 2 years) to gain citizenship, so won't be an immediate solution for yous, unfortunately

[mentalmind]

If you are feeling anxious and having panic attacks understand that this is part of immigration experience of Ireland, so welcome to the club.

Just find a solicitor, pay him/her the money they asks for and let them deal with everything. By this way you won't have to worry about anything.

And currently it takes 23 months to process applications so take a deep breath.

[AmiVera2022]

Shackleton_e I'm so sorry about the anxiety and panic attacks

If it can be of any help there is something you need to know about the new process. It might be more demanding but it's definitively clearer than the previous one because it has an excel doc listing exactly what documents you need to send in order to reach the points.

You'll see she'll get her citizenship eventually and in the meantime you're married so you'll be OK. I wish you and your lovely spouse the very best of luck.

Hey guys

I am a Northern Irish dual citizen living in the North of Ireland with a non EU American spouse.

She arrived into the UK (NI) in 2019 and then in November of 2020 she switched over to the 5 year EU-Pre Settlement Scheme. Thankfully with me having dual citizenship, she was able to do that.

She has been living with me in NI since April of 2019 and it's my understanding that she can apply for Irish citizenship through marriage.

I checked earlier this year and noticed that the application process has changed, this really upset me as I had a real rough time anxiety wise when I was applying for her UK Spousal Visa. (I actually had my first panic attack because of it)

I used a great forum to help me through it, so was hoping to check in here and get some guidance and support.

I was wondering if anyone had went through the new process? If I'm correct it seems to be through a point system now? This has me anxious slightly as due to covid and my wife's ill health she has only been able to work since around march of this year.

Thank you for this website, it really does change lives.

[nisi]

The new system for proof of residency was introduced earlier this year, and applications typically take 18-24 months to process, so there'll be no one who has completed the process who applied under the new points based residency assessment system.

The website says that if an applicant can't achieve the 150 points per year, then "engagement with the Department will need to be entered into".
https://www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to- ... residence/

I'd suggest you collect everything you can for the residency proof, work out how many points you can get to for each year, and then contact the department (I think you can only do that over email at the moment) and ask them how they'd like you to proceed. Offer things like utility bills in your name accompanied by a letter stating that you were living together which other people have said helped elsewhere on the forum.

I'd also suggest moving any household bill (broadband, electricity, gas, rates, etc) that you can into your spouse's name or joint names. This should help at least with the final year's residency requirements.

You have the EU pre-settled scheme status, and will have to continue down that path with the UK govt while the slow Irish Naturalisation process happens anyway, so you'll likely have full EU settled status before your partner gets Irish citizenship anyway, so the Irish citizenship is a nice to have extra that will make your lives a bit easier. If you have to wait another 2 years to collect sufficient residency documents, then you still have the EU settled status to fall back on.