Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022

[O'Ramires]

Bill 2022 here
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachta ... 84b22d.pdf

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Am I right to assume this bill has become law and that now the new applicants would be allowed to be absent from the country for 10 weeks (70 days) per application year (+ 30 additional days exceptionally) and that there a chance they will allow solicitors and barristers to sign the naturalisation certificate, without attending the ceremony (like when the ceremonies were suspended)?

[meself2]

I wouldn't yet be so hasty as I wouldn't expect ISD to amend their internal procedures quickly enough, even if it's a law now.

I would personally be inclined to wait untill the statement from ISD itself.

[O'Ramires]

Definitely. I am just curious tho if that's what it means and if there's no way back. That would be great news for the new applicants if so.

[lxk]

the new applicants would be allowed to be absent from the country for 10 weeks (70 days) per application year (+ 30 additional days exceptionally)

I think that the changes with regard to being absent from the state may only apply to the calculation of continuous residence i.e. only the last year?

[O'Ramires]

the new applicants would be allowed to be absent from the country for 10 weeks (70 days) per application year (+ 30 additional days exceptionally)

I think that the changes with regard to being absent from the state may only apply to the calculation of continuous residence i.e. only the last year?

Yes, that could be the case. I was reading what the spokesperson had said when the bill was first introduced, and it wasn't clear:

The proposed amendments would also see an additional period of up to 30 days allowed due to exceptional circumstances,

— the spokesperson said.

But according to this note by the Minister for Justice, you might be right

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/qu ... peech/600/

In June, when announcing the publication of the General Scheme of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021, I confirmed that the continuous residence requirement will be amended to allow for total absences of up to 70 days from the State in the year preceding the citizenship application being made and up to a further 30 days absence may also be allowed where necessitated by exceptional circumstances.

[littlerr]

I think that the changes with regard to being absent from the state may only apply to the calculation of continuous residence i.e. only the last year?

That is correct, since the legislation requires only the 365/366 days before your application date to be 'continuous'. This bill clarifies what the word continuous means in this context.

For the remaining 4 years (or 2 years for spouses/partners of Irish national), the requirement is to have 4 x 365/366 days in total out of the 8 years before the last year, so the 70-day requirement is less significant. The minister may adopt the same 70-day rule for previous years, or they may keep the current 42-day rule unchanged. Until there is any update on their website, I'd use the 42-day rule for now.

[O'Ramires]

The 70 days rule is already up on the Citizen Information page and it applies to every year used for the application.

You can leave Ireland for up to 70 days (in total) per year and still be considered resident in that year. If you leave for more than 70 days in one year, you should not count this period when you are calculating your reckonable residence.

An additional period of up to 30 days may be allowed if you left Ireland due to exceptional circumstances, for example, health reasons, family circumstances, employment or study. If you had to leave Ireland for longer than 70 days because of exceptional circumstances, you should explain this in your application.

If you spend more than 70 days outside of Ireland in the year immediately before your application for reasons other than exceptional circumstances, you may have to wait until the following year to make an application.

Altogether you must have 5 years (5 x 365 days*) reckonable residence out of the last 9 years. *You must add 1 day for any period which includes 29 February (a leap year)

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/m ... alisation/