citizenship through marriage - northern ireland

johannf · Post by **johannf** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:25 pm

Hi ladies & gents

I have scanned through this section of the forum to try and find the answers I'm looking for, but didnt really find anything.

Some background: My wife and I and our 2 kids have been living in Belfast for the last 18 months. My wife (born in ireland) and kids are irish citizens, I am south african. We just celebrated our 13yr anniversary.

Now, I have read up on irish citizenship through marriage, and they state that if you live with your irish spouse "on the island of ireland" for 3 years, you can apply for citizenship. So technically eventhough we stay in Belfast, I can still apply (not yet, but after 3 yrs staying on the island).

The problem is they are talking about registering with ther Garda and getting a certificate, so that the time we are living here will count towards the 3yr requirement. I'm guessing the 18months we have been here (north) does not count?
However who do I register with if I stay in Northern Ireland? as there is no Garda here... my concern is if I dont register somewhere, the time we are living here wont count towards the required 3 yrs we have to live here together. (That is if it is even possible to get citizenship through marriage this way?)

Or do I go to the nearest Garda on the republic side and register with them?

I cant find any info on this situation anywhere on the web either. So I really hope someone can help? I did see there was another post by someone living in Armagh that wanted to do similar... Will PM them...

Any help would really be appreciated.

lolo82 · Post by **lolo82** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 12:53 am

Hi johannf

I googled the requirements and this website is what I found

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/mo ... riage.html

It doesn't mention the registering with the garda. I think the registration is for citizenship by naturalization not marriage. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong) think I will email inis and see what I can find out.

lolo82 · Post by **lolo82** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:04 am

I have read the bit about the garda on the inis website. Will look into it and let you know what I find. Hopefully someone else has an answer for you. Sorry I jumped the gun to answer

johannf · Post by **johannf** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:42 am

Hi lolo82

No worries. Thanks for al least giving it a go. No-one else has bothered so far.

I suppose the best option is to contact Inis as you mentioned and get it straight from the horse's mouth.

Thanks again!

lolo82 · Post by **lolo82** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 12:22 pm

Hi Johannf

I have rung the INIS number which gave me a second number that didnt work. there isnt an email address but you can write a letter.

I have rung the Garda National Immigration Bureau in Dublin but there was no answer. Their email is gnib_dv@garda.ie Based on past experience with this email address, they dont reply. Will send a message anyways.

I have emailed my local MP office as well as the Citizens Advice Bureau on Howard street for an appointment to come in and ask questions. I have rung the Dundalk Garda station but no one answers.

I WILL find out how we obtain Irish citizenship with the required garda registration

Im in the same boat as you as i am also in Belfast. I need to wait the full 3 years. I believe once we find out how your time is calculated you may be able to use the 18 months youve been here, or just an additional year, not 3.

wish me luck!

johannf · Post by **johannf** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 12:29 pm

Well its good to know there's someone else in the same boat as me, lol. For awhile there I thought I'm the only one in this predicament!

Your struggles to get through to any of these authorities seems common over here.

laspo24 · Post by **laspo24** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:22 pm

johannf wrote:Well its good to know there's someone else in the same boat as me, lol. For awhile there I thought I'm the only one in this predicament!

Your struggles to get through to any of these authorities seems common over here.

i rang the immigration office in Dublin and was told i dont need to register at the Garda station.

johannf · Post by **johannf** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:24 pm

thanks for letting us know laspo24. So are you in the same situation as us, or did you just ask them about our situation?

laspo24 · Post by **laspo24** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:33 pm

johannf wrote:thanks for letting us know laspo24. So are you in the same situation as us, or did you just ask them about our situation?

same

johannf · Post by **johannf** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:36 pm

So then that is sorted. Thanks again for the feedback! That means there's hope, lol.

laspo24 · Post by **laspo24** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:40 pm

johannf wrote:So then that is sorted. Thanks again for the feedback! That means there's hope, lol.

Where did u guys got married?

johannf · Post by **johannf** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:41 pm

We got married on South Africa in 1999. Moved here Dec 2010.

laspo24 · Post by **laspo24** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:43 pm

johannf wrote:We got married on South Africa in 1999. Moved here Dec 2010.

not sure if where one got married matters, but in my case we got married in Ireland b4 moving to Northern Ireland.

johannf · Post by **johannf** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:47 pm

I dont think it matters. The main issue is that one has to live in Ireland with your irish spouse for 3 years. Back in SA the irish law used to be that we could get irish citizenship for me, by being married for 3 years in SA. It wasnt necessary to stay in Ireland for those 3 years. But we only realised this just after they changed that law, so that one could not claim citizenship outside of ireland anymore. pity.

lolo82 · Post by **lolo82** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 4:30 pm

Am so glad we now know that we dont need to register! I was at the Citizens Advice Bureau, Sinn Fein and The Irish Culture Center trying to find out

at least it gave me something to do today

was looking at the rules and it states:
•You must have been living on the island of Ireland for at least 2 of the 4 years before that year of continuous residence

i wonder if that means that you can apply in 6 months time Johannf. that would save you some time

am glad we know what is required.

johannf · Post by **johannf** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 5:09 pm

dunno lolo82, it might just mean that.

God's Favour · Post by **God's Favour** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:18 pm

You can apply after 3 years of living in Island of Ireland, in fact i think you can apply right away because the citizenship section are only looking for 6 months proof of residence these days. Good luck

thiniri123 · Post by **thiniri123** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:25 pm

Hi everyone,

Regarding the Irish citizenship. my husband is irish, we live in Belfast Northern Ireland. Am non european, and we are together now for 4 years, I checked all the documents I need for my Irish naturalisation, but one thing am not sure of is, once I translate my birth certificate that is in french into english, does it need to be certified or translation is enough, I think I have read certification of a traslated birth certificate. I know my husband's birth certificate has to be certified by a sollicitor same as the marriage certificate, but am not really sure about my birth certificate once translated.

I hope I can apply since we are married 4 years now.

I will appreciate your help
Thanks

thiniri123 · Post by **thiniri123** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:27 pm

Hi everyone,

Regarding the Irish citizenship. my husband is irish, we live in Belfast Northern Ireland. Am non european, and we are together now for 4 years, I checked all the documents I need for my Irish naturalisation, but one thing am not sure of is, once I translate my birth certificate that is in french into english, does it need to be certified or translation is enough, I think I have read certification of a traslated birth certificate. I know my husband's birth certificate has to be certified by a sollicitor same as the marriage certificate, but am not really sure about my birth certificate once translated.

I hope I can apply since we are married 4 years now.

I will appreciate your help
Thanks

chaoclive · Post by **chaoclive** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 9:48 am

RE: OP/Garda

This is a reply I received from citizenshipinfo@justice.ie (16th September)

"The civil partner/spouse living in Northern Ireland is eligible to apply
once they fulfil the residency requirements of 3 years on the ISLAND of
Ireland and are married 3 years also. A PSNI report would be sought as an
alternative to a Garda report for anyone living in Northern Ireland."

Seems straightforward enough. Not sure how long a PSNI report would take though.

Please update if you have any more info!
Chaoclive

PS: We're civil partners; the same will definitely be true for married people

thiniri123 · Post by **thiniri123** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 9:43 pm

Chaoclive Thank you for your message. I will contact the PSNI to see what they will say.It is not easy to get accurate information for few worries regarding the irish naturalization through marriage. Even though sometimes we try to contact the exact offices for the matters, we get no answer. I hope anyone who has experience would help me. Thank you. I will translate my birth certificate first, then I wuill have to certify it I think,,,,will see what is nex..

Thank you

chaoclive · Post by **chaoclive** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:29 pm

I'd contact INIS on the email address I note above to see if they can give any more info on what you would need from PSNI. It may be the case that they will contact PSNI themselves (which would probably take longer) but they may give you the option to do this by yourself (who knows!)

At any rate, it's very possible to do this (although I don't have any direct experience myself) and this is the route that I'm planning for my partner in the future.

Best
C

amiramum · Post by **amiramum** » Sat Dec 07, 2013 11:22 pm

Hi I am in the same boat we are about yo apply for irish nutrialisationfor my hubby we live in belfast and its based on our marriage of 3 years are u any further on with ur application?

chaoclive · Post by **chaoclive** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:17 am

Not sure if there are any developments in their application.

As you lived in Belfast, you will need a CRC from the PSNI. You can see further info here:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... ing-443873

Good luck!
CC

amiramum · Post by **amiramum** » Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:39 pm

Yeah we were told that we had to send that as this is what holds the application up and if we do ourselves and send it with our application it can move it right ahead. The applications at the mo are taking 6 months. ... do u no if the 3 references have to be from irish ppl or xan british ppl do to?

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citizenship through marriage - northern ireland

citizenship through marriage - northern ireland