How long before u can apply for passport

[ciaramc]

Hi all was just wondering that as a spouse of an Irish citizen ...how long before you can apply for an Irish passport??

I was under the impression that as a spouse of an Irish citizen you can apply after 3 years of marriage? But my problem is that as an Irish citizen exercising my treaty rights and applying inder EU for my spouses permanent residence card we would have to wait 5 years? Whereas if I applied under Irish law it would be 3 years? At the moment we are waiting for our residence card in another EU country actually we are still waiting and we applied over a year ago!

As my husband is from a visa required country having an Irish passport would make our lives much less complicated!!

S if anyone has any ideas would be much appreciated!

[JAJ]

Hi all was just wondering that as a spouse of an Irish citizen ...how long before you can apply for an Irish passport??

I was under the impression that as a spouse of an Irish citizen you can apply after 3 years of marriage? But my problem is that as an Irish citizen exercising my treaty rights and applying inder EU for my spouses permanent residence card we would have to wait 5 years? Whereas if I applied under Irish law it would be 3 years? At the moment we are waiting for our residence card in another EU country actually we are still waiting and we applied over a year ago!

As my husband is from a visa required country having an Irish passport would make our lives much less complicated!!

S if anyone has any ideas would be much appreciated!

You can't apply for Irish citizenship by marriage any longer - not since 30 Nov 2005.

The only benefit now to being married is a reduction in the waiting period for naturalisation from 5 years to 3.

[Dawie]

Technically speaking you have to apply for Irish citizenship first, become an Irish citizen, and only then can you successfully apply for an Irish passport.

[scrudu]

As Dawie says, you first need to naturalise, and acquire Irish citizenship before you can apply for a passport.

Since 2005, marriage to an Irish citizen alone is not enough to naturalise. You and your spouse need to reside together in Ireland for a period of 3 years to apply for Naturalisation. Processing time is currently upwards on 22 months. From your details it sounds like you are living in another EU country, so your Spouse would not be entitled to Irish citizenship.

Read more info here

If you are a foreign national who is married to an Irish citizen, you may be able to become an Irish citizen if you meet certain conditions. Foreign nationals married to Irish citizens can apply for citizenship through naturalisation. The conditions relating to residence are more favourable than those for people who are not married to Irish citizens but there is no longer an absolute entitlement to citizenship through marriage. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has discretion to grant or refuse your application.

Up to 29 November 2005, it was possible to become an Irish citizen by making a post-nuptial declaration of citizenship (pdf) but this scheme has now ended

and more importantly:

Rules
If you are the spouse of an Irish citizen who is applying for Irish citizenship you must meet the following conditions:

* You must be married to the Irish citizen for at least 3 years
* You must have had a period of 1 year's continuous "reckonable residence" in the island of Ireland immediately before the date of your application
* You must have been living on the island of Ireland for at least 2 of the 4 years before that year of continuous residence
* Your marriage must be recognised as valid under Irish law

[ciaramc]

First of all thanks for the replies. What I meant was applying for Irish citizenship for my husband-through naturalization....

Iam aware that we have to be resident in Ireland...but I thought as a spouse of an Irish citizen my husband can apply after legally being married after 3 years providing we have been resident in Ireland for a period of 1 year. But if we were to apply for residency in Ireland using EU.1 we would have to wait 5 years. As we plan to move to Ireland in the near future.

Also we have lived together in another European state ----- with me exercising my treaty rights. Therefore we are able to apply using EU.1. Just not sure if it would be the best move for us as I have been following whats been going on with whole EU.1 fiasco!

[JAJ]

First of all thanks for the replies. What I meant was applying for Irish citizenship for my husband-through naturalization....

Iam aware that we have to be resident in Ireland...but I thought as a spouse of an Irish citizen my husband can apply after legally being married after 3 years providing we have been resident in Ireland for a period of 1 year. But if we were to apply for residency in Ireland using EU.1 we would have to wait 5 years. As we plan to move to Ireland in the near future.

It's 3 years residence regardless (including 3 years marriage, and spouse must have had Irish citizenship for 3 years). Not clear where your view on 1 years residence comes from.

Permanent residence through the EU route is granted after 5 years. But the Irish nationality law does not (yet) mandate permanent resident status as a pre-requisite for naturalisation.

All they do is exclude certain residence categories (eg student) but unless specifically excluded, all legal residence is acceptable. Some people go for naturalisation after having had a work permit for 5 years.

This may change in future but is the law for now.

[mktsoi]

First of all thanks for the replies. What I meant was applying for Irish citizenship for my husband-through naturalization....

Iam aware that we have to be resident in Ireland...but I thought as a spouse of an Irish citizen my husband can apply after legally being married after 3 years providing we have been resident in Ireland for a period of 1 year. But if we were to apply for residency in Ireland using EU.1 we would have to wait 5 years. As we plan to move to Ireland in the near future.

It's 3 years residence regardless (including 3 years marriage, and spouse must have had Irish citizenship for 3 years). Not clear where your view on 1 years residence comes from.

Permanent residence through the EU route is granted after 5 years. But the Irish nationality law does not (yet) mandate permanent resident status as a pre-requisite for naturalisation.

All they do is exclude certain residence categories (eg student) but unless specifically excluded, all legal residence is acceptable. Some people go for naturalisation after having had a work permit for 5 years.

This may change in future but is the law for now.

just want to mention something here. i think the residence rule is the irish citizen and spouse have to live in ireland 2 out of the 3 years prior to apply for naturalisation and not total 3 years. but the irish citizen and the foreign spouse has to be married for 3 years for sure tho.

[scrudu]

I disagree with Mktsoi here.

i think the residence rule is the irish citizen and spouse have to live in ireland 2 out of the 3 years prior to apply for naturalisation and not total 3 years.

If you read here it says:

* You must be married to the Irish citizen for at least 3 years
* You must have had a period of 1 year's continuous "reckonable residence" in the island of Ireland immediately before the date of your application
* You must have been living on the island of Ireland for at least 2 of the 4 years before that year of continuous residence

So if you add the "1 year continuous reckonable residence" to the "2 years out of the 4 years before that year of continuous residence", the total is 3 years of residence being required.

[mktsoi]

I disagree with Mktsoi here.

i think the residence rule is the irish citizen and spouse have to live in ireland 2 out of the 3 years prior to apply for naturalisation and not total 3 years.

If you read here it says:

* You must be married to the Irish citizen for at least 3 years
* You must have had a period of 1 year's continuous "reckonable residence" in the island of Ireland immediately before the date of your application
* You must have been living on the island of Ireland for at least 2 of the 4 years before that year of continuous residence

So if you add the "1 year continuous reckonable residence" to the "2 years out of the 4 years before that year of continuous residence", the total is 3 years of residence being required.

yep, you got me, sorry, i put the number down wrong.

[HOTSPURS]

It's 3 years residence regardless (including 3 years marriage, and spouse must have had Irish citizenship for 3 years). Not clear where your view on 1 years residence comes from.

Is it mandatory for the spouse to have had Irish Citizenship for 3 years before applying for Naturalization for husband/wife?? i don't think so..

[JAJ]

Is it mandatory for the spouse to have had Irish Citizenship for 3 years before applying for Naturalization for husband/wife?? i don't think so..

As far as I know ...

... Yes if the spouse wants to apply under the 3 year residence rule. No if under the 5 year rule.