S.I. No. 498/2023 - Irish Nationality and Citizenship Regulations 2023

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 24th October, 2023.

I, HELEN MCENTEE, Minister for Justice, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (No. 26 of 1956) (as adapted by the Justice and Equality (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order ( S.I. No. 452 of 2020 )), hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Regulations 2023.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 16th day of October 2023.

2. The Schedule to the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 Regulations 2011 ( S.I. No. 569 of 2011 ) is amended –

(a) by the substitution of Form 8 set out in Schedule 1 for Form 8, and

(b) by the substitution of Form 11 set out in Schedule 2 for Form 11.

SCHEDULE 1:

FORM 8

IRISH NATIONALITY AND CITIZENSHIP ACT 1956 APPLICATION BY A PERSON OF FULL AGE FOR NATURALISATION AS AN IRISH CITIZEN

Please note before completing the form:

A person who gives false or misleading information is guilty of an offence under the Act and liable to a fine and/or imprisonment. Giving false or misleading information may also result in an application being refused or, where a certificate of naturalisation has been granted, the revocation of that certificate.

1. Applicant Details

1.1 Current given/first name(s):

1.2 Current family/last name:

1.3 Previous name(s):

1.4 Reason for change:

1.5 Date of change to present name:

1.6 Relationship status:

2. Identification

2.1 Place of birth:

2.2 Country of birth:

2.3 Date of birth:

2.4 Gender:

2.5 Present nationality:

2.6 Passport/Travel Document Number:

2.7 Passport/Travel Document Issuing Country:

2.8 Passport/Travel Document expiry date:

2.9 Your PPS number:

(If a personal public service number has been allocated to you)

2.10 Your IRP/GNIB number:

2.11 Your Person Identity number:

2.12 Old Department Reference Number (if applicable):

2.13 Date of arrival in Ireland (if applicable):

3. Residential address

3.1 Present address:

3.2 Email address:

3.3 Phone number:

4. Residency permissions

4.1 Statutory residency conditions are prescribed in Section 15 and Section 15A of the 1956 Act and compliance with these conditions is assessed on the basis of your legal reckonable residence immediately prior to the date of application i.e. the date on which you submit this application.

A residency calculator is provided on the citizenship section at www.irishimmigration.ie as a guide to assist you in checking if you satisfy the statutory conditions for residency. You should enter your permissions as evidenced in your passport and verify that you satisfy residency requirements.

I have entered my residency permission stamps into the online residency checker and confirm that I satisfy the residency conditions. Yes / No

4.2 Are you applying as a ‘Dependent Young Adult’, that is someone aged 18-23 who depends on their parents for accommodation and general living expenses? Yes / No

4.3 Was any part of your time in the State in the nine years prior to your application for the purposes of study? Yes / No

If any of your time in the State in the nine years prior to your application was for study purposes please complete the details below:

From...........To...........Name and address of school/college/university...............

4.4 Was any part of your time in the State in the nine years prior to your application spent as an international protection applicant or asylum seeker?

Yes / No

If any part of your time in the State in the nine years prior to your application was spent as an international protection applicant or asylum seeker please complete the details below:

From........... To............. Outcome............. Reference number..................

4.5 Have you been absent from the State for more than 70 days per year in any of the past 5 years? Yes / No

If yes, please provide details....................

5. Residence following naturalisation

5.1 Do you intend, following naturalisation, to have your usual or principal place of residence in the State? Yes / No

5.2 If you are married to or are the civil partner of an Irish citizen, do you intend, following naturalisation, to have your usual or principal residence in the island of Ireland? Yes / No / Not applicable

5.3 If you answered ‘No’ to question 5.1 or 5.2 please indicate your intended country of residence following naturalisation:...............................................

6. Status

6.1 Give your current status:

Single / Married / Separated / Divorced / Widow(er) / Civil Partner

6.2 Are you the widow / widower or were you the civil partner of a deceased person who at date of death was an Irish citizen? Yes / No

6.3 Have you, since the date of death of your Irish spouse / civil partner, acquired the nationality of another country? Yes / No

6.4 Have you, since the date of death of your Irish spouse / civil partner, married or become the civil partner of another person? Yes / No

7. Previous applications

7.1 Have you applied for Irish citizenship before? Yes / No

If you have answered ‘Yes’ to question 7.1:

7.2 Date of application:

7.3 Application reference number:

8. Background

8.1 Have you ever committed any offences against the laws of Ireland or any other state? Yes / No

8.2 Have you ever defrauded any person, company or State agency for financial or other gain? Yes / No

8.3 Do you have any convictions in Ireland or any other country (including traffic offences) or any civil judgements made against you? Yes / No

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any background question above, please answer questions 8.4 to 8.6. If there is more than one instance, please provide details in the additional details section below.

8.4 Date of conviction or judgement: ..............

8.5 Place where conviction or judgement took place: ..............

8.6 Outcome: ..............

8.7 Have you ever been charged / indicted, inside or outside Ireland, with a criminal offence for which you have not yet been tried in court? Yes / No

8.8 Are you, or have you been, the subject of an investigation in Ireland by An Garda Síochána (Irish police)? Yes / No

8.9 Have you ever been involved in, or been suspected of involvement in, war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide? Yes / No

8.10 Have you ever been associated with, been a member of, or given support, including financial support, to a terrorist organisation, or been involved in, supported, financially or otherwise, or encouraged terrorist activities? Yes / No

8.11 Have you ever, by any means or medium, expressed views that justify or glorify terrorist violence or that may encourage others to commit terrorist acts or other serious criminal acts? Yes / No

8.12 Have you engaged in any other activities that might indicate that you may not be considered a person of good character? Yes / No

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of the questions 8.7 to 8.12, please provide details in the additional details section below. You may also use this section to give details in relation to questions 8.1 — 8.6.

Additional details: ..............

9. Application based on Irish associations

9.1 If your application is based on your Irish descent or Irish associations, please give details below:

Details: ..............

10. Application based on marriage to or civil partnership with an Irish citizen

10.1 Is your application based on your marriage to an Irish citizen? Yes / No

10.2 Is your application based on being the civil partner of an Irish citizen? Yes / No

If you are married to, or are the civil partner of, an Irish citizen please complete the additional questions below:

10.3 Date of marriage/registration of civil partnership: ..............

10.4 Place and country of marriage/civil partnership: ..............

10.5 Spouse/civil partner is an Irish citizen by:

Birth / Descent / Naturalisation / Post nuptial declaration / Honorary

Your spouse or civil partner must complete the applicable Section 13A declaration at the back of this form in the presence of an approved witness on or after the date on which you submit this application.

11. References

11.1 Please supply three references from Irish citizens with the following details:

Name of referee 1

Contact number of referee.

Name of referee 2

Contact number of referee

Name of referee 3

Contact number of referee

12. Declaration

□ By ticking this box, you are declaring that you understand the application form and that all of the facts provided in the application form are true and correct to the best of your knowledge. If you give false or misleading information you could be guilty of an offence under the Act and liable on conviction to a fine and/or imprisonment. Giving false or misleading information may also result in an application being refused or, where a certificate of naturalisation has been granted, the revocation of that certificate.

Section 13A:

DECLARATION TO BE COMPLETED BY THE SPOUSE OF THE APPLICANT WHERE THE APPLICANT IS APPLYING FOR NATURALISATION BASED ON HIS OR HER MARRIAGE TO AN IRISH CITIZEN

I [Full name of spouse of applicant] do solemnly and sincerely declare that I married [Name of applicant] who was born on the [Date of Birth] at [Place of birth] in [Country of birth] a national of [Country] on the [Date of marriage] at [Place of marriage] in [Country of marriage], that we are living together, that our marriage is subsisting and that no proceedings for divorce or annulment or dissolution of this marriage have been commenced, or are about to be commenced, in any court of law and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the Statutory Declarations Act 1938 , as amended by the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 .

Signature of Irish citizen:

Date of declaration:

Current address:

Name at birth if different:

Date of birth and place of birth:

Passport number:

Declared before me ....................[name of witness in capitals] a [notary public] [commissioner for oaths] [peace commissioner] [solicitor] [person authorised by...............[insert authorising statutory provision] to take and receive statutory declarations] by................[Irish citizen spouse of applicant]

[who is personally known to me]

Or [who was identified to me by..............who is personally known to me]

Or [whose identity has been established to me before the taking of this declaration by the production to me of:

passport no. .... [passport number] issued on [date of issue] by the authorities of ...... [issuing state], which is an authority recognised by the Irish Government

Or national identity card no. ...........[identity card number] issued on [date of issue] by the authorities of [issuing state], which is an EU Member State, the Swiss Confederation or a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement

Or alien’s passport no. (document equivalent to a passport) .......[passport number] issued on.... [date of issue] by the authorities of .......[issuing state], which is an authority recognised by the Irish Government

Or refugee travel document no. .......[document number] issued on .... [date of issue] by the Minister for Justice

Or travel document (other than refugee travel document) [document number] issued on [date of issue] by the Minister for Justice].

At..............[place of signature] this........day of.........[date]

Signature of witness: ..............

Name of witness: (capitals)..............

Address of witness: ..............

Day-time telephone number: ..............

DECLARATION TO BE COMPLETED BY THE CIVIL PARTNER OF THE APPLICANT WHERE THE APPLICANT IS APPLYING FOR NATURALISATION BASED ON HIS OR HER BEING THE CIVIL PARTNER OF AN IRISH CITIZEN

I [Name of civil partner of applicant] do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am the civil partner of [Name of applicant] who was born on the [Date of Birth] at [Place of birth] in [Country of birth] a national of [Country], as and from [Date of civil partnership], [Name of applicant] and I are parties to a civil partnership registration/ have entered into [specify legal relationship entered into], being a legal relationship of a class that is the subject of an order made under section 5 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 , at [Place of civil partnership] in [Country of civil partnership], that we are living together, that our civil partnership is subsisting and that no proceedings for the dissolution of, or the grant of a decree of nullity in respect of this civil partnership have been commenced, or are about to be commenced, in any court of law and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the Statutory Declarations Act 1938 , as amended by the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 .

Signature of Irish citizen: ..............

Date of declaration: ..............

Current address: ..............

Name at birth if different: ..............

Date of birth and place of birth: ..............

Passport number: ..............

Declared before me...............................[name of witness in capitals] a [notary public] [commissioner for oaths] [peace commissioner] [solicitor] [person authorised by .......................... [insert authorising statutory provision] to take and receive statutory declarations] by ....................... [Irish citizen civil partner of applicant]

[who is personally known to me]

Or [who was identified to me by..............who is personally known to me]

Or [whose identity has been established to me before the taking of this declaration by the production to me of:

passport no. ...... [passport number] issued on [date of issue] by the authorities of ........ [issuing state], which is an authority recognised by the Irish Government

Or national identity card no. ....... [identity card number] issued on [date of issue] by the authorities of [issuing state], which is an EU Member State, the Swiss Confederation or a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement

Or alien’s passport no. (document equivalent to a passport) ....... [passport number] issued on.... [date of issue] by the authorities of . ....... [issuing state], which is an authority recognised by the Irish Government

Or refugee travel document no. ......... [document number] issued on [date of issue] by the Minister for Justice

Or travel document (other than refugee travel document) [document number] issued on [date of issue] by the Minister for Justice].

At..............[place of signature] this........day of.........[date]

Signature of witness:..............

Name of witness: (capitals)..............

Address of witness:..............

Day-time telephone number:..............

SCHEDULE 2:

FORM 11

IRISH NATIONALITY AND CITIZENSHIP ACT 1956

APPLICATION ON BEHALF OF A MINOR BY A PARENT OR GUARDIAN OF, OR PERSON WHO IS IN LOCO PARENTIS TO, A MINOR BORN IN THE STATE WHO DID NOT AT BIRTH HAVE AN ENTITLEMENT TO IRISH CITIZENSHIP UNDER SECTION 6A (AS INSERTED BY SECTION 4 OF THE ACT OF 2004) OF THE ACT OF 1956

Please note before completing the form:

A person who gives false or misleading information is guilty of an offence under the Act and liable to a fine and/or imprisonment. Giving false or misleading information may also result in an application being refused or, where a certificate of naturalisation has been granted, the revocation of that certificate.

1. Details of parent/guardian

1.1 Current given/first name(s):

1.2 Current family/last name:

1.3 Previous name(s):

1.4 Country of birth:

1.5 Date of birth:

1.6 Gender:

1.7 Present nationality:

1.8 Your Person Identity Number:

2. Details of minor born in the State

2.1 Given/first name(s) of minor:

2.2 Family/last name of minor:

2.3 Full name of both parents:

2.4 Mother’s birth last name:

2.5 Date of birth of minor:

2.6 Gender of minor:

2.7 PPS number:

(If a personal public service number has been allocated to the minor)

3. Residential address (parent/guardian and minor)

3.1 Present address:

3.2 Email address:

3.3 Daytime telephone number:

3.4 Evening telephone number:

3.5 Mobile number:

4. Residency details for minor born in the State

4.1 Has the minor been absent from the State for more than 70 days per year in any of the past 3 years?

If yes, provide details ...................

4.2 Has the minor been resident in the State since birth? Yes / No

If no, please give details of all periods of non-residence:

From........... To.............. Country.................... Reason......................

5. Background (minor)

a. If the minor in respect of whom this application is being made is aged 9 or below, please do not answer these questions as they are not applicable to the application.

b. To be answered in respect of minor applicants aged 10 to 13 inclusive:

Has the minor ever been charged with / convicted of / or is the minor awaiting trial for any of the following offences: murder, manslaughter, rape, rape under section 4 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 or aggravated sexual assault within the meaning of section 3 of that Act? Yes / No

If yes, provide details: ...................

c. To be answered in respect of minor applicants aged 14 and above:

(i) Has the minor ever committed any offences against the laws of Ireland or any other state? Yes / No

(ii) Has the minor ever defrauded any person, company or State agency for financial or other gain? Yes / No

(iii) Does the minor have any convictions in Ireland or any other country (including traffic offences) or any civil judgements made against them? Yes / No

If you answered ‘Yes’ to either question above please complete the details below. If more than one instance, provide details in the additional details section below.

(iv) Date of conviction or judgement:..............

(v) Place where conviction or judgement took place:..............

(vi) Outcome:..............

(vii) Has the minor ever been charged / indicted, inside or outside Ireland, with a criminal offence for which the minor has not yet been tried in court? Yes / No

(viii) Is the minor, or has the minor been, the subject of an investigation in Ireland by An Garda Síochána (Irish police)? Yes / No

(ix) Has the minor been involved in, or been suspected of involvement in, war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide? Yes / No

(x) Has the minor been associated with, been a member of, or given support, including financial support, to a terrorist organisation, or been involved in, supported, financially or otherwise, or encouraged terrorist activities? Yes / No

(xi) Has the minor, by any means or medium, expressed views that justify or glorify terrorist violence or that may encourage others to commit terrorist acts or other serious criminal acts? Yes / No

(xii) Has the minor engaged in any other activities that might indicate that the minor may not be considered a person of good character? Yes / No

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of the questions (vi) to (xii) please provide details in the additional details section below. You may also use this section to give details in relation to questions (i) — (v).

6. Declaration

□ By ticking this box, you are declaring that you understand the application form and that all of the facts provided in the application form are true and correct to the best of your knowledge. If you give false or misleading information you could be guilty of an offence under the Act and liable on conviction to a fine and/or imprisonment. Giving false or misleading information may also result in an application being refused or, where a certificate of naturalisation has been granted, the revocation of that certificate.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

16 October, 2023.

HELEN MCENTEE,

Minister for Justice.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These regulations amend S.I. 569 of 2011 by the substitution of Form 8 and Form 11 set out in the Schedule to those Regulations.

The purpose of these amendments is to remove Statutory Declarations to be made by applicants on submission of an application for a certificate of naturalisation, as well as to remove the requirements for referee signatures. The removal of these elements allows for increased efficiency in the processing of online applications. These regulations also update Form 11 in the Schedule to reflect the amendments made to the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 by way of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 .