Joyful ceremonies mark the end of long, expensive naturalisation process

More than 141,000 immigrants arrived in Ireland in the 12 months up to April this year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Of those, 29,600 were returning Irish citizens, 26,100 were other EU citizens, and 4,800 were UK citizens. The remaining 81,100 were citizens of other countries, which included almost 42,000 Ukrainians seeking temporary protection.

Many of these immigrants move for higher education, language courses, love and work. Others are forced to move due to war, political threats and or threats related to their religion, race, gender and ethnicity - these are the people who come here seeking international protection, formerly referred to as asylum seekers.

This week, 6,206 people who have made their lives here became Irish citizens at the Convention Centre in Dublin.

Approximately 173,000 people have received Irish citizenship since the ceremonies were introduced in 2011 to mark the occasion of the "granting of citizenship in a dignified and solemn manner" according to the Department of Justice. There have been a total of 173 ceremonies with people from over 180 countries receiving their certificates of naturalisation.

A total of 13,519 people have become Irish citizens so far this year in six ceremonies.

These events, a day of joy and celebration for many, are the final step in the lengthy process of applications for citizenship via naturalisation. It is the final point in a long journey, at which those attending the ceremony finally pledge their oath of fidelity to the State and Ireland.

The naturalisation process

Naturalisation is when you become a citizen of another country, usually because you have been living there for several years. In Ireland, if you are applying by residency, you must have five years of reckonable residence out of the last nine years, be of good character and have been legally residing in the state during those years.

It used to be a paper-based application, with people sending multiple documents in a bulky envelope. Now, the system has moved online and applicants hear from the Citizenship Division at a much more rapid pace than in previous years.

According to Citizen’s Information, it's currently taking 18 months to process an application. 

However, the time has reduced - registration, the first step, now takes a few weeks, rather than the previous seven months, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Justice. 

While it seems like an intense process, with endless amounts of paperwork, those who undergo it say it not only changes their lives but also allows them to finally be officially welcomed into a society that they have contributed a lot to.

Camila Yassuda Martin moved to Ireland when they were 24 from the state of São Paulo in Brazil - with no English and with the passion to travel and see the world.

Ten years later, they are now doing a Masters in teaching at UCC, working as a tattoo artist, are married and have a son.

Becoming an Irish citizen will grant them a “sense of safety and belonging,” says Camila. 

“After living in the country for the past ten years – my actual adult life, and making things happen for myself and contributing to the country altogether like paying taxes, as a person in the world, you feel that you should be acknowledged,” Camila told the Irish Examiner.

When they first moved to Ireland, they found the Irish people “very welcoming” and did not feel any cultural contrasts.

However, when the decision to live in Ireland for the foreseeable future was made for both Camila and their family, they began to consider applying for Irish citizenship.

While both Camila’s husband and son held Irish passports, they had their Brazilian passport, which made travelling to a lot of countries “difficult.” The Irish citizenship would give them a bit of respite, and make travel easier, according to Camila.

On one family trip, Camila was restricted to one part of a Swiss airport because they held a non-European passport.

“We had to transit through Switzerland and I had to stay in a separate room because we could not access the whole airport, of course, my husband stayed with me, but I could not access the whole airport because my passport is not European.” 

As a Brazilian passport-holder, they had to wait months on end on decisions for holiday visa applications including for those to the US, other parts of Europe and Japan – even though they have Japanese heritage.

Camila sent off their application for naturalisation in July last year and became an Irish citizen on Tuesday at the Convention Centre in Dublin.

“I will be able to vote, and that is a big deal – it is consolidating your place in the country,” they said.

Before the online application system was introduced in November, the paper-based system meant long delays. Some of those who applied while the paper-based system was still in place are still awaiting a decision.

Syed Rashel, who is originally from Bangladesh, hopes he hears about his application - made in 2020 - as soon as possible as he is desperate to see his mother whom he has not seen for several years.

Mr Rashel gained refugee status in Ireland in 2015 and took it upon himself to apply for naturalisation.

“I don’t have family here right now. My father died a few years ago, and my mom is in Bangladesh,” he told the Irish Examiner.

He has been working in a restaurant in Portarlington, Co Laois for several years and hopes the Justice Minister grants him citizenship.

For Mr Rashel, becoming an Irish citizen will finally allow him to travel to see his mother in a different country as he does not believe it is safe for him to go back to Bangladesh.

The 44-year-old applied for naturalisation in 2020, during the pandemic and said he only received the acknowledgement letter stating that his file had been received a year later.

After constant back and forth with the Citizenship Division, Mr Rashel finalised and sent out all his documents this summer.

Now, he is waiting anxiously to hear when, or if, he will be granted citizenship.

Mr Rashel had hoped that he would be able to attend this week’s ceremonies, the last ones for the year, but he has not heard anything from the Department of Justice as of yet.

Alaa Kiwan shared the same concern with the delayed response to her application but said that all the anxiety and stress that she felt while applying for citizenship paid off when she was invited to be conferred as an Irish citizen on Tuesday. 

Originally from Palestine and now living in Galway, the 30-year-old said it was "difficult" when she put in her application two years ago. 

"There are lots of details and you need to be careful about everything. It was stressful, a little bit," Ms Kiwan told the Irish Examiner. 

Two years after applying, Ms Kiwan finally received a confirmation letter and said that even though the wait was "too long, it was worth it."

"I'm thankful for all the people who are working on our applications, I cannot imagine how many people [are] applying and they deal with a huge amount of applications. So we also need to be understanding," she said. 

Ms Kiwan moved to Ireland in 2019 by herself, but she was not alone on Tuesday. Her partner, Vasileios Sergis stood by her, with pride and a bouquet of roses, as they both shared her excitement for the big day. 

"It's amazing, I'm so excited. The last two days, I was having a pain in my stomach because I was so excited," she added. 

"I am so happy that everything in my life is finally settling." 

How does naturalisation work?

People can apply for naturalisation in Ireland after legally residing in Ireland for five of the past eight years. Applications can also be lodged if you are married to or are in a civil partnership with an Irish citizen and have been married for three years or more.

The applicant must have lived in the State for a total of 1,460 days, and have a continuous reckonable residence in the state for 365 days before the date of the application.

The applications used to be paper-based, but now they can be done online. A paper-based system is available to those who do not have access to digital technology.

A scoring system is used by the Immigration Services to assess identity and residence history.

A total of 150 points is required in both identification and residency.

Some documents that need to be sent must be certified by a solicitor, notary, commissioner for oaths and or a peace commissioner as “true copies” which can be done when making your statutory declaration. Applicants must pay €175 with all the documents required for the application.

Once the application is sent out, applicants wait for an acknowledgement letter from the Citizenship Division that their application has been received or request further documents.

A Garda vetting link is then sent out, dependent on how quickly the application is processed for good character assessment.

Identity is verified and residence is also reviewed.

If the application is successful, the applicant will be notified by letter and invited to attend the next citizenship ceremony for verification and to take the oath of allegiance. A fee of €950 applies at this stage and the applicant receives a certificate of naturalisation.

Following that, they can then apply and pay to get an Irish passport, which costs €75.

Most applications are processed within 19 months.

Applications can also be refused, and reasons will be given for the decision, which cannot be appealed.

However, it's possible to apply again.

If the refusal was based on national security concerns, the applicant can ask for a decision on the disclosure of the information that was used to make the decision.

A single-person committee then can review that information and make a recommendation to the Justice Minister as to whether or not some or all the information used can be released.