The Gazette 1988

JULY/AUGUST 1988

GAZETTE

.MM Fiona Daly

Immigration to Ireland Emigration, rather than immi gra t i on, has been a feature of Irish history since the middle of the last century and, w i t h the exception of a brief period in the 1970s, net yearly emigration of varying extent has occurred. However in recent years there has been interest in immigration to Ireland among persons w i th Irish roots living in potentially unstable jurisdictions, such as South Af r i ca, who have had cause to consider whether their Irish connection entitles t hem to Irish citizenship, and hence right of establishment and movement in the EEC. Furthermore there has been a general increase in interest in immi gra t i on to Ireland, mainly because of Ireland's position as an English speaking member of the EEC and the country's close proximity to the United Kingdom. This article wi ll consider, in broad terms, entitlement to Irish citizenship and, then, immigration possibilities that may exist for non-EEC nationals. Irish Citizenship

(otherwise than by naturalisation or by virtue of this provision or by virtue of a token of Honorary c i t i zensh ip bes t owed by the President). The applicant should lodge with the Irish Department of Justice a "Post-Nuptual Form", which is a Declaration of Accept- ance of Irish Citizenship, not earlier than three years from the date of the marriage or, after the Irish partner became Irish, whichever is the later. The marriage must genuinely subsist at the date of lodgment and the couple must be living together as a married couple at that date. D. Naturalisation An alien may become an Irish citizen by naturalisation. Naturali- sation is granted at the discretion of the Minister for Justice and will almost always be granted if the applicant has: (i) been in continuous legal residence in Ireland for a period of one year prior to the application and (ii) in legal residence in Ireland for

by Roderick Bourke, So l i c i tor* and Fiona Daly BCL*

The principal legislation governing Irish c i t i zensh ip is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 and 1986 (the Acts) which provide that Irish citizenship may be acquired in five ways as follows: A. Birth Every person born in Ireland is an Irish citizen from birth. The only exception to this is where the parents had diplomatic immunity at the time of birth. B. Descent Every person born outside Ireland is an Irish citizen if his or her father or mother is an Irish citizen by birth. Furthermore, anyone born outside Ireland who at the time of his or her birth has a parent who is an Irish citizen otherwise than by birth may

become an Irish citizen through registration at the Department of Foreign Affairs or at an Irish Embassy or Consulate. A person born outside Ireland having an Irish born grandparent is therefore entitled to Irish citizenship through registration. Citizenship acquired through registration as an Irish citizen is acquired as from the date of registration. Therefore if a person entitled to register as an Irish citizen wishes to pass on citizen- ship to his or her child then that person's citizenship must be registered before the child's birth in order for the child to have an entitlement to Irish citizenship. A limited form of retrospection that existed in the 1956 Act has been eliminated by the 1986 Act. C. Marriage to an Irish Citizen An alien may become an Irish citizen if he or she marries a person who is, or who after the marriage becomes, an Irish c i t i zen

four out of the previous eight years prior to that year. The applicant must be of good character, full age and intend in good faith to continue to reside in the State after na t u r a l i sa t i on has been granted. The Minister may, in certain cases specified by the Acts, grant naturalisation even where certain of the conditions for naturalisation have not been complied with as e.g. where the applicant is of Irish descent or association or where he or she is a refugee or a stateless person.

Roderick Bourke

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