Citizenship

Irish citizenship applications can now be submitted online in a significant milestone for the modernisation of immigration services. The Department of Justice's immigration service delivery modernisation programme aims to digitise a number of currently paper-based immigration processes and introduce

The State has spent €4.5 million over the past three years defending citizenship cases which it subsequently lost or settled, according to new figures. A total of 450 court cases brought by citizenship applicants were lost or settled over the period, many of which likely relate to delays in pro

Northern Ireland's High Court has refused leave to apply for judicial review to a man with a deportation order who argued that he had British citizenship as a result of his adoption by a UK/Italian couple despite being born in Italy. The court also found that the deportation order did not impact on

People who have spent a year or more in prison will not be able to obtain British citizenship except in exceptional cases under new UK rules which came into effect yesterday. The Home Office said the new rules — which tighten a previous rule applying to prison sentences of more than four years

Shamima Begum has failed in her appeal over the decision to deprive her of British citizenship because she is a threat to national security. The semi-secret Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) decided today that the revocation of her citizenship in 2019 was lawful.

Nathan Campbell and Laura Gooding of Cleaver Fulton Rankin consider a recent court ruling on nationality. In a previous article, we covered the case of Re Ní Chuinneagain where the High Court did not accept that the conferral of British citizenship on the applicant, who was born in Northern I

Northern Ireland's Court of Appeal has dismissed a challenge by a person of both British and Irish citizenship asserting a right to be recognised as an Irish citizen only. The court rejected claims that the British Nationality Act 1981 unlawfully interfered with the appellant's rights under Article

Waiting times for Irish citizenship applications remain high with an average processing time of 22 months, according to new figures. This represents a slight improvement on 2021, when the average processing time was 23 months, but is more than three times the average of seven months five years ago,

Citizenship ceremonies welcoming 950 people as Irish citizens took place in-person today for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Two ceremonies took place at the INEC in Killarney, Co Kerry, presided over by retired High Court judge Mr Justice Bryan McMahon and retired Distri

The Supreme Court has quashed a decision to refuse an Irish passport to a child whose father's refugee status was retrospectively revoked. The case focused on "UM", who was born in Ireland and asserted Irish citizenship on the basis of his Afghan father’s residency in the country, as a refugee

The Supreme Court is set to rule on the deprivation of Irish citizenship from a child whose father's refugee status was retrospectively revoked. The case focuses on "UM", who was born in Ireland and asserted Irish citizenship on the basis of his Afghan father’s residency in the country, as a r

Northern Ireland's High Court has overturned a decision to revoke the British passport of an Iraqi Kurd where his reasons for using an alias in his citizenship application were ignored. The applicant, TS, was an Iraqi Kurd and a British citizen who resides in Belfast. He sought to challenge by way o

New applicants for Irish citizenship will not be required to submit their original passport with their initial application under changes coming into effect from next year. The move is one of a number of changes aimed at simplifying and streamlining the processing of citizenship applications and faci

Children born in Ireland to parents who are not Irish citizens will be able to gain Irish citizenship sooner under legislative plans announced today. James Browne, minister of state with responsibility for immigration, confirmed that changes to the naturalisation process would be included in the Cou

Hundreds of people in Northern Ireland renounced their British citizenship from 2012 to 2020 to take advantage of more favourable family migration rules for those with only Irish citizenship, data suggests. Figures published by investigative news and analysis website The Detail show a dramatic incre