Naturalisation: Can Irish spouse be a reference?

My wife will be applying for naturalisation soon based on her marriage to me (I became an Irish citizen by naturalisation last year).

I have been wondering if I could be one of 3 Irish referees required for Section 14 of Form 8.

Thinking from the perspective of an application reviewer, I would think this is a no-no. I mean, if her application is based on her marriage to me, then my vouching for her would most likely be biased, thereby making my reference useless.

However, I don't see any explicit rule that says we can't do it. Now, we do have 3 of our friends that we have asked to be her references and 2 of them have already filled out the relevant section. The last 1 is taking a bit of time so I was wondering if I could be the last reference myself to quicken things up. Has anyone on here done it?

I have applied for citizenship and likewise, my 3rd reference was my Irish hubby. I was told that the husband can't be my reference, so i had to get some one else ..

Having your spouse as your reference does seem obvious that you probably shouldn't do that.

But, how about family members? I'm wondering for when my wife comes to applying for citizenship. I'm thinking of just putting down my sister, brother in-law and maybe one of my parents.

Mihaelame wrote: ↑

Wed May 16, 2018 2:16 pm

I have applied for citizenship and likewise, my 3rd reference was my Irish hubby. I was told that the husband can't be my reference, so i had to get some one else ..

Thanks for your reply!

Zoot7 wrote: ↑

Fri May 18, 2018 7:17 am

Having your spouse as your reference does seem obvious that you probably shouldn't do that.

Yes, it's obvious in the case of an application that is made on the basis of being married to an Irish citizen. As the Irish spouse is part of the application itself, he/she would already be vouching for the applicant, albeit implicitly. This means his/her reference would not provide any new information. (I wanted to ask about it on here anyway. )

However, if the application is made on the basis of having a 5-year residency, the spouse would not be a part of it. Therefore, I think that in this scenario the spouse's referral (if he/she is Irish) would be acceptable.

Zoot7 wrote: ↑

Fri May 18, 2018 7:17 am

But, how about family members? I'm wondering for when my wife comes to applying for citizenship. I'm thinking of just putting down my sister, brother in-law and maybe one of my parents.

Based on my thinking specified above, I would say that it is grand for other family members to be referees since they are not part of the application itself. However, don't take my word for it. It's better to double check this by sending a quick email to the Citizenship Division. They are pretty responsive; I wrote them an email about another requirement a few weeks ago, which they responded to with a clear reply in a couple of days.

Hi Zepman,

I have not applied for citizenship through marriage. I'm only married 2 years so i wouldn't have been eligible. My application was based on being in the country for the last 12 years and not using my husband as reference was the advice i got from INIS.
Good luck with your application!

Mihaelame wrote: ↑

Sun May 20, 2018 8:58 am

Hi Zepman,

I have not applied for citizenship through marriage. I'm only married 2 years so i wouldn't have been eligible. My application was based on being in the country for the last 12 years and not using my husband as reference was the advice i got from INIS.
Good luck with your application!

Ah, I stand corrected then. So the argument must be that the reference is likely to be biased if the referee is immediate family.

@Zoot7, do let us know what INIS advice you as regards using other family members as references.

Having been though the application process, i'm under the impression that it depends on who's hands your application is in. They seem to follow different rules for different people.
If i were you, i wouldn't risk it tho. You don't want to be rejected and start from zero. I'm sure you have a work mate or a friendly neighbour that's willing to help. I've used my employer as a reference for example and he was delighted to help me.

No they will not accept it, been through that, and got my citizenship on the last ceremony in my case they have not contacted any of the references that i had included.

Thanks