I’m seeking help and guidance regarding my children's Irish naturalisation applications.
In April 2022, I applied for the naturalisation of my four children based on Irish association. Both my wife and I are Irish citizens through naturalisation. Our children are British citizens. They lived in Ireland for over a year before moving back to the UK with their mother, while I remained in Ireland.
I have now received a letter from the Department of Justice requesting further information within six weeks, referencing the new guidelines for Section 16 applications.
Below is the content of the letter I received:
________________________________________
Dear Sir/Madam,
I refer to your child’s application for a certificate of naturalisation.
The Minister would like to draw your attention to the recently published guidelines on how requests for waiver under Section 16 are to be processed. The link to the guidelines is:
https://www.irishimmigration.ie/how-to- ... ociations/The Irish Nationality & Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister for Justice may, in their absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. These conditions are set out in section 15 of the Act.
Under sections 16(1)(a) and 16(1)(b) of the Act, the Minister may, in their absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation, although the conditions for naturalisation (or any of them) are not met, where the applicant is of Irish descent or Irish associations.
The Minister may waive certain statutory naturalisation conditions and thus grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation made under section 16 of the Act, if, after careful assessment of the application and all supporting documents it is determined that:
• An applicant is of Irish descent or associations; and
• An applicant has presented sufficient evidence of the relative strength of their case; and
• The Minister, having considered these guidelines, as well as any other relevant information, is satisfied that the relevant statutory naturalisation conditions may be waived.
The Minister is now providing you with an opportunity to provide any further information and/or submissions that you feel is relevant to the consideration of the application with particular regard to the guidelines as provided. The submissions should only contain information or documentation not previously supplied in support of the original documentation. Such submissions should be provided through the Department's Customer Service Portal and include “Citizenship application – Irish Association submissions” in the title for ease of reference. The submissions should be provided within six weeks of receipt of this correspondence.
It should be noted that while being of Irish descent or Irish associations is a prerequisite for consideration under this policy, it is not in itself a sufficient basis for the Minister to waive any or all of the statutory conditions in section 15. The granting of citizenship is a privilege and the Minister will exercise their absolute discretion in determining applications under sections 16(1)(a) and 16(1)(b) of the Act, as amended.
Yours sincerely,
Irish Association Project Team
Department of Justice
I would be grateful from your comments that what that letter and means and let me know that what else shall I provide them to strengthen the case of my children.
