Citizenship delays: FOI and an application for an Order for Mandamus via the High Courts

[Emu1990]

Hello guys .I want to apply to FOI before going for JR .. my question is what information I gona get from FOI .. like in January they sent me a email that my application has being submitted to minister for decision but I don't trust their email ..Does FOI record tells u that ur application has being submitted..if it does than I will wait few months before going for JR.

[polarcub]

Their email updates are not official. It's just a copy and paste response, it doesn't mean anything. Some people have received this response, did an FOI, only to find their application is still processing and no one has touched it to move it forward to the next stage in months (and in some cases 1+ years). There are many threads on this.

My understanding is that an FOI tells you what they have 'actually' done with your application and where it's sitting in the process (i.e. still processing, waiting for documents, waiting for clearance, waiting for minister to sign of etc). Does any one who got an FOI have anything to add to this?

Hello guys .I want to apply to FOI before going for JR .. my question is what information I gona get from FOI .. like in January they sent me a email that my application has being submitted to minister for decision but I don't trust their email ..Does FOI record tells u that ur application has being submitted..if it does than I will wait few months before going for JR.

[polarcub]

This is one thread where someone outlines what they found in their FOI report: ireland/citizenship-application-process ... 73543.html

[Emu1990]

This is one thread where someone outlines what they found in their FOI report: ireland/citizenship-application-process ... 73543.html

@polarcub thank u .. I am applying for FOI tomarrow..

[polarcub]

Make sure to specify in your application request that the FOI documents be sent to you via email not post.

This is one thread where someone outlines what they found in their FOI report: ireland/citizenship-application-process ... 73543.html

@polarcub thank u .. I am applying for FOI tomarrow..

[Emu1990]

Make sure to specify in your application request that the FOI documents be sent to you via email not post.

This is one thread where someone outlines what they found in their FOI report: ireland/citizenship-application-process ... 73543.html

@polarcub thank u .. I am applying for FOI tomarrow..

Why not post ?

[Shelter]

I applied for FOI 5 weeks ago today I made an enquiry about it

This reply I got


Dear,



I wish to acknowledge receipt of your email below. I have been in contact with the decision maker who has informed me that you are automatically entitled to appeal to this Department for a review of your request on the legal basis that the initial request was refused once the specified time for responding to it has expired. The review is a full and new consideration of the matter carried out by a more senior member of staff of this Department.

Should you want to make such an appeal, you can do so in writing, you should state that you are appealing because an initial decision was not sent to you within the time permitted.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused by this delay.

Regards


Transparency Coordination


Any idea guys ??

[Vorona]

Any idea guys ??

If you explain properly what happened.

I applied for FOI 5 weeks ago today I made an enquiry about it

[Shelter]

Any idea guys ??

If you explain properly what happened.

I applied for FOI 5 weeks ago today I made an enquiry about it

I applied for FOI for my citizenship application last month... I should get ROI records back in 4 weeks ..but I dint get anything so I emailed them today to ask about it ..they sent me this email replay ...

Dear ,



I wish to acknowledge receipt of your email below. I have been in contact with the decision maker who has informed that you are automatically entitled to appeal to this Department for a review of your request on the legal basis that the initial request was refused once the specified time for responding to it has expired. The review is a full and new consideration of the matter carried out by a more senior member of staff of this Department.

Should you want to make such an appeal, you can do so in writing, you should state that you are appealing because an initial decision was not sent to you within the time permitted.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused by this delay.

Regards



Transparency Coordination

[Vorona]

I applied for FOI for my citizenship application last month... I should get ROI records back in 4 weeks ..but I dint get anything so I emailed them today to ask about it ..they sent me this email replay ...

Did you get a response saying that your request has been denied?
If not, then just wait. Everything is slow during COVID, your file will be sent to you as soon as possible.

It looks like the person who replied with the above was under impression that you think that your request was refused and advised your to file a complaint.
Just wait.

[Shelter]

I applied for FOI for my citizenship application last month... I should get ROI records back in 4 weeks ..but I dint get anything so I emailed them today to ask about it ..they sent me this email replay ...

Did you get a response saying that your request has been denied?
If not, then just wait. Everything is slow during COVID, your file will be sent to you as soon as possible.

It looks like the person who replied with the above was under impression that you think that your request was refused and advised your to file a complaint.
Just wait.

Ok thanks vorona ... I will wait 2 weeks more ...

[Akeel]

No problem!

On a related note: I've noticed people have different theories about how long one should wait before going through the courts to force a decision - I've seen everything thrown out 4, 3, 2, 1.5 (years) etc... This all seems like a personal preference as opposed to what the courts favour. From my understanding you can take your case to court once your application has exceeded the amount of time the department has advised. At the moment they are telling everyone it'll take 1 year (except for the people who applied during the pandemic). Therefore theoretically, after 1 year you can start the process.

For the people who have gone through the courts - have your lawyers made any comments regarding how long one should wait before making a case?

Hi, my solicitor told me he is only going for judicial review after 2 years of waiting. He already got 11 people decisions within 6 weeks of process.

[polarcub]

This means that someone was assigned to make a decision on your request within the time frame they gave you. That person did not respond, so it's assumed that the decision did not go through. So you have ONE option - ask them to review the decision as to why you did not get a decision by the decision maker.

**if you requested the documents to be sent to you via post, that may be why your request wasn't handled. If that was the case, tell them you want everything sent to you via email instead.

I applied for FOI 5 weeks ago today I made an enquiry about it

This reply I got


Dear,



I wish to acknowledge receipt of your email below. I have been in contact with the decision maker who has informed me that you are automatically entitled to appeal to this Department for a review of your request on the legal basis that the initial request was refused once the specified time for responding to it has expired. The review is a full and new consideration of the matter carried out by a more senior member of staff of this Department.

Should you want to make such an appeal, you can do so in writing, you should state that you are appealing because an initial decision was not sent to you within the time permitted.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused by this delay.

Regards


Transparency Coordination


Any idea guys ??

[polarcub]

Thanks for sharing. The 11 people they got an approval? And have you started your JR?

No problem!

On a related note: I've noticed people have different theories about how long one should wait before going through the courts to force a decision - I've seen everything thrown out 4, 3, 2, 1.5 (years) etc... This all seems like a personal preference as opposed to what the courts favour. From my understanding you can take your case to court once your application has exceeded the amount of time the department has advised. At the moment they are telling everyone it'll take 1 year (except for the people who applied during the pandemic). Therefore theoretically, after 1 year you can start the process.

For the people who have gone through the courts - have your lawyers made any comments regarding how long one should wait before making a case?

Hi, my solicitor told me he is only going for judicial review after 2 years of waiting. He already got 11 people decisions within 6 weeks of process.

[polarcub]

Post will likely get refused or will be heavily delayed.

If you already sent in the application and ticked the "send by post" checkbox, you can just just email them and tell them you now prefer email.

Make sure to specify in your application request that the FOI documents be sent to you via email not post.

This is one thread where someone outlines what they found in their FOI report: ireland/citizenship-application-process ... 73543.html

@polarcub thank u .. I am applying for FOI tomarrow..

Why not post ?

[Vorona]

Ok thanks vorona ... I will wait 2 weeks more ...

No problem.
You may have to wait longer. When I requested a copy of my file last year (it was not for a citizenship, but the process is pretty much the same) I received an acknowledgement that my request was received advising me that due to COVID there will be unexpected delays and that the processing time can be extended up to 60 calendar days.

They must acknowledge your request and give you an average of current waiting time.

[Shelter]

Yeah average time is within 4 weeks and in some cases could be 5 weeks

[Emu1990]

Post will likely get refused or will be heavily delayed.

If you already sent in the application and ticked the "send by post" checkbox, you can just just email them and tell them you now prefer email.

Make sure to specify in your application request that the FOI documents be sent to you via email not post.

@polarcub thank u .. I am applying for FOI tomarrow..

Why not post ?

@polarcub I already applied and requested via email..

[Akeel]

Thanks for sharing. The 11 people they got an approval? And have you started your JR?

No problem!

On a related note: I've noticed people have different theories about how long one should wait before going through the courts to force a decision - I've seen everything thrown out 4, 3, 2, 1.5 (years) etc... This all seems like a personal preference as opposed to what the courts favour. From my understanding you can take your case to court once your application has exceeded the amount of time the department has advised. At the moment they are telling everyone it'll take 1 year (except for the people who applied during the pandemic). Therefore theoretically, after 1 year you can start the process.

For the people who have gone through the courts - have your lawyers made any comments regarding how long one should wait before making a case?

Hi, my solicitor told me he is only going for judicial review after 2 years of waiting. He already got 11 people decisions within 6 weeks of process.

Yes I did first my solicitor send a notice for decision within 14 days if they didn't gave a decision then he will go for JR.

[johnpromise01]

Thanks for sharing. The 11 people they got an approval? And have you started your JR?

No problem!

On a related note: I've noticed people have different theories about how long one should wait before going through the courts to force a decision - I've seen everything thrown out 4, 3, 2, 1.5 (years) etc... This all seems like a personal preference as opposed to what the courts favour. From my understanding you can take your case to court once your application has exceeded the amount of time the department has advised. At the moment they are telling everyone it'll take 1 year (except for the people who applied during the pandemic). Therefore theoretically, after 1 year you can start the process.

For the people who have gone through the courts - have your lawyers made any comments regarding how long one should wait before making a case?

Hi, my solicitor told me he is only going for judicial review after 2 years of waiting. He already got 11 people decisions within 6 weeks of process.

Yes I did first my solicitor send a notice for decision within 14 days if they didn't gave a decision then he will go for JR.

How long do you wait before your solicitor initiate JR?

[polarcub]

How much are your legal fees? and how long ago did you submit your citizenship application?

Thanks for sharing. The 11 people they got an approval? And have you started your JR?

No problem!

On a related note: I've noticed people have different theories about how long one should wait before going through the courts to force a decision - I've seen everything thrown out 4, 3, 2, 1.5 (years) etc... This all seems like a personal preference as opposed to what the courts favour. From my understanding you can take your case to court once your application has exceeded the amount of time the department has advised. At the moment they are telling everyone it'll take 1 year (except for the people who applied during the pandemic). Therefore theoretically, after 1 year you can start the process.

For the people who have gone through the courts - have your lawyers made any comments regarding how long one should wait before making a case?

Hi, my solicitor told me he is only going for judicial review after 2 years of waiting. He already got 11 people decisions within 6 weeks of process.

Yes I did first my solicitor send a notice for decision within 14 days if they didn't gave a decision then he will go for JR.

[Akeel]

Thanks for sharing. The 11 people they got an approval? And have you started your JR?

Hi, my solicitor told me he is only going for judicial review after 2 years of waiting. He already got 11 people decisions within 6 weeks of process.

Yes I did first my solicitor send a notice for decision within 14 days if they didn't gave a decision then he will go for JR.

How long do you wait before your solicitor initiate JR?

I applied in August 2018 second stage letter may 2019 but still waiting....

[Shelter]

I got my FOI records today..there is nothing much in it ..most of documents are which I sent them with my application and my email communication with the department ..last thing they did with my application they requested garda vetting on 18th November 2020 and it came back 8th December 2020 .. they have done three time garda vetting since I submitted my application ...I don't know what they waiting for now ..and there is no record about submitted to minister so that's mean email reply I got in January was a lie .. anyway to be honest can't do much about it ..so I have to wait ..

[Vorona]

they have done three time garda vetting since I submitted my application

How strange. Did you see any requests made to the police in Pakistan or were all three requests made to Garda Siochana only? And what are the time gaps between those requests roughly?

I will probably request mine as well later on, just to see what they have done.

[Shelter]

they have done three time garda vetting since I submitted my application

How strange. Did you see any requests made to the police in Pakistan or were all three requests made to Garda Siochana only? And what are the time gaps between those requests roughly?

I will probably request mine as well later on, just to see what they have done.

No they didn't request anything from pakistan's police and why would they 13 years I am here. they should check my rocord here in ireland

First garda vetting 18 Oct 2018 2nd 24th sep 2019 and the last one 18th Nov 2020 ..and no issue with any of the garda vetting ..