Irish citizenship spouse refused to sign declaration form

[seekingadvice87]

hello!

What happens if Irish spouse refuses to sign the declaration form for spouse of Irish citizenship after being married for 5 years and living on the island for 5 years? Does spouse still qualify for Irish citizenship? The declaration was initially signed but due to domestic violence, one spouse ended up living in a refuge but citizenship application returned because the first declaration was signed over 6 months old and authorities accepted application fee but asked that declaration is signed again within some days. The Irish spouse is refusing to sign because marriage is broken. Thank you

[meself2]

As you're saying "on the island of Ireland", does that mean the residence period was in NI? If yes, then I'm afraid there's no path for them (see below for declaration wording). They'd have to live in ROI to rack up reckonable residence themselves.
Otherwise, 5 years in ROI should be enough to be qualified in their own right, but they'd have to supply proof and such for 5 year period; might be best to reapply.

Quote from 15A declaration:

and that we are living together as husband and wife, that our marriage is subsisting and that no proceedings for divorce or annulment
of this marriage have been commenced, or are about to be commenced in any court of law.

And taking into account processing will take a while (2 years or so), they will know.

[Vorona]

If the marriage de-facto no longer subsist it will be a false declaration. At any time in the future your estranged husband can admit that you weren't in fact living as a husband and spouse at the time of declaration. This can result in prosecution and/or serious fine. The application form does not begin with the warning for no reason:

"Section 29A of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended provides that a person
who knowingly or recklessly makes a declaration under this Act, or a statement for the purposes of
any application under this Act that is false or misleading in any material respect, shall be guilty of
an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both, or on conviction on indictment to a
fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both"

Risk not worth taking.

[seekingadvice87]

As you're saying "on the island of Ireland", does that mean the residence period was in NI? If yes, then I'm afraid there's no path for them (see below for declaration wording). They'd have to live in ROI to rack up reckonable residence themselves.
Otherwise, 5 years in ROI should be enough to be qualified in their own right, but they'd have to supply proof and such for 5 year period; might be best to reapply.

Quote from 15A declaration:

and that we are living together as husband and wife, that our marriage is subsisting and that no proceedings for divorce or annulment
of this marriage have been commenced, or are about to be commenced in any court of law.

And taking into account processing will take a while (2 years or so), they will know.

Yes the spouse sent reply to authorities that Irish spouse don't want to sign anymore and told authority already that they are living in refuge due to domestic violence. Now wants to know if this is accepted as they qualified before this happened.

Thanks

[seekingadvice87]

If the marriage de-facto no longer subsist it will be a false declaration. At any time in the future your estranged husband can admit that you weren't in fact living as a husband and spouse at the time of declaration. This can result in prosecution and/or serious fine. The application form does not begin with the warning for no reason:

"Section 29A of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended provides that a person
who knowingly or recklessly makes a declaration under this Act, or a statement for the purposes of
any application under this Act that is false or misleading in any material respect, shall be guilty of
an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both, or on conviction on indictment to a
fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both"

Risk not worth taking.

I don't think they submitted false declaration as the first one they were living together still. The second one the spouse doesn't want to sign and so told authority that the Irish spouse refuse to sign and inform of latest change in their circumstance. So it is not false declaration as it is not signed.

[Vorona]

I don't think they submitted false declaration as the first one they were living together still. The second one the spouse doesn't want to sign and so told authority that the Irish spouse refuse to sign and inform of latest change in their circumstance. So it is not false declaration as it is not signed.

I am not talking about your first application. If you submit a false declaration that you and your spouse are living together in a subsisting marriage when it's no longer the case, you will make a false statement. Given the fact that you and spouse were involved in a dispute, the records will be obtained by the Department. Should that happen, consequences can be very serious, even if discovered at a later stage. You can't coerce your spouse to sign the declaration if he or she does not want to.

[meself2]

Now wants to know if this is accepted as they qualified before this happened.

No. It's the same with naturalization - if a person doesn't have permission to be in the State during processing, process is paused and subsequently stopped, as far as I've heard.

[seekingadvice87]

I don't think they submitted false declaration as the first one they were living together still. The second one the spouse doesn't want to sign and so told authority that the Irish spouse refuse to sign and inform of latest change in their circumstance. So it is not false declaration as it is not signed.

I am not talking about your first application. If you submit a false declaration that you and your spouse are living together in a subsisting marriage when it's no longer the case, you will make a false statement. Given the fact that you and spouse were involved in a dispute, the records will be obtained by the Department. Should that happen, consequences can be very serious, even if discovered at a later stage. You can't coerce your spouse to sign the declaration if he or she does not want to.

But they're not submitting a false declaration if it is not signed and no spouse is being coerced to sign? They already responded to authorities to inform of the reason they can't get the Irish spouse to sign. So they're actually telling the truth. The first declaration was real. The second one did not happen hence told the truth and are waiting to hear from authorities. So I ask here to understand their situation. I think they doing the right thing by telling the truth.

[mentalmind]

Not sure why this situation is getting more complicated with first time second time thing. If spouse is refusing the sign the page then the applicant can not apply for naturalization under Spouse of Irish resident category.

If the applicant lived in ROI for 5 years with reckonable residence then they can apply with that eligibility category, otherwise they won't be able to apply for Irish citizenship.

During your application if your conditions change you need to let ISD to know (I'm not saying you didn't let them know nor anything) and by letting them know, you did what you should. To be avail of spouse of Irish citizen category, you need to be married with an Irish citizen for 3 years at least and shouldn't be and not in progress of divorce.