Seeking Advice on Irish Citizenship Application as a UK Citizen Working in Ireland

[gkskumar12]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for guidance and advice regarding applying for Irish citizenship through naturalisation. Here’s my situation:

I’m a UK citizen and have been living in Ireland for the last 5 years. Before moving to Ireland, I lived in England.
I moved to Ireland by ferry, and there was no immigration check, so I don’t have any stamp on my passport to prove my exact arrival date.
About 11 months after arriving, I got my first job, and I’ve been working for the HSE since then.
During weekdays, I live and work in Ireland, but on weekends, I travel to Northern Ireland where my family lives.
I always lived in shared accommodation with friends and paid rent in cash, so I don’t have formal rental agreements.
I do have the following:

An Irish bank account.
Proof of tax payments and employment records from the HSE.
Bank accounts and credit cards with irish address.

I’m wondering:

When can I apply for Irish citizenship? Does my time before starting work count if I can’t formally prove it?
What documents would I need in my specific situation to demonstrate reckonable residence and legal status in Ireland?
How do I deal with the absence of a passport stamp or rental agreements?
Any advice on how to strengthen my application or navigate these challenges would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[littlerr]

Technically your time starts on the day you move to Ireland but a more realistic start date would be when you had your bank account open. UK/EU/EEA citizens won’t have stamps in their passports even if they fly into Ireland, so you are not alone. I don’t think INIS is that picky about your start date for these citizens, especially UK citizens. If your start date is a week or two before you opened your bank account, that’s usually fine.

Regarding proof of residency, read the official guideline here: https://www.irishimmigration.ie/wp-cont ... l-2024.pdf
You are required to produce one Type A and one Type B document each.
For Type A, current account bank statements, employment detail summary, social welfare statements are all fine. For Type B proof you could use credit card statements which should show regular spendings in Ireland.