After you apply for Irish citizenship

The short answer

• Straight away: an acknowledgement email, with a link to Garda e-vetting.
• If ISD asks for more: you have 28 days, on the Online Form Portal. Miss it and the application is refused.
• While you wait: keep your IRP valid if you have one, tell ISD if you move, and check progress on the Customer Service Portal.
• How long: most applications are decided within 12 months.
• Then: approval, a certification fee and a ceremony. Or a refusal letter, with no appeal.

Plan your wait

The steps after you submit

1. Acknowledgement. ISD emails you an acknowledgement with a link to the e-vetting system, and you get an application number.
2. E-vetting. You authorise Garda vetting, then complete the National Vetting Bureau’s online form within 30 days of its email.
3. Assessment. ISD checks your eligibility, documents and residence, and may ask you for more or to explain something.
4. Decision. The Minister decides, with absolute discretion. Most applications are decided within 12 months.

When ISD asks for more documents

You’ll get a secure message on the Online Form Portal, under My Forms, then Additional Forms. Upload what’s asked for there.

• You have 28 days.
• If you haven’t replied after 18 days, ISD sends a reminder, and you have 10 more.
• Miss the deadline and the application is refused: the €175 isn’t refunded and you start again.

Checking your status

Log in to the Customer Service Portal and select Status. The Online Form Portal is only for the application itself and documents ISD asks for: you can’t track the application there. Use the Customer Service Portal for questions too.

Keep your IRP valid while you wait

EU, EEA, Swiss and UK citizens don’t have an IRP and can skip this. If you have one, it keeps its own expiry date while you wait, so keep renewing on time:

• a gap in permission isn’t reckonable, and ISD warns it can make an application ineligible;
• ISD asks you to bring an in-date IRP card to your citizenship ceremony;
• renew online from 12 weeks before your card expires, from inside Ireland.

Moving house or other changes

• Citizenship team: send a Change of Personal Details query on the Customer Service Portal, with your new address, the date you moved, and one proof of the new address, like a rent agreement, bill or bank statement.
• Immigration registration: tell ISD as for any move.
• Travel: absences after you apply aren’t part of the 70-day count, but you must still intend to live here, and, if you have an IRP, keep it valid to come back.

Approval

If the Minister intends to grant your application, ISD tells you and asks you to pay the certification fee: €950 for most adults, €200 for a child or a widow, widower or surviving civil partner of an Irish citizen, nothing for refugees and stateless people. You’re then invited to a citizenship ceremony, where you make the declaration of fidelity and loyalty.

Your certificate of naturalisation comes by registered post, and your name, address and certificate date are published in Iris Oifigiúil, as the law requires.

Refusal

You’ll get a letter, with reasons where possible. There’s no appeal, and the fee isn’t refunded. You can apply again once you meet the conditions, fixing whatever led to the refusal.

Common mix-ups

Common questions

Sources