Does Stamp 1G count towards Irish citizenship?

The short answer

To apply for citizenship by naturalisation, you need enough reckonable residence: time living in Ireland on a permission that counts. ISD is clear that Stamp 1G counts:

You can add up time on different permissions that count. A year on Stamp 1G, then three on Stamp 1, then one on Stamp 4, is five years.

Start your clock

Add each permission from your IRP cards, in order. You’ll see which time counts, any gaps, and the earliest date you could apply on the residence rule.

Graduates: Stamp 2, then 1G, then a job

For most international graduates the path looks like this, and only the last two parts count:

1. Stamp 2 while you study. Doesn’t count.
2. Stamp 1G after you graduate. Counts from its first day. It lasts 12 months with a level 8 award, or up to 24 months (12 plus 12) with a level 9 award or higher. Your time on Stamp 2 and graduate Stamp 1G together can’t go over 7 years with a level 8 award, or 8 years with level 9 or higher.
3. Stamp 1 with an employment permit, or another permission that counts. This keeps the clock running after your Stamp 1G ends.

Example. Amara studied for a master’s on Stamp 2 from September 2022 to September 2023. Her Stamp 1G started on 1 October 2023, and she moved straight onto Stamp 1 with a Critical Skills permit a year later. Her earliest date to apply, on the residence rule, is 1 October 2028: five years after her Stamp 1G began. If there had been a two-month gap between her Stamp 1G and her Stamp 1, her date would move to 1 December 2028, and ISD could treat the gap as a problem.

Partners on Stamp 1G

If you’re the spouse or de facto partner of a Critical Skills Employment Permit holder or a researcher on a Hosting Agreement, your Stamp 1G time counts too. You renew it every year, and after 5 years on Stamp 1G you can apply for Stamp 4.

Partners of other permit holders, such as General Employment, Intra-Company Transfer or multi-site NCHD permits, can now also be registered on Stamp 1G. ISD’s citizenship guidance doesn’t name this group when it lists what counts. Ask ISD through its Customer Service Portal before you count that time. The clock above marks it as “Ask ISD” and leaves it out.

Gaps are how people lose time

Time without a valid permission is never reckonable. ISD also warns that even short gaps may make an application ineligible, not just delayed. The risky moments are when a permission ends and the next one starts:

• Renewals: apply before your card expires. ISD renews permissions from your current expiry date, so a renewal made in time leaves no gap.
• Changing stamp, for example from Stamp 1G to Stamp 1: apply before the old permission ends.
• Keep every IRP card and letter from ISD. They’re your record of unbroken permission.

The rest of the residence rule

Stamp 1G counting is one part. On the day you apply, ISD also looks at:

• 5 years in the last 9: 365 days of continuous residence immediately before you apply (366 with a 29 February), plus 1,460 days in the 8 years before that.
• Absences in the final year: no more than 70 days outside Ireland in the 12 months before you apply. Up to 30 more days may be allowed for exceptional reasons, and over 100 days makes the application ineligible.
• Evidence for each year: documents showing your name, your address in Ireland and a date in that year.
• The other conditions: being 18 or over, of good character, intending to live in Ireland, and attending a citizenship ceremony.

The clock above checks the 5-in-9 part only. For absences, use the 70-day absence counter.

Common mix-ups

Common questions

Sources