Missing proof of residence for citizenship: where to get it

The short answer

• Each year of residence needs 150 points, with at least one strong document showing your name, your Irish address and a date in that year.
• Lost them? Most can be requested again: from Revenue, Social Protection, your bank, employer, school, college or GP.
• Young adults (18 to 23) who lived on their parents can use a school or college letter as one of their proofs, with a cover note.
• Nothing left? Upload what you have and ISD’s Residential Proof Affidavit, but only if a document truly can’t be obtained.

Find your proof

Where to request missing documents

Phone bills, tenancy agreements, utility bills and credit card statements count for 50 points each, if they’re in your name. ISD wants only what’s needed to reach 150 for each year: usually 2 or 3 documents.

Young adults who lived with their parents

If you grew up here, for example as an EU, EEA, Swiss or UK citizen who came with your family, your early years may have no bills, no tenancy and no bank account in your name. ISD has two answers for that.

The dependant young adult provision. If you’re 18 to 23 and depend on your parents for accommodation and living expenses, a letter from your school or college showing your date of registration and attendance can be submitted as one of your proofs. Ask each school or college you attended for a letter covering your years there.

Living with family. Where the bills are in someone else’s name, ISD suggests a short cover note explaining your situation, with an affidavit only if there are no official records.

ISD’s general rule still asks for a strong document each year. Look for anything in your own name:

• a summer or part-time job: your Employment Detail Summary, and a Social Protection contribution statement;
• a bank account, even a small one, with regular transactions;
• a welfare payment you got yourself.

As an EU, EEA, Swiss or UK citizen, you don’t need IRP cards or ISD’s residence calculator, but you must have held that nationality for more than 5 years.

The cover note

A cover note is your own short letter, uploaded with the documents for that year. Say which year it covers, where you lived and with whom, why the usual documents aren’t in your name, and what you’ve included instead.

The Residential Proof Affidavit

If you still can’t reach 150 points for one or more years, upload what you have and ISD’s Residential Proof Affidavit (form Citz-009/2026):

1. Print it and fill in your details. Leave the declaration unsigned.
2. Explain which years or periods you can’t prove, and why. Add pages if you need them, each signed and dated.
3. Swear it in front of a practising solicitor, commissioner for oaths, peace commissioner or notary public, with photo ID. They complete the certification section.
4. Scan and upload it with your application.

Your records from the Department of Justice

If you had IRP cards and lost them, you can ask the Department of Justice, which runs ISD, for the personal data it holds about you. That’s a subject access request:

• Fill in the Department’s Subject Access Request form, with your dealings with the Department, any old addresses and reference numbers, and the period you need.
• Include a copy of your passport, driving licence or Public Services Card, and a recent utility bill or government letter.
• Send it to subjectaccessrequests@justice.ie, or by post to the Data Protection Support and Compliance Office, 51 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2.
• Wait up to one month from when your identity is verified.

It shows what the Department holds, such as your permissions and their dates. It isn’t on ISD’s points list, so use it to find dates and details, then get the documents for each year. EU, EEA, Swiss and UK citizens usually never registered, so there’s less to ask for.

Common mix-ups

Common questions

Sources