A temporary system has been put in place that will enable citizenship applicants to complete their naturalisation process by signing a statutory declaration of loyalty to the state. This declaration replaces the requirement for citizenship applicants to attend citizenship ceremonies, which have been temporarily suspended during COVID-19.
The new system has been in place from Monday, 18 January 2021. Individuals whose applications are concluded or near conclusion will be emailed individually over the coming months. There is no requirement for applicants for citizenship to contact the unit; under the temporary new system, qualifying applicants will be contacted by the Citizenship Division over the next few months. Qualifying applicants will be asked to complete a statutory declaration that will be sent to them by email from the Citizenship Division.
Qualifying applicants will be required to complete the statutory declaration in the presence of a witness who is either a notary public, a commissioner for oaths, solicitor, or a peace commissioner, and authorised to take and receive statutory declarations. The witness must be resident in the Republic of Ireland and the Declaration must be administered / witnessed in the State.
Once completed, the applicant must send (a) the signed declaration, (b) the appropriate fee and (c) any other requested documentation to the postal address as instructed in the e-mail, on or before 30 of May 2021.
It can take up to 6 weeks from receipt of the above documents to issue a Certificate of Naturalisation, if all of the above is in order. The Citizenship Division has advised people to only contact them after the 6 week period has elapsed and only if absolutely necessary.
Please note that there will be some flexibility in cases where IRP cards or passports are not up to date due to Covid-19.
More information and how to contact the Citizenship Department, found here.
If you require any further information relating to this, please do not hesitate to contact a caseworker via our contact form here.
