On the 30th June 2018 the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service released a new Form 8 Application form dated Ver 5.7 June 2018 for citizenship applications. This replaces the old form Ver 5.6 January 2018. If you are submitting a new application for Irish Citizenship you must use the application form Ver 5.7 June 2018. Any applications submitted on the Ver 5.6 January 2018 Form 8 will be returned.
The new form contains a Data protection Statement in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 which must be signed by the applicant. Like the older January 2018 form, it contains a paragraph regarding identity documents which are required to be submitted in support of an application. The INIS require evidence of identity in the form of a valid passport, or a previously held expired passport, birth certificate or marriage certificate. If an Applicant is unable to provide either of this documentation then an explanation will need to be submitted as to why they cannot do so supported with correspondence from the relevant authorities or embassy responsible for issuing passports and birth certificates in their country.
This of course may not always be possible for example if a person has been granted Refugee Status or Subsidiary Protection in Ireland, then they may not be in a position to produce identity documentation. It would be wholly inappropriate and contrary to the State’s international obligations to suggest that internationally recognised refugees or subsidiary protection holders should have to seek a passport or other identity documents from their country of nationality after they have been granted their status in Ireland.
Also we have had a number of people present to our office where their application for citizenship has been refused because the person was out of the Country for an excess of a 6 week period in the year prior to making their application. We are currently challenging that rule before the High Court for a number of clients. If you have been affected by such a decision then we will be in a position to assist you to have your application approved.
If you wish to discuss your application for Irish Citizenship do not hesitate to contact the office of Sinnott Solicitors today.
