New measures announced by the Minister for Justice aim at reducing the lengthy application period for citizenship will not come into full effect until at least February 2012, Metro Éireann has learned.
At the inaugural citizenship ceremony in Dublin Castle last week, Minister Alan Shatter clarified his position on the issue.
“I expect that the current backlog will be dealt with by spring of next year,” he said. “From that time on my aim is that, under new measures I announced on 16 June, save in exceptional circumstances, persons applying for citizenship will be given a decision on their application within six months.”
Already the minister said steps he took to address the issue after his appointment were working. As of 24 June, he said there were only “13,500 applications awaiting decision in excess of six months”, adding that more than 6,000 applications were handled within the past three months, which exceeds the total of 5,038 applications officials dealt with in the whole of 2010.
Minister Shatter said the figure was a significant reduction in the huge backlog of citizenship applications that preceded his leadership.
“When the new Government came into office on 9 March there was a backlog of approximately 22,000 citizenship applications awaiting decision, approximately 17,000 of which had been waiting for in excess of six months with an average waiting time of 25 months. Some, indeed, had waited longer.
He continued: “It is entirely inappropriate, and completely out of step with other countries, that people wishing to become Irish citizens should be required to wait an average of 25 months for a decision on their application.”
Other measures that he said have been implemented to aid speedy application processing include new citizenship application forms, replacing ones he described as “unnecessarily complex and obtuse. ” He said the new forms would bring a significant reduction in the number of applications that are “incorrectly completed”.
The minister also announced “streamlined and accelerated checking procedures for certain categories of applicants, such as spouses of Irish citizens and applicants recently granted long-term residency who, as part of that process, underwent checks similar to those in place for naturalisation”. He said this would facilitate a quick turnaround in decision on applications.
It’s expected that interns will be recruited by the Department of Justice to help process the applications backlog.
