On 16 June, the Minister for Justice announced new measures aimed at easing the processing of applications of immigrant who want to become Irish citizens.
Under the new regime, which is expected to be full in place by spring next year, Minister Alan Shatter said decisions on most applications would be made within six months.
Since the plan was announced, there has been wide jubilation among immigrants and Irish people who are in favour of granting citizenship to immigrants. They argue that it would allow immigrants who want to make their home here a real opportunity to do so.
It is believed that the number of immigrants applying for naturalisation is on the increase. Speaking last week at the maiden citizenship ceremony, which is part of the new citizenship regime, the minister said 13,500 applications were awaiting decisions for more than six months. However, more than 6,000 citizenship applications were dealt with between March and June this year.
While Metro Éireann welcomes the new measures, we also believe that citizenship should not be withheld due to minor issues such as traffic offences, as well as being in receipt of jobseekers’ allowance, as is currently the case.
As we have said many times, any immigrant who wants to become Irish must know the basics about the State. We therefore repeat our call for a full orientation – without examination – for successful applicants. This would ensure that new citizens become true ambassadors of this great nation.
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