Irish Citizenship by Naturalisation

Last checked: 26 September 2026

This date matters.

Irish citizenship law is currently the subject of significant proposed changes.

As of 26 September 2026, those proposed changes are not yet law.

The Government has published the General Scheme of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026.

A General Scheme is not the final Act.

It is not even necessarily the final wording of the Bill that will eventually go before the Oireachtas.

So this page has two very separate parts:

1. The naturalisation rules that apply today.

2. The changes the Government is proposing for the future.

Please do not mix the two.

That distinction could potentially mean several years’ difference in when somebody becomes eligible to apply.

Part 1: Naturalisation under the law in force today

Naturalisation is the legal process by which someone who was not automatically an Irish citizen becomes an Irish citizen.

It is different from:

• an Irish Residence Permit

• Stamp 4

• Stamp 5

• Long Term Residency

• EU Permanent Residence

Those are immigration or residence statuses.

Naturalisation gives you Irish citizenship.

You do not normally need to obtain permanent residence or Stamp 5 before applying for naturalisation.

What matters is whether you meet the citizenship requirements that apply to your route.

The ordinary adult route today

As of 26 September 2026, an adult applying through ordinary residence generally needs five years of reckonable residence.

The current requirement is:

• one full year of continuous residence immediately before applying, plus

• four additional years of qualifying residence during the preceding eight years.

For non-EU/EEA/Swiss applicants, ISD currently describes this as 1,825 or 1,826 days of reckonable residence, including the final continuous year.

During that final continuous year, current ISD guidance allows up to 70 days outside Ireland, with up to a further 30 days potentially allowed in exceptional circumstances at the Minister’s discretion.

You must also currently:

• be aged 18 or over

• prove your identity

• prove the required residence

• be of good character

• intend to continue residing in Ireland after naturalisation

• attend a citizenship ceremony if required

• make the declaration of fidelity

• keep your immigration permission valid where you are required to hold one.

Reckonable residence matters

Five calendar years living physically in Ireland does not automatically mean five years of reckonable residence.

Your immigration permission matters.

Some permissions count.

Some do not.

Some situations have their own special rules.

For non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals, use the official Naturalisation Residency Calculator rather than simply counting backwards from the day your flight landed in Dublin.

Keep your immigration registrations up to date.

ISD specifically warns that gaps in permission can make a citizenship application ineligible rather than simply delaying it.

Proof of residence

ISD currently operates a points-based evidence system.

Applicants generally need to provide documents reaching 150 points for each year of residence claimed.

Evidence can include things such as:

• bank statements

• household bills

• government correspondence

• tenancy-related documentation

• certain medical or official letters

There is a separate identity scorecard.

Where someone genuinely cannot reach the required evidence score, ISD has a Residential Proof Affidavit process, but acceptance remains at the Minister’s discretion.

Married to or in a civil partnership with an Irish citizen

This route is currently shorter.

As of 26 September 2026, you generally need:

• to have been married to or in a civil partnership with the Irish citizen for at least three years

• the relationship to be genuine and continuing

• to be living together when applying and when citizenship is granted

• three years of legal residence on the island of Ireland during the five years immediately before applying

• including one continuous year immediately before the application

• good character

• the required identity and residence evidence

• an intention to continue residing on the island of Ireland after naturalisation.

For non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals, the current residence target is normally 1,095 or 1,096 days of reckonable residence.

This three-year route remains the law today.

That is particularly important because the Government is proposing to change it.

Refugees

The rules for people granted international protection changed in December 2025.

People granted refugee status now generally need five years before applying under the current rules, calculated under the specific international-protection arrangements.

Children

Children have separate naturalisation routes.

These include applications:

• by a naturalised parent on behalf of their child

• for certain children with Irish descent or associations

• for certain children born in Ireland after 1 January 2005 who were not citizens at birth but have subsequently built up the required residence.

Do not simply apply the adult five-year calculation to every child.

Young adult dependants

ISD also currently recognises a dependant-young-adult category for certain people aged 18 to 23 who entered Ireland legally as part of a family unit and remain dependent while continuing directly through secondary and third-level education.

Good character

Naturalisation is not automatic just because the residence calculation has been met.

The Minister for Justice retains discretion.

Applicants must be of good character, and citizenship applications now include Garda e-vetting as part of the process.

Current application costs

At the time of writing, the naturalisation application fee is:

€175

If the application is approved, the current certification fees are:

• €950 for most adults

• €200 for a minor

• €200 for a widow, widower or surviving civil partner of an Irish citizen

• €0 for a recognised refugee or stateless person.

These are current figures, not permanent figures.

Always check ISD before applying.

Where to check the rules that apply today

The official Immigration Service Delivery naturalisation page should always be your final reference.

Current ISD citizenship-by-naturalisation rules

Also use the current:

ISD Naturalisation Residency Calculator

Part 2: The proposed 2026 citizenship changes

Now we get to the elephant in the room.

On 21 September 2026, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration published the:

General Scheme of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026

It proposes major changes to Irish naturalisation law.

You should read the actual document rather than relying only on newspaper headlines or social-media summaries.

Read the Government’s General Scheme of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026

Stop here for one important warning

The General Scheme is not law.

It does not change your citizenship eligibility today.

It is the Government’s proposed framework for legislation.

The wording can change:

• during legal drafting

• during pre-legislative scrutiny

• before the Bill is published

• during Dáil consideration

• during Seanad consideration

• through amendments

• before enactment

• and potentially through later regulations needed to operate parts of the new system.

The Oireachtas itself describes a General Scheme as outline provisions or “heads” prepared before the final Bill text.

So whenever you read:

“Ireland has changed citizenship to eight years”

the correct response today is:

“No. The Government is proposing to change it to eight years.”

As at 26 September 2026, the current ordinary residence rule remains five years.

What does the General Scheme propose?

The following is a summary of the proposal as published on 21 September 2026.

It is not a summary of current law.

Ordinary naturalisation: five years would become eight

The current ordinary requirement is effectively:

1 continuous year + 4 earlier qualifying years

The proposal would replace this with:

2 continuous years immediately before applying + 6 additional years during the preceding 10 years.

That would mean a total of eight years of qualifying residence.

This is one of the biggest proposed changes.

The final continuous-residence period would double

At present, ordinary applicants generally need one continuous year immediately before applying.

The General Scheme proposes two continuous years immediately before the application.

That means the headline is not simply:

five years becomes eight.

The structure of the residence test itself would also change.

Spouses and civil partners of Irish citizens: three years would become five

This is a major proposed change for SA2eire families.

Today, the special Irish-spouse/civil-partner route generally requires:

• at least three years of marriage/civil partnership

• three years of qualifying residence

• including one continuous year immediately before applying.

The General Scheme proposes increasing:

• the relationship requirement from three years to five years

• the residence requirement from three years to five years

• the final continuous-residence period from one year to two years.

The proposed residence structure would be:

2 continuous years immediately before applying + 3 years during the preceding 5 years.

So somebody planning around the current special three-year spouse route needs to watch this very carefully.

Language requirement

The General Scheme proposes requiring applicants to demonstrate proficiency in:

• Irish

• English

• or Irish Sign Language.

The actual standard has not yet been set.

The proposal gives the Minister power to prescribe the standard and how proficiency would be verified later.

So there is currently no legitimate answer to:

“What level of English will I need?”

The General Scheme does not tell us yet.

There is no published final language test.

There is no published pass mark.

Do not pay somebody for a supposed “Irish citizenship English test preparation course” based on a test that has not yet been prescribed.

Civics requirement

The proposal would also require applicants to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Irish civics.

Again, the precise:

• content

• test

• standard

• pass mark

• method of assessment

would be set later.

The General Scheme refers to a foundational knowledge of matters such as Irish society, government and the Constitution.

But the actual test does not yet exist in final published form.

Possible exemptions from language and civics requirements

The General Scheme proposes allowing the Minister to waive the language and civics requirements for specified categories in circumstances later prescribed by regulation.

The explanatory material specifically refers to avoiding unfair effects on vulnerable applicants.

Again, the detailed exemptions are not yet known.

Self-sufficiency requirement

This is another major proposed change.

For the ordinary Section 15 naturalisation route, the General Scheme proposes requiring applicants to have sufficient resources so as not to become an unreasonable burden on the State.

The proposal envisages several parts to this.

A minimum income

The Minister would be given power to prescribe a minimum level of income.

When determining it, the General Scheme says regard may be had to matters such as:

• CSO earnings data

• labour costs

• cost of living

• economic and social conditions.

The actual income figure does not exist yet

This is crucial.

The General Scheme does not say:

You must earn €X.

The actual minimum would be set later by regulations if the legislation is enacted.

So any exact citizenship-income threshold currently being shared online is speculation unless and until the Government publishes the relevant regulations.

Social welfare and housing support

For the ordinary route, the General Scheme proposes restrictions concerning certain social welfare payments and certain housing supports.

The proposal says prescribed payments or supports could affect eligibility where received:

• at the time of application

• during the application process

• or during the two years preceding the application.

It also proposes discretion where prescribed welfare or housing support was received for no more than six months in total during the preceding two years.

But again:

we do not yet know exactly which payments will be prescribed.

Nor do we yet know exactly which housing supports will ultimately be included.

The General Scheme gives Ministers power to specify these later by regulation.

So please do not take an online claim such as:

“If you ever received Child Benefit you can never become Irish”

as fact.

The proposed legislation does not give us a final list yet.

Revenue, Social Welfare debts and court fines

The proposed ordinary-route self-sufficiency rules also say an applicant should not:

• owe Revenue

• owe the Department of Social Protection

• have an outstanding court fine

at the relevant time during the application process.

Important: the proposed self-sufficiency test is not written into the Irish-spouse route in the same way

This distinction matters.

Head 5 proposes the new self-sufficiency provisions for the standard Section 15 route.

Head 6, dealing specifically with spouses and civil partners of Irish citizens, proposes:

• longer residence

• longer marriage/civil-partnership duration

• immigration-offence restrictions

• language proficiency

• civics knowledge.

It does not, in the published General Scheme, insert the same Section 15 self-sufficiency requirement into the spouse/civil-partner route.

That could change while the legislation is drafted or amended.

But that is what the published General Scheme says today.

Immigration offences

The General Scheme proposes creating a schedule of specified immigration-related offences or contraventions that would preclude a certificate of naturalisation.

The Schedule refers to specified offences under legislation including:

• the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act

• Immigration Act 1999

• Immigration Act 2004

• International Protection legislation

• EU Free Movement Regulations

• Withdrawal Agreement Regulations.

This proposal is more specific than the current general good-character test.

Good character would remain

The proposal does not replace good character.

It expressly proposes that the existing good-character requirement cannot be waived.

Conditions during the application process

For ordinary applications, the General Scheme also proposes that certain requirements would need to continue to be satisfied while the application is being processed.

The explanatory note says the intention is that eligibility is not simply assessed at one frozen moment on the application date.

This could make things such as maintaining valid residence and the proposed self-sufficiency requirements particularly important while a case remains pending.

Proposed changes to reckonable residence

The General Scheme also proposes narrowing what can count as reckonable residence in some circumstances.

Among other things, it proposes excluding periods spent under Temporary Protection from future reckonable-residence calculations, and excluding certain temporary periods while EU Treaty Rights claims or reviews were pending where the person was ultimately found not to have had the claimed entitlement.

It also proposes allowing the Minister to prescribe additional permissions of a temporary or limited nature that would not count.

This is an area to watch extremely carefully because the final wording could matter to people already accumulating residence on particular permissions.

Transitional protection: do not assume too much

This is another area where SA2eire needs to be careful.

The General Scheme includes an express protection in Head 9 saying that the proposed new reckonable-residence exclusions in that Head would not apply to naturalisation applications already submitted before the commencement of the legislation.

But the published General Scheme does not yet contain a comprehensive, crystal-clear transitional rule covering every proposed change in the entire Scheme.

In particular, do not confidently assume that:

“Anyone already living in Ireland under the current five-year system is automatically grandfathered.”

Nor should we state that every application submitted before enactment is guaranteed to be assessed under every old rule unless and until the final legislation clearly says so.

This is precisely the sort of detail that may change during drafting and the parliamentary process.

Watch the final Bill.

Citizenship revocation

The General Scheme also proposes adding an express ground allowing revocation of naturalised citizenship where the Minister considers it to be in the interests of:

• public policy

• public order

• national security.

That concerns revocation after naturalisation, rather than ordinary application eligibility.

It is another reason to read the whole General Scheme rather than only the residence headline.

So where are we in the law-making process?

Think of it like this:

CURRENT POSITION – 26 SEPTEMBER 2026

Government policy proposal agreed

↓

General Scheme published – 21 September 2026

← WE ARE AROUND HERE

↓

Pre-legislative scrutiny by the relevant Oireachtas Committee

↓

Government lawyers draft the actual Bill

↓

Bill is published and formally introduced into the Oireachtas

↓

Second Stage – general principles debated

↓

Committee Stage – detailed section-by-section examination and amendments

↓

Report Stage – further amendments

↓

Final Stage in the first House

↓

Bill goes through the other House

↓

Any amendments between the Houses must be resolved

↓

Both Houses pass the same final text

↓

President signs the Bill

↓

It becomes an Act

↓

BUT WAIT – the Act may still need commencement

↓

Minister makes commencement order(s)

↓

Only then do the relevant new provisions actually take effect

The Oireachtas explains that Government Bills normally move from the General Scheme and pre-legislative scrutiny into drafting, followed by the formal parliamentary stages. A Bill must pass both Houses before the President can sign it into law.

What is pre-legislative scrutiny?

The General Scheme can be referred to the relevant Oireachtas Committee.

The committee can:

• examine the proposals

• hear from the Department

• invite experts and stakeholders

• receive written submissions

• hold public hearings

• make recommendations.

The Committee can then publish a pre-legislative scrutiny report.

Government may change the eventual Bill after that process.

It does not have to reproduce every Head in the General Scheme word for word.

That is why the General Scheme is useful but not final.

Then we finally get an actual Bill

When the Government has the legislative text drafted, an actual Bill is published.

This is the document everyone will need to read again from scratch.

Do not assume:

General Scheme wording = final Bill wording.

We will need to compare them.

Something could be:

• removed

• rewritten

• narrowed

• expanded

• given an exemption

• accompanied by transitional provisions

• left to later regulation.

The formal stages of the Bill

Once the Bill is formally introduced, it moves through the Oireachtas.

First Stage

The Bill is formally initiated.

For a Government Bill this is primarily the introduction/presentation stage.

Second Stage

This is the major debate on the principle of the Bill.

TDs or Senators discuss what the Bill is trying to do and whether they support, oppose or seek changes to its overall approach.

Committee Stage

This is where things become very important for SA2eire readers.

The Bill is examined in detail, section by section.

Amendments can be proposed.

This is where wording may materially change.

Report Stage

Further amendments arising from the detailed consideration can be made.

Final Stage

The House decides whether to pass the Bill.

The Bill then has to pass through the other House.

Where the second House changes the Bill, the amendments need to go back to the first House for agreement.

Then the President signs it

Once both Houses have agreed the final text, the Bill can be sent to the President.

When signed, it becomes an Act.

But even that may not be the final step for these citizenship changes.

Commencement matters

Head 2 of the General Scheme specifically proposes that the eventual Act would come into operation on a day or days appointed by the Minister through commencement orders.

Different provisions could potentially commence on different dates.

That means there could eventually be three completely different dates floating around:

Bill passed

Act signed

particular citizenship rule commenced

The date that matters for a particular applicant may therefore be the commencement date of the relevant provision, not the day somebody announces on television that the Bill has passed.

Regulations will matter too

Several of the proposed changes cannot actually operate from the General Scheme alone.

The proposal leaves important details to future regulations.

Those include matters such as:

• the minimum income level

• which social welfare payments count

• which housing supports count

• the required language standard

• how language ability will be verified

• the civics standard

• how civics knowledge will be verified

• categories that may receive language/civics exemptions

• potentially further temporary immigration permissions excluded from reckonable residence.

So even after an Act is eventually passed, we may still need to wait for secondary legislation before knowing exactly how some rules operate.

Where should you watch for updates?

Do not rely on Facebook screenshots.

Watch the official sources.

1. Immigration Service Delivery

This tells you what the citizenship requirements currently are.

ISD – Become an Irish citizen by naturalisation

If this page still says five years, that is an extremely important indication of the rules ISD is currently administering.

2. The published General Scheme

Keep this document because it gives us the Government’s starting proposal.

General Scheme – Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026

But remember:

General Scheme ≠ Act.

3. Houses of the Oireachtas – Bills and Acts

Once the actual Bill is introduced, its official Oireachtas page becomes one of the most important places to watch.

It will allow you to follow:

• Bill versions

• stages

• debates

• amendments

• votes

• final passage.

Oireachtas – Bills and Acts

4. Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

Watch this Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny, hearings, submissions and reports relating to the General Scheme.

Oireachtas – Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

The Committee process is particularly important before the final Bill is settled. The Oireachtas explains that pre-legislative scrutiny allows a committee to examine a Government General Scheme and make recommendations while the legislation is still being drafted.

5. Oireachtas debates

Once parliamentary consideration begins, read the actual debates rather than relying entirely on somebody else’s summary.

Oireachtas debates and proceedings

What should you do if you are approaching eligibility now?

Check the law that applies now.

Do not postpone an application solely because somebody on social media says the eight-year rule has already started.

It has not started as of the date of this article.

Equally, do not plan five years into the future on the assumption that today’s rules are guaranteed to remain unchanged.

If you already qualify under the current rules, use the official ISD guidance to determine whether you are eligible to apply.

If you do not yet qualify, watch this legislation closely.

If you are at four years, four-and-a-half years or approaching the three-year Irish-spouse route

This group needs to pay particularly close attention.

The proposed legislation could materially change the date on which you become eligible.

But until legislation is actually enacted and commenced, we cannot tell you with certainty:

• exactly what the final residence requirement will be

• what transitional arrangements will exist

• whether applicants close to the old threshold will receive protection

• what income threshold will apply

• which welfare or housing supports will be prescribed

• what the language test will look like

• what the civics test will look like

• precisely when each part will commence.

Anyone giving you confident answers to those questions today is getting ahead of the legislation.

Don’t confuse eligibility to apply with entitlement to citizenship

Even under the current system, completing the necessary residence does not create an automatic right to a certificate of naturalisation.

Naturalisation applications are determined by the Minister for Justice under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts.

The Minister considers the statutory requirements, including matters such as residence and good character, and retains legal discretion in the naturalisation process.

And don’t confuse naturalisation with permanent residence

We cover this separately because it causes so much confusion.

Permanent or long-term residence concerns your immigration right to live in Ireland.

Naturalisation concerns becoming an Irish citizen.

You do not generally have to obtain Stamp 5 or Long Term Residency before applying for citizenship.

But if you are a non-EEA national, your immigration permission needs to remain valid and the residence you rely upon needs to be legally reckonable for naturalisation.

See:

SA2eire – Permanent Residence in Ireland

for the separate explanation.

The SA2eire position on this page

This article is deliberately dated.

26 September 2026.

The current rules and the proposed rules are both set out because, right now, both matter.

But they matter in different ways.

CURRENT LAW

Ordinary naturalisation is still generally based on five years of reckonable residence, including the final continuous year.

The Irish-spouse/civil-partner route is still generally three years.

There is currently no general citizenship language test.

There is currently no general citizenship civics test.

The proposed new statutory minimum-income test has not commenced.

PROPOSED FUTURE SYSTEM

The General Scheme proposes:

• 8 years for ordinary naturalisation

• 2 continuous years immediately before applying

• 5 years for the Irish-spouse/civil-partner route

• language proficiency

• civics knowledge

• a self-sufficiency and income test for the ordinary route

• restrictions involving prescribed welfare and housing supports

• specified immigration offences that would bar naturalisation

• changes to reckonable residence

• additional citizenship-revocation provisions.

Those proposals can still change.

One final rule

When checking this page in future, look at the date at the top first.

Then check the official ISD naturalisation page.

Then check the Oireachtas legislation tracker.

Because this is one of those rare periods where a citizenship article can be completely accurate on Monday and need a major rewrite a short time later.

SA2eire is no longer a membership platform and this website is not regularly updated. Please use it as a general guide only, and always check the relevant official Irish websites for current rules, requirements and procedures.