Naturalisation application – 1 year of continuous residence prior to application
Hi all
I have a query I was wondering someone could give me a steer on, if possible.
My client is a non-EEA national who has been resident in Ireland since 2019. She wishes to make an application for naturalisation based on residence.
Though I am comfortable that she has accumulated the requisite 4 year’s reckonable residence, I’m trying to assess whether she has at this point accumulated the additional 1 year continuous residence before making her application. She appears to have been absent from the State for more than 6 months in 2024, though she did reside in Ireland for a portion of that year. My question is, if she was absent from Ireland for more than 6 months in 2024, is it the case that she cannot rely on any of her time spent in Ireland in 2024 to go towards her 1 year continuous residence? The ISD’s published guidance does get into this in detail this, but does include an infographic that would appear to suggest this (see screenshot below)
If I were to submit my client’s application today, she’ll have had to (in addition to having her 4 years’ reckonable residence) have resided in Ireland since 26 August 2024. If she cannot rely on any of her time spent in the country in 2024 because she was absent for more than 6 months during this year, then my understanding is that her reckonable residence would be “interrupted” on 1 January 2024 and would only resume on the first day of 2025, meaning she would not comply with the 1 year continuous residence requirement if she made her application now, and would need to wait to make her application until she has accumulated the full year starting from 1 January 2025.
Has someone come across this type of scenario before and if so how was it resolved? Any guidance or steer would be really appreciated.
Thank you!
Rose
