Nearly 18,000 parents of Irish-born children apply for residency status

ALMOST 18,000 applications for residency status from parents of Irish-born children have been received by the Department of Justice, newly released figures show.

The department yesterday said it had already granted more than 3,300 applications, but said it would take a number of months to determine the remaining cases.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell established the one-off scheme in order to deal with the legal position of foreign parents of Irish-born children who were born before January 1. Children of foreign nationals born prior to this date automatically received Irish citizenship. The situation changed with the Citizenship Referendum becoming law on January 1.