Citizenship applicants left in limbo by unfair, ad-hoc system, group claims

PEOPLE applying for citizenship are left in limbo for years on end in an unfair system which has no hard and fast rules and no appeals mechanism, according to an immigrant support centre.

There are almost 20,000 people awaiting a decision on citizenship. The current waiting time for an application to be processed is two years.

Ongoing research by Cork-based immigrant support centre, Nasc, has found of 90 applicants it has interviewed so far, most are currently awaiting a response from the Department of Justice.

Of the remainder, 13 have been granted citizenship, and 11 have been refused. This corresponds approximately with the official statistic of a 47% refusal rate for citizenship applications.

Claire McCarthy, policy officer with Nasc, said Ireland’s refusal rate was far higher than most other countries. She said citizenship was granted on the basis of ministerial discretion without clear guidelines as to what factors lead to a successful application. “We believe that citizenship needs to become a right, enshrined in legislation, rather than a privilege granted on an ad-hoc basis at the discretion of the minister for justice.

“Refusing people citizenship worked against the spirit of integration and only served to exclude residents who have been living here for years.”

Nasc’s legal information service has assisted hundreds of citizenship applicants over the last few years, and the number of people seeking assistance continues to grow.

The organisation recently began analysing its client’s experiences, so it can provide independent and verifiable information on waiting times and rejected applications – and about the reasons for rejection.

“Those who had experienced refusal said they felt it is unfair that there is no appeals mechanism, and that they have no option but to apply again, even though they have no idea whether their application is likely to be accepted the next time around,” Ms McCarthy said.

“People feel frustrated at the waiting time of at least two years.”

Research shows that most of those who have been refused have reapplied at least once. Typical reasons for refusal are economic dependence on the state, being of “bad character”, which could be as little as a parking fine, and having irregularities in residency registration.

Nasc called on Integration Minister Mary White to implement a 2008 policy document and reform the state’s naturalisation process.