Diseño y desarrollo del HTA de importación de datos

4.5.1 Developments within the National Perspective

A total of 27,000 applications for citizenship were received during 2011, with 16,150 applications decided during the year.194

4.5.1.1

Legislative Developments

4.5.1.1.1 Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011

As discussed in Section 3.2.3, the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011

was signed into law in August 2011 and provides for a number of amendments to citizenship and immigration law. Section 33 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 amends the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 to provide for citizenship ceremonies, to take account of recognition in Irish law of civil partnerships in Irish law by the Civil Partnership Act 2010 and to allow fees to be charged for naturalisation applications.195

4.5.1.1.2 The Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 284 of 2011)

In June 2011, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence signed S.I. No. 284 of 2011 which relates to changes in naturalisation forms, in particular to facilitate minor applicants. The commencement date for these changes was 24 June 2011.

193 _{http://familyreunification.eu.}

194 _{Department of Justice and Equality (2012). Annual Report 2011. Available at www.justice.ie.} 195 _{In summary, the principal amendments are as follows:}

Section 15 of the Principal Act is amended to provide expressly for formal citizenship ceremonies;

Section 15A is amended to allow the Minister for Justice to waive the conditions for naturalisation in Section 15 for non-national civil partners as well as non-national spouses;

Section 16 is similarly amended to include civil partners of Irish citizens within those deemed to be 'of Irish associations';

Section 17 is amended to include express permission to charge fees for applications for naturalisation;

Section 19 is amended to exclude those who obtain another citizenship by way of civil partnership from the category of persons from whom Irish citizenship may be revoked;

Section 20 is amended to provide that civil partnership, like marriage, does not bring with it an entitlement to citizenship;

Section 22 is amended to provide that the death of an Irish citizen or revocation of citizenship does not affect the subjects spouse, civil partner or children; and

Section 23 is amended to provide that the marriage or civil partnership of an Irish citizen will not affect their entitlement to citizenship.

4.5.1.1.3 The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 569 of 2011)

In November 2011, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence signed S.I. No.569 of 2011 which relates to the introduction of a non-refundable fee of €175 for all applications for a certificate of naturalisation, as well as changes to forms, in particular to facilitate applicants who are the civil partners of Irish citizens. The commencement date for these changes was 10 November 2011.196

4.5.1.2

Changes to the Citizenship Application Process

In June 2011 it was announced that a series of changes to the citizenship application process in Ireland was to take place to enable ‘more efficient and streamlined processing times’. All applications are to receive a decision within six months (except in exceptional circumstances), and, noting the high level of applications which routinely had to be returned due to errors (see Joyce (2011) for further discussion), a simplified application form was introduced. The introduction of citizenship ceremonies was also provided for, and the first took place in Dublin on 24 June 2011. Under the previous arrangements, a local district court clerk arranged for a person granted citizenship to take an oath before a District Court Judge, and the new citizen then received his or her Certificate of Naturalisation by post. A further 28 citizenship ceremonies took place during 2011 on a national basis with persons from 112 countries participating.197

Statutory Instruments Numbers 284 and 569 of 2011 were both signed and commenced during the year, relating to changes in naturalisation forms and introduction of a non-refundable fee of €175 for all applications, respectively. Other changes announced during 2011 included accelerated checking procedures for certain categories of applicants (such as spouses of Irish citizens and recent grantees of long-term residency) in which similar checks may have already taken place, and the recruitment of a number of interns under the Governmental ‘Jobs Initiative’.198

4.5.1.3

Citizenship Application Processing Times

The issue of processing times for applications for citizenship has attracted considerable debate in recent years, and received additional commentary during 2011. Upon announcing changes to the citizenship application process in June 2011, the Minister for Justice and Equality stated that upon taking office in March of that year, approximately 22,000 citizenship applications were awaiting

196 _{Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (November 2011). ‘Minister Shatter signs new nationality and} citizenship Regulations’. Press Release. Available at www.inis.gov.ie.

197 _{Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (January 2012). ‘Immigration in Ireland 2011 - a year-end snapshot -} major changes and more to follow. Minister Shatter outlines plans for 2012’. Press Release. Available at www.inis.gov.ie.

198 _{Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (June 2011). ‘Minister Shatter introduces major changes to} citizenship application processing regime’. Press Release. Available at www.inis.gov.ie.

Legal Immigration and Integration | 43 decisions. Of this number, approximately 17,000 had been waiting over six

months, with an average waiting time of 26 months. During 2011 a total of 16,150 applications had been decided upon, in contrast to the previous year when 7,800 cases were decided.199 _{The Department of Justice and Equality} noted in its Annual Report 2011 that as from mid-2012 all non-complex cases (noted as 70 per cent of all applications) will be completed within six months.200

4.5.1.4

Proposed Development of a Language/Civics Test for