Significant Proposed Changes to Irish Citizenship

Significant Proposed Changes to Irish Citizenship

On 9^th September 2026, the Irish Government received the green light to proceed with drafting the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026, which will result in a significant tightening of the requirements for citizenship by naturalisation. As it stands, the current rules remain in place, but if the new Bill is signed into law (possibly by Christmas), the following changes might apply:

1. Reckonable Residence – We will see an increase from 5 years reckonable residency requirement to 8 years reckonable residency before one is eligible to apply. For the purposes of clarity, years 1 to 6 can be spaced out over a period of 10 years. And years 7 and 8 will require continuous residence in the State during that time period.
2. Continuous Residence Prior to Application – The current 12 months continuous residence prior to application requirement will increase to 24 months continuous residence prior to application.
3. Spouse / Civil Partner of an Irish Citizen – The current 3 years reckonable residency requirement will increase to 5 years reckonable residency. It is also proposed that the non-national spouse / civil partner must be married for at least 5 years at the time of application.
4. Immigration Compliance – Where it is found that an applicant has committed an immigration offence, whether prior to the making of their application, or during the processing stage, this may result in their application being refused.
5. Social Welfare Restrictions – The new rules suggest that if an applicant has been in receipt of a prescribed social welfare payment or housing support in the 2 years prior to making their application, their application may be refused. This also applies to applicants who owe money to the Revenue Commissioners, The Department of Social Welfare, or any other Government body. However, an exception may be made to the social welfare / housing support rule where the Minister is satisfied that it was for a period of 6 months or less during the preceding 2 year period.
6. Language Requirements – Applicants must demonstrate a proficiency of the Irish language, the English language, or Irish sign language, to such a standard. It is not yet clear how this will be tested, but that at least proficiency in one of the above languages will be required.
7. Economic Self-Sufficiency – It is proposed that at the time of application, the applicant must be in receipt of a minimum level of income which will take into account CSO data on annual earnings and labour costs, the cost of living, along with other relevant matters.
8. Civic Awareness – A basic knowledge of how Irish society, government and how the Irish Constitution operates will be a necessary requirement when applying for citizenship. Again, how this will be tested is yet to be known.

The above changes are in line with the Government’s recently published draft Bill, however, whether all of these changes will take effect, and to what extent, is yet to be known.

But if you are currently eligible, or almost eligible to apply for citizenship before the end of 2026, we strongly recommend you apply as soon as possible.

If you would like to book an appointment to discuss this in detail, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

More Legal News from McGrath Mullan Solicitors:

• Changes to Irish Naturalisation rules
• Continuous Residence and Naturalisation
• Reckonable permissions for Naturalisation
• Three useful tips for your application for Irish Naturalisation
• The Good Character Test in Naturalisation Applications
• New scorecard approach for Naturalisation applications
• Is it possible to obtain Irish citizenship through marriage?
• Citizenship Applications can now be made online
• Irish Citizenship by Descent
• Irish Citizenship for Children