Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan presented the proposals on September 7, 2026, at the Fianna Fáil party gathering in Tullamore.
Under the planned framework, applicants would have to complete two years of continuous residence immediately before applying, in addition to six years of residence during the preceding ten-year period.
That would represent a significant change from the current rules under Section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. At present, applicants must have one year of continuous residence immediately before applying and four further years of residence during the previous eight years — five qualifying years within a nine-year period.
Applicants Already Accumulating Residence Would Also Be Affected
People who are already partway through the existing five-year qualifying period would not be protected from the proposed increase.
O’Callaghan made this clear when speaking to reporters:
“There are cut-off points, but if you have been here for four years and 10 months by the time the laws are changed and commenced, it will affect you. That’s the truth of the matter,” he noted.
He also said that legislation “will always, I suppose, affect and discriminate against people on the edges.”
The planned language requirement would allow applicants to demonstrate proficiency in Irish, English or Irish Sign Language.
However, the proposals have not yet been converted into legislation. O’Callaghan is expected to seek government approval to begin priority drafting of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026, publish an outline of the proposed legislation and submit that outline to the Oireachtas justice committee for pre-legislative scrutiny.
There is currently no bill text. As of September 8, 2026, no Department of Justice release concerning the announcement had been published. Irish media reports have also given differing indications of when the cabinet is expected to consider the proposals.
How Ireland Compares With Other European Countries
Martin defended the proposed changes by pointing to practices elsewhere in the European Union.
“On the citizenship proposals, this is bringing us more in line with other European Union member states,” he told reporters.
The comparison is particularly relevant to the proposed language requirement. Ireland does not currently require applicants to demonstrate language proficiency.
Immigration Service Delivery currently lists full age, good character, reckonable residence, an intention to continue living in Ireland and a declaration of fidelity among the naturalization requirements. Its naturalization guidance contains no language requirement.
Several other EU member states already impose one. Denmark, Luxembourg and Cyprus test applicants, with Cyprus requiring proficiency at CEFR level B1.
The comparison is less straightforward when the length of residence is considered. Ireland's current five-year requirement is already shared by several EU countries.
Germany reduced its residence requirement from eight years to five in 2024. The 2025 coalition government subsequently removed the additional three-year accelerated route, leaving the five-year requirement in place. France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg also require five years.
Portugal likewise has a five-year requirement. Parliament approved an increase to ten years in 2025, but the Constitutional Court struck the measure down on December 16, 2025.
Other EU countries impose longer residence periods. Austria and Spain generally require ten years, while Denmark requires nine. Cyprus requires seven years within a ten-year period.
Sweden legislated an increase from five years to eight, with the first elements of that change taking effect on June 6, 2026.
An eight-year Irish requirement would therefore be longer than the current periods in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Luxembourg, while remaining below the requirements in Denmark, Austria and Spain.
Investors and Other Irish Residents Would Face the Same Increase
The proposed change would apply to everyone holding an Irish residence permit, including people who obtained residence through Ireland's former investment migration route.
Ireland closed its Immigrant Investor Program to new applications on February 15, 2023. At that point, 3,127 applications remained pending, representing approximately EUR 2.12 billion in investment.
The authorities have processed the outstanding applications gradually. Officials told the Public Accounts Committee in 2024 that resolving the backlog would take years.
There were 538 approvals in 2024, followed by another 208 during the first half of 2025. In 2025, O’Callaghan said the department was reviewing approximately 1,600 investor applications.
Investors receive Stamp 4 residence after submitting their applications. Their qualifying period for citizenship starts from that point, meaning the proposed three-year extension would apply to them in the same way as to other applicants.
For people who spend substantial periods outside Ireland, however, the increase in the continuous-residence requirement from one year to two could become the more significant issue.
Section 15C of the 1956 Act, introduced in 2023, allows applicants to spend up to 70 days outside Ireland during the relevant continuous-residence period. The minister can permit an additional 30 days where circumstances beyond the applicant's control were responsible for the absence.
It remains unclear whether that allowance would apply to one year or to the entire two-year period under the proposed system. That question cannot be resolved until the legislation is published.
Other Proposed Changes to Reckonable Residence
The government also approved a separate package in November 2025 that proposed removing Stamp 0 periods from reckonable residence.
Stamp 0 is used by people of independent means, retirees and dependent elderly relatives.
Immigration Service Delivery currently identifies Stamp 1, Stamp 1H and Stamp 1G as reckonable, while Stamp 2 and Stamp 2A are not. Its published guidance does not specify whether Stamp 0 is reckonable.
The November 2025 package also proposed introducing a self-sufficiency requirement and preventing applicants who have received certain welfare payments on a long-term basis from qualifying.
Another proposed amendment would exclude time spent under the Temporary Protection Directive from reckonable residence. The European Union activated the directive in March 2022 for people displaced from Ukraine.
The Central Statistics Office recorded 122,636 personal public service numbers issued to beneficiaries of temporary protection, of which 84,739 showed recent activity as of June 2026.
Section 16A of the 1956 Act does not specifically list temporary protection among periods excluded from reckonable residence. The Department of Justice describes the exclusion as a proposed amendment, while the Irish Refugee Council has reported that the department already treats time spent under temporary protection as non-reckonable.
Citizenship by Descent Would Remain Unaffected
The proposed changes would not apply to citizenship obtained through descent.
People with an Irish parent, grandparent or great-grandparent can qualify through the Foreign Births Register, and the proposed reforms do not seek to alter that route.
Government Seeks to Slow the Growth in Citizenship Grants
Reducing the number of citizenship grants is another stated objective behind the government's plans.
O’Callaghan cited 25,000 citizenship grants in the previous year and told the Irish Times that he wanted “to restrain the level of growth in that number.”
The Irish Examiner reported 26,400 grants in 2025 and almost 235,000 grants since 2011. The Department of Justice has not published an annual 2025 total that resolves the discrepancy between the figures.
Application fees could also be reconsidered.
The current fee is €175 for an application and €950 following a positive decision. Both amounts have remained unchanged since 2011. In November 2025, the department said it would review the fees against the amounts charged in other European Union countries.
Under the planned framework, applicants would have to complete two years of continuous residence immediately before applying, in addition to six years of residence during the preceding ten-year period.
That would represent a significant change from the current rules under Section 15 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. At present, applicants must have one year of continuous residence immediately before applying and four further years of residence during the previous eight years — five qualifying years within a nine-year period.
Applicants Already Accumulating Residence Would Also Be Affected
People who are already partway through the existing five-year qualifying period would not be protected from the proposed increase.
O’Callaghan made this clear when speaking to reporters:
“There are cut-off points, but if you have been here for four years and 10 months by the time the laws are changed and commenced, it will affect you. That’s the truth of the matter,” he noted.
He also said that legislation “will always, I suppose, affect and discriminate against people on the edges.”
The planned language requirement would allow applicants to demonstrate proficiency in Irish, English or Irish Sign Language.
However, the proposals have not yet been converted into legislation. O’Callaghan is expected to seek government approval to begin priority drafting of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026, publish an outline of the proposed legislation and submit that outline to the Oireachtas justice committee for pre-legislative scrutiny.
There is currently no bill text. As of September 8, 2026, no Department of Justice release concerning the announcement had been published. Irish media reports have also given differing indications of when the cabinet is expected to consider the proposals.
How Ireland Compares With Other European Countries
Martin defended the proposed changes by pointing to practices elsewhere in the European Union.
“On the citizenship proposals, this is bringing us more in line with other European Union member states,” he told reporters.
The comparison is particularly relevant to the proposed language requirement. Ireland does not currently require applicants to demonstrate language proficiency.
Immigration Service Delivery currently lists full age, good character, reckonable residence, an intention to continue living in Ireland and a declaration of fidelity among the naturalization requirements. Its naturalization guidance contains no language requirement.
Several other EU member states already impose one. Denmark, Luxembourg and Cyprus test applicants, with Cyprus requiring proficiency at CEFR level B1.
The comparison is less straightforward when the length of residence is considered. Ireland's current five-year requirement is already shared by several EU countries.
Germany reduced its residence requirement from eight years to five in 2024. The 2025 coalition government subsequently removed the additional three-year accelerated route, leaving the five-year requirement in place. France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg also require five years.
Portugal likewise has a five-year requirement. Parliament approved an increase to ten years in 2025, but the Constitutional Court struck the measure down on December 16, 2025.
Other EU countries impose longer residence periods. Austria and Spain generally require ten years, while Denmark requires nine. Cyprus requires seven years within a ten-year period.
Sweden legislated an increase from five years to eight, with the first elements of that change taking effect on June 6, 2026.
An eight-year Irish requirement would therefore be longer than the current periods in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Luxembourg, while remaining below the requirements in Denmark, Austria and Spain.
Investors and Other Irish Residents Would Face the Same Increase
The proposed change would apply to everyone holding an Irish residence permit, including people who obtained residence through Ireland's former investment migration route.
Ireland closed its Immigrant Investor Program to new applications on February 15, 2023. At that point, 3,127 applications remained pending, representing approximately EUR 2.12 billion in investment.
The authorities have processed the outstanding applications gradually. Officials told the Public Accounts Committee in 2024 that resolving the backlog would take years.
There were 538 approvals in 2024, followed by another 208 during the first half of 2025. In 2025, O’Callaghan said the department was reviewing approximately 1,600 investor applications.
Investors receive Stamp 4 residence after submitting their applications. Their qualifying period for citizenship starts from that point, meaning the proposed three-year extension would apply to them in the same way as to other applicants.
For people who spend substantial periods outside Ireland, however, the increase in the continuous-residence requirement from one year to two could become the more significant issue.
Section 15C of the 1956 Act, introduced in 2023, allows applicants to spend up to 70 days outside Ireland during the relevant continuous-residence period. The minister can permit an additional 30 days where circumstances beyond the applicant's control were responsible for the absence.
It remains unclear whether that allowance would apply to one year or to the entire two-year period under the proposed system. That question cannot be resolved until the legislation is published.
Other Proposed Changes to Reckonable Residence
The government also approved a separate package in November 2025 that proposed removing Stamp 0 periods from reckonable residence.
Stamp 0 is used by people of independent means, retirees and dependent elderly relatives.
Immigration Service Delivery currently identifies Stamp 1, Stamp 1H and Stamp 1G as reckonable, while Stamp 2 and Stamp 2A are not. Its published guidance does not specify whether Stamp 0 is reckonable.
The November 2025 package also proposed introducing a self-sufficiency requirement and preventing applicants who have received certain welfare payments on a long-term basis from qualifying.
Another proposed amendment would exclude time spent under the Temporary Protection Directive from reckonable residence. The European Union activated the directive in March 2022 for people displaced from Ukraine.
The Central Statistics Office recorded 122,636 personal public service numbers issued to beneficiaries of temporary protection, of which 84,739 showed recent activity as of June 2026.
Section 16A of the 1956 Act does not specifically list temporary protection among periods excluded from reckonable residence. The Department of Justice describes the exclusion as a proposed amendment, while the Irish Refugee Council has reported that the department already treats time spent under temporary protection as non-reckonable.
Citizenship by Descent Would Remain Unaffected
The proposed changes would not apply to citizenship obtained through descent.
People with an Irish parent, grandparent or great-grandparent can qualify through the Foreign Births Register, and the proposed reforms do not seek to alter that route.
Government Seeks to Slow the Growth in Citizenship Grants
Reducing the number of citizenship grants is another stated objective behind the government's plans.
O’Callaghan cited 25,000 citizenship grants in the previous year and told the Irish Times that he wanted “to restrain the level of growth in that number.”
The Irish Examiner reported 26,400 grants in 2025 and almost 235,000 grants since 2011. The Department of Justice has not published an annual 2025 total that resolves the discrepancy between the figures.
Application fees could also be reconsidered.
The current fee is €175 for an application and €950 following a positive decision. Both amounts have remained unchanged since 2011. In November 2025, the department said it would review the fees against the amounts charged in other European Union countries.
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During a personal online meeting, we'll discuss your situation in detail, answer your questions, and develop a clear, step-by-step action plan tailored to your goals.