The issue has come into focus after Ireland’s Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan confirmed that the qualifying residency period is set to increase from five years to eight.

The proposed changes would also introduce language requirements, a test covering Irish civics, society, and politics, and a requirement that applicants be financially self-sufficient.

But it is the change from five to eight years that is causing particular concern among foreign residents already approaching the current threshold.

O’Callaghan acknowledged last week that there would be a cut-off point. Someone who had been legally resident in Ireland for four years and ten months when the new law came into effect, he said, would still be caught by the change.

Three more years for some residents

One of those potentially affected is Ivan, a 40-year-old Brazilian national who moved to Dublin with his wife in July 2022.

He initially came to Ireland for a job with a US multinational under a critical skills visa and now holds Stamp 4 immigration permission.

Under the current rules, he would be eligible to apply for Irish citizenship in July 2027. If the eight-year requirement applies to him, that date would move to 2030.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Ivan said he understood the Government’s reasons for tightening the rules and had no objection to requirements involving language skills, civic knowledge, good character or integration.

What he wants is a transition period for people who have already accumulated most of the five years required under the existing system.

His concern is one likely to be shared by other long-term residents. Decisions about jobs, families and whether to remain in a country can be made years before someone becomes eligible for citizenship.

Ivan said he had been offered opportunities to move to the United States and Singapore but turned them down after deciding he wanted to stay in Ireland.

“For the people affected, they are three years of their lives,” he told the newspaper, describing the proposed extension as three more years of uncertainty.

No transition period announced

The Government has not, at this stage, announced a concession for people who are already close to meeting the existing five-year requirement.

That means the date on which the legislation comes into force could make a considerable difference to some applicants.

The changes are expected to affect thousands of people if they become law before the end of the year, according to the Irish Examiner.

For Ivan, the argument is not that existing residents should be exempt from tougher language or integration standards. He is asking the Government to recognise the years they have already spent working towards a residency requirement that was five years when they arrived.

His case puts a very human example behind what might otherwise look like a fairly simple change of numbers: for someone already four years into the process, five years becoming eight is not a small adjustment.