Section:GDN 1N PaGe:51 Edition Date:190907 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/9/2019 11:43 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
Saturday 7 September 2019 The Guardian •Money^51
Brexit
‘Please Ireland,
sort out my
EU citizenship!’
L
ike millions of other
British citizens, Paul
Gadsdon from Somerset
was unhappy with
the result of the EU
referendum. He values
the feeling that he is European,
and the freedom to live and work
across most of the continent. But
unlike many others, he had a get-
out-of-jail-free card: an Irish-born
grandfather, which meant he could
apply for citizenship there and
obtain an EU passport.
So Gadsdon set about pulling
together the sequence of birth and
marriage certifi cates that would be
the fi rst step in becoming a fully-
fl edged Irishman.
It’s a two-step process: fi rst, the
applicant has to prove Irish heritage
and obtain citizenship via the
Foreign Births Register.
Then they have to separately
apply for an Irish passport. Andit’s not cheap – anyone applying is
likely to have to spend nearly £500
on fees and certifi cates, but with
Britain heading to a crash-out Brexit,
Gadsdon thought it was worth it.
But two years after he began the
process, he is disillusioned. Ireland’s
Department of Foreign Aff airs has
cashed his cheques – but done
almost nothing in return.
As he says: “I spent a year
gathering evidence (birth, marriage,
death certifi cates), along with
certifi ed copies of identifi cation, to
get dual Irish citizenship through its
foreign birth registry, and I haven’t
heard a thing since. That was one
year ago, and I was told it would take
six months.
“I know they have been swamped,
but I did pay €278. It’s not so much
the application, or the money – it’s
all the documentation that I needed
to apply, that I need back. It took
around a year to get the 20 or so legal
documents in order to start this
application.”
What irks Gadsdon and some
other applicants, is that the Irish
authorities cash the payment
immediately on receipt of an
application, knowing that it won’t be
examined for months if not longer.
Even when Gadsdon obtains
his citizenship, he is likely to face
another nine-month wait or longer- plus the €80 fee – to obtain a
passport.
Tim Minogue, from Lewes,
Sussex, shares Gadsdon’s concerns.
“I submitted the online form and
paid the fee in late September last
year, followed up by the notarised
copies of my UK passport and the
various family birth/death/marriage
certifi cates required.
“I received an emailed
acknowledgement of receipt of the
completed application in October.
Since then, not a dickybird.”
Minogue says emails to the Irish
authorities have not produced
replies, while phone calls go
unanswered.
Meanwhile, the information on
the Irish government’s website
seems to vary, he says, with some
saying that applications will take
six months, and others six to nine
months. Eleven months on, he’s still
waiting. “Of course you have got to
be sympathetic as they are obviously
dealing with a fl ood of applications,”
says Minogue, who is contemplating
retirement in Ireland.
“It’s just that nothing happens
... on the DFA site there is a phone
number, but it either just rings and
rings, or it takes you to a recorded
message. I sent a polite email but did
not receive a reply.”
He says he feels in limbo, not
knowing if his application has gone
astray, if he has sent the correct
documentation, or if he will have to
re-apply.
“I have no way of fi nding out.
And there will then be another long
delay when I can actually apply for a
passport,” he says.
The Irish authorities told
Guardian Money that it has, indeed,
been deluged with applications from
Britain, but has now created a new
team to deal with the rush.
The DFA says: “Until 2016 the
number of applications for Foreign
Births Registration was relatively
low, at approximately 6,000 a year.
The department has seen an increase
in the number of applications , from
approximately 6,000 in 2015 to over
25,000 in 2018. More than 19,000
applications have been received
already in 2019. The majority in 2019
have come from Great Britain (over
11,000 to date) .”
It added that even a
straightforward application for
citizenship can take six to nine
months to process, and that complex
ones can take up to 12 months.Thousands of British citizens
have applied to become Irish
since the Brexit referendum,
but some say they are now
facing excessive delays and
costs. Patrick Collinson
looks at how the Republic
is dealing with the fl ood of
applications – and the other
EU countries where Brits are
seeking passports▼ Emergency action ... applying for
citizenship and an EU passport
PHOTOGRAPH: RMV/REX/SHUTTERSTOCKWhere you stand in other EU countries
Spain
About 300,000 UK citizens live
in Spain, yet few have applied for
citizenship. Spain’s ministry of
justice told Guardian Money that
“the latest data we have of Britons
who have applied for Spanish
citizenship are very low”.
It says that in 2016, the year
of the EU referendum, 33 British
citizens applied for Spanish
nationality. In 2017, that rose to
181, then rose again to 209 in 2018.
One major stumbling block is
that Spain does not recognise dual
nationality, so applicants from
the UK are supposed to renounce
their British citizenship – though
in practice many keep their British
passports, as they do not have to
be given up. Applicants have to
pass a Spanish language test and
cultur e exam, as well as pay fees
adding up to about €300. Spanish
nationality can be obtained
through residence, but the person
must have lived continuously in
the country for 10 years.France
Estimates vary, but there are
thought to be about 160,000 UK
citizens in France, making it the
third most popular location after
Spain and Ireland. It permits dual
nationality, and the numbers of
Brits applying for citizenship are
reported to have jumped 10-fold
since the EU referendum, from 375
in 2015 to 3,211 in 2018.
If you have a grandparent born
in France, then bad luck – that
doesn’t qualify you for citizenship,
with nationality by descent only
extending back to parents.
But French citizenship through
naturalisation can be obtained
after just fi ve years of living in the
country, falling to just two years
if you complete a post graduate
course at a French university. If
you marry a French citizen, you
qualify after four years.
You have to prove a good
command of French language and
culture, and will be interviewed
at the local prefecture, with the
expectation that you can show you
are integrated into French society.Germany
There are about 96,000 UK citizens
living in Germany and it allows
dual citizenship for citizens of
some countries, including the UK.
Germany has traditionally
been a “ius sanguinis” country,
where citizenship is passed on to
the next generation through the
bloodline, irrespective of the place
of birth. As of 2000, “ius soli” also
applies, which means a child born
in Germany automatically receives
German citizenship, even if both
parents have foreign citizenship.
Eight years of residence are
usually required for naturalisation,
although there are exceptions
(for example, if applicants have
very good German language skills
or have worked for a charity in
Germany , the period is reduced to
six years). Applicants have to take
a language test and a citizenship
exam. They must not be
dependent on the German welfaresystem (with some exceptions) and
hold no criminal record.Italy
There are about 30,000 to 50,000
UK citizens living in Italy , and the
country allows dual nationality. The
Italian consulate general says: “In
the fi rst semester of 2019, we have
received nearly 400 citizenship
requests which include both
applications by lineage/ancestry as
well as by marriage. Of this total,
British citizens rank as the largest
portion of those requesting Italian
citizenship. However, we are unable
to provide an exact fi gure.”
Anyone with an Italian-born
parent is eligible for citizenship, and
in theory applicants can go further
back through the generations to the
point when Italy became a nation in
1861 if they can prove their paternal
“iure sanguinis” (right of bloodline).
But you have to prove that the line
of citizenship was uninterrupted
and that none of your ancestors
renounced their Italian citizenship.
Citizenship via naturalisation is
generally after 10 years of residence,
while through marriage it takes two
years ( three if you are living outside
Italy but married to an Italian).Portugal
Portugal is the only EU country
that has promised easy entry to
British citizens irrespective of a
no-deal Brexit. It also allows dual
nationality and, like Ireland, grants
citizenship to people who can prove
a grandparent born in the country.
The fee is €250.
It says that 495 British citizens
applied for Portuguese citizenship
in 2018 – a big rise from the 50 to 60
applications it used to receive each
year before the EU referendum. It is
estimated that about 20,000-30,000
UK citizens live in the country.
Naturalisation is also easier
than some other countries, with
six years of residence required,
though applicants will have to take a
language test.Other EU countries
There are 28 EU countries each with
their own rules on citizenship.
The Netherlands does not permit
dual citizenship.
There are reports of a surge in
applications in Sweden, home
to about 20,000 British citizens.
The country requires fi ve years’
residence for naturalisation,
dropping to three years if the
person is living with a Swedish
citizen. Through birth you can only
apply if one of your parents, not
grandparents, is Swedish.
The Polish embassy says it had
only received two applications from
UK citizens this year.
Additional reporting by Julia KolleweRELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws