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The letter calls for Ireland's nationality and citizenship bill to recognize time spent completing a PhD as reckonable residence, regardless of funding source. It also supports a fair transition period for international researchers legally residing in Ireland who have already begun the five-year route to citizenship.
Sir, – As I anxiously read the transcript of the Dáil Éireann debate on migration and citizenship on Wednesday, I was very relieved to see that Eoghan Kenny, Michael Collins and Paula Butterly raised what had previously been a completely overlooked issue in the debate on the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2026.
The fact is that four years spent pursuing a doctorate in Ireland do not qualify as “reckonable residence” under both the existing and the currently drafted new legislation, unless the PhD candidate is funded through the EU’s Marie Curie programme or is already an EU citizen. It was also very encouraging to hear even some Government members calling for a sensible transition period and for allowing those legally residing in Ireland to remain on the five-year citizenship pathway.
That is a just and sensible request, and I hope this is adopted. But what I wish for even more is that this Bill finally addresses the discrepancy in how “reckonable residence” for PhD candidates and graduates is defined, and ensures that four years of work on furthering Irish research and promoting Irish universities abroad are accounted for in the pathway towards naturalisation, regardless of the funding source.
Otherwise, Irish PhD candidates and graduates face a 4+8=12-year pathway to apply for naturalisation, the longest wait of any EU country and twice as long as Austria’s six-year pathway for well-integrated citizens, ie those with language proficiency or a diploma from an Austrian university. That is not an inviting prospect for any prospective researcher, nor a way for Ireland to attract and retain the future high earners and high taxpayers that it, as a “knowledge economy”, ought to target. – Yours, etc. JOVAN JEROMELA, Gardiner Street Upper, Dublin 1.
Irish Citizenship Phd Candidates Reckonable Residence Naturalisation Migration Policy
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