Ireland’s sixth easiest in EU to get citizenship
IRELAND is one of the easiest European countries to become a citizen, research has found.
A study by Canadian immigration agency Canadacis drilled into Eurostat immigration data from 2009 to 2021 to see which states had the highest and lowest percentages of non-eu residents becoming nationals.
They found Ireland was the sixth easiest.
Sweden topped the poll and was followed by Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal and Iceland.
In seventh place was Romania, and next was the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Finland.
The list showed countries in northern and western Europe were the easiest.
Denmark however is a notable exception and is one of the most difficult to acquire citizenship in.
Researchers were able to conclude that North and West Europe were the easiest regions to change nationality – with an overall acceptance rate of 5.9% compared with 1.9% in Central Europe and 3.6% in the South.
In Central Europe, Poland and Croatia were the easiest countries to change nationality with rates of 4% and 3.9%, respectively.
On the flip side, the hardest country to get a European passport was Estonia.
This is closely followed by Latvia and the Czech Republic. Lithuania, Austria, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany, and Denmark were the hardest.
They found six in 10 of the hardest countries saw an increase in the amount given out every year. Denmark saw the largest increase and Germany remained stable but Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia all declined.
The majority of European nations tended to give citizenship to more women than men – with just four out of the 32 accepting more males.
Bulgaria and Romania were among the countries with the largest citizenship gender gap which swung in favour of men.
Both countries gave out nearly 50% more citizenship to men compared with women.
Bulgaria and Romania have the largest citizenship gender gaps in favour of men. In both countries, around 45% more men received national status than women.
Greece and Latvia’s acceptance rates were slightly skewed towards men, less than 10%.
Out of all the countries which had the strongest preference for women – seven were in Central Europe.
The top three countries that accepted more women were
Slovenia, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic – which granted three women national status for every two men.
Bryan Brooks, Immigration Expert from Canadacis, said: “As well as having some of the strongest passports, Europe has among the highest quality of life indicators, including high career prospects, living conditions, and healthcare. Analysis reveals Central Europe is the most challenging region to get citizenship, with Northern and Western Europe the easiest.
“In nearly nine in 10 countries, the naturalisation rate was higher for women. It could be that women are more eligible, likely to emigrate, or commonly carry the required skills to fill shortages.”
I n
December, more than 6,000 celebrated after they became Irish citizens following ceremonies in Dublin – bringing the total number naturalised in 2023 to 13,519.
Over two days, people from 142 countries head to the Convention Centre to become naturalised.
If a person wants to apply for citizenship based on residency in Ireland, they must have lived here for at least five years out of the last nine years.
All decisions are decided by the Justice Minister Helen Mcentee.