Access to citizenship & its impact on immigrant integration (ACIT)

Results for Ireland16 January 2012

Iseult HonohanUniversity College DublinJasper Dag TjadenMigration Policy Group Co-financed by the

European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals

Access to citizenship & its impact on immigrant integration (ACIT)

http://eudo-citizenship.eu End date: 31/03/2013

Goal: Researchers & policy actors better understand how law, implementation, and other factors affect citizenship acquisition and how citizenship affects integration processes;

Goal: Policymakers & civil society use evidence to design more effective laws and measures

Consolidate law indicators

Pilot implementation indicators

Expand ‘outcome’ indicators

Assess determinants of naturalisation across EU

Assess citizenship impact on integration process

10 national citizenship dialogues and national handbooks

EU conclusions, recommendations, dialogue, module

Citizenship Law Indicators(CITLAW)

• 57 indicators compare specific aspects of citizenship regimes across countries and time– basic indicators (e.g. Ius Soli for second generation)– several combined indicators (e.g. Ius Soli at birth)– six combined indicators: ius sanguinis, ius soli, ordinary

naturalisation, special naturalisation, renunciation, withdrawal

• Indicators measure strength of the purpose or principle of the citizenship law

• Indicator scores range from 0 to 10 = purpose/principle not represented1 = purpose/principle strongly represented

Summary of FindingsIus Sanguinis

Ius Soli

Ordinary Naturalisation

Special Naturalisation

Involuntary Loss

Renunciation

0.00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.91.0

Ireland EU-15 EU-27

Ordinary Naturalisation

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

0.85 0.88

1.00 1.00 1.00

0.00

1.00

0.640.61

0.83

0.47

0.57

0.30

0.630.58 0.55

0.73

0.37

0.61

0.29

0.65

Ireland EU-15 EU-27

Ordinary Naturalisation

opportunities• full acceptance of dual

citizenship • Inclusive residence

requirement in law– Ireland 0.88– EU-15 0.61

• Relatively few statutory requirements

obstacles• Criminal record & good

character (0)• Non-statutory

employment requirement for most

Special Naturalisation

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

0.4

0.33

0.75

1

0.38

1

0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75

0.357083333333333 0.38

0.541666666666667

0.883333333333333

0.475

0.675000000000001

0.2375

0.46250.470833333333333

0.3125

0.38750.331365740740741 0.35

0.456018518518519

0.814814814814815

0.497685185185185

0.638888888888889

0.131944444444444

0.4282407407407410.391203703703704

0.349537037037037

0.483796296296296

Ireland EU-15 EU-27

Special Naturalisation

opportunities• spousal transfer• cultural affinity

• refugees• stateless persons

• adoption

• special achievements

obstacles• family-based

naturalisation below EU-15 and EU-27 averages

• child extension only after 3 years of residence

• no socialisation-based access for foreign-born children

• 38 indicators compare formal aspects of naturalisation procedure. These include all stages, from efforts by public authorities to inform applicants to the options to appeal a negative decision.

• 5 dimensions covered administrative procedure:

1) Promotion: how much do authorities encourage applicants to apply?

2) Documentation: how easily can applicants prove they meet the conditions?

3) Discretion: how much room do authorities have to interpret conditions?

4) Bureaucracy: how easy is it for authorities to come to a decision?

5) Review: how strong is judicial oversight of the procedure?

Citizenship Implementation Indicators (CITIMP)

Summary of Findings

Generally, countries with few legal obstacles (CITLAW) have few procedural obstacles (CITIMP)

Unlike in most EU countries, Ireland’s naturalisation law is undermined by slightly unfavourable implementation procedures

IE procedure most like those in Central Europe (HU & PL)• Some promotion (Ceremonies, NCP free service), however

IE has higher overall official fees/costs than nearly all EU countries• More demanding documentation than in most EU15 countries• ‘Absolute discretion’ & relatively bureaucratic (e.g. No legal

internal or overall time limit, number of authorities involved)• Critically lacking right to reasoned decision and right to appeal

* Note: As of 15 August 2012, this scores no longer apply for Poland. The new procedure is rights-based, less bureaucratic, subject to judicial review.

DocumentationDocumentation in IE is more demanding than in all EU15 countries but GROpportunities: • Authorities obtain themselves information on criminal record & good character• Facilitated for refugees and stateless peopleObstacles:• Several years of documentation on past IDs/residence permits • Several years of documentation on employment situation• Additional paperwork from country of origin (translated and certified)

DiscretionNaturalisation in IE is more discretionary than in any other EU-15 country• In most countries, authorities must make decisions based on the same documents &

follow the same publically-available guidelines to interpret the requirements, specifically on good character/criminal record and om language

• In some EU15 countries, rights-based procedures mean that applicants who meet the legal conditions are entitled to become citizens(BE, DK, DE, NL)

* Note: As of 1 January 2013, Belgium’s new citizenship law replaced the discretionary ordinary naturalisation procedure with a new rights-based procedure.

Judicial reviewIE is now the only EU15 country without a clear right of appeal for naturalisation• Most EU countries grant right to reasoned decision & right to appeal• In most, rejected applicants can appeal to lower and highest national courts• In most, courts can cover both substantive and procedural aspects

* Note: As of 1 January 2013, Belgium’s new ordinary naturalisation procedure allows full judicial review of all decisions.

Citizenship acquisition (CITACQ)

• Acquisition indicators compare rates of citizenship acquisition among foreign-born in their country of residence

• Percentages of foreign-born immigrants who have acquired citizenship at any point in time, not naturalisation rates measuring the number of new naturalisations divided by resident population with foreign citizenship

• Information based on European Labour Force Survey Ad Hoc Module (2008) that targets immigrants and their descendants, aged 15-67

• Data exclusively on foreign-born (1st generation) and allows for comparisons of citizenship acquisition rates across 25 European countries

Includes information on the following indicators for citizenship acquisition by foreign-born:

– ALL– SEX (female vs. male)– ORIGIN (EU vs. non-EU countries)– AGE AT MIGRATION (age at which respondent took up

residence)– YEARS OF RESIDENCE (years of residence)– YEARS OF RESIDENCE (minimum number of years of residence)– TIME UNTIL NATURALISATION (numbers of years until

naturalisation)

Citizenship acquisition (CITACQ)

• On average around 34% of foreign-born persons are a citizen of their EU-15 country of residence.– Citizenship acquisition rates in EU-15 range are lowest in

Luxembourg (10%) and highest in Sweden (67%). In Ireland the acquisition rate is 13%, hence among the lowest.

– Immigrants from non-EU countries (42%) more often acquire citizenship than those from EU countries (20%).

• On average it takes around 10 years for foreign-born persons to acquire citizenship of their country of residence, within EU-15 countries.– In Luxembourg it takes almost 15 years on average to

naturalise, whereas in Ireland this is around 5 years. Hence, whereas the few foreign-born persons able to naturalise in Ireland could do so quickly.

Summary of Findings

Acquisition rates in EU-15 (+CH, NO)

IRELAND

Speed of naturalisation

IRELAND

12,62 12,68 12,56 12,00

14,24

34,4335,67

33,02

20,48

42,04

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

ALL SEX (female) SEX (male) ORIGIN COUNTRY (EU)

ORIGIN COUNTRY (non-EU)

Ireland EU-15

%

Ireland compared I(% foreign-born with citizenship)

Ireland compared II(% foreign-born with citizenship)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

at least 5 years at least 10 years at least 15 years at least 20 years

Ireland EU-15

%

years of residence

Analysis of acquisition ratesCitizenship acquisition & speed of acquisition are mainly driven by:• Socio-economic development of countries of origin• Citizenship laws of the country (see following graph)Variation in acquisition rates is mainly explained by:• Marital status (married people are more likely to be naturalised)• Socio-economic status (employed immigrants are more likely)• Gender (female immigrants are more likely)• Use of native language at home (immigrants who speak the

language of the destination country at home are more likely)

Predicted probability of having destination country citizenship by MIPEX Access to Nationality

(by years of residence in country)

Ireland (55) Ireland (55)

MIPEX Access to Nationality score (adjusted for first generation only)

Citizenship and Integration (CITINT)

• 10 core indicators measure the the extent to which changes in citizenship status affect levels of integration

• Three categories of indicators:– Labour force participation (2008 Eurostat LFS ad hoc

module)– Social exclusion (2008 Eurostat LFS ad hoc module & 2008

EU-SILC)– Living conditions (2008 EU-SILC)

• Sample: EU-27, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland• As expected, immigrants who naturalised are often better off

than immigrants who have not naturalised.

CITINT: Labour Force Participation

Source: 2008 EU Labour Force Survey Ad Hoc Module

Ireland EU-27 EU-150

2

4

6

8

10

12

Unemployment Rates, 2008 (%)

Natives Naturalised Immigrants Non-citizen Immigrants

Labour Force Participation

Source: 2008 EU Labour Force Survey Ad Hoc Module

Non-citizen Immigrants

Naturalised Immigrants

Native-born

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

48.9

25.6

27.4

39.1

23

Overqualification Rates, Ireland, 2008 (%)

Non-EU EU

Social Exclusion

Source: 2008 EU-SILC Survey

Ireland EU-15 EU-270

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Share Having Difficulty Making Ends Meet, 2008 (%)

Natives Naturalised Immigrants Non-citizen Immigrants

Living Conditions

Source: 2008 EU-SILC Survey

Ireland EU-15 EU-270

2

4

6

8

10

12

Housing Cost Burden, Gaps with Natives, 2008 (%)

Naturalised Immigrants Non-citizen Immigrants

ConclusionsMajor legal opportunities• Strong ius soli • Dual nationality • Inclusive naturalisation law (all models for other new countries of immigration)Major legal obstacles• Non-statutory requirements Major administrative opportunities• Recent promotion activities • Ceremonies • Facilitation for refugees/stateless Major administrative obstacles• ‘Absolute discretion’ • No right to reasoned decision/appeal • Exceptionally high costs

• Citizens of EU & other highly-developed countries less likely to naturalise• Non-EU citizens are more to naturalise across the EU, as newcomers settle long-term • The relatively few foreign-born able to naturalise in EU could do so quickly • Still, IE has below-average naturalisation rates—policies have had major impact• Rare in EU, IE has favourable laws undermined by absolute discretion, procedural

obstacles, and high costs & discouraging many eligible immigrants from applying