‘It feels a little bit like a page out of Trump’s playbook: ‘Let’s give someone a common enemy – the immigrant,’” says Nick Howey from his home in Limerick.
Originally from Massachusetts in the US, the 42-year-old moved to Ireland with his husband Brendan in 2024. Howey, who works in tech, is on a critical skills visa, which his husband is attached to.
He and his husband made “a lot of decisions” based on the understanding they could apply for citizenship within five years of moving to the Republic, including selling their home in the US, he says.
Although he will “never dispute” that a country has the right to change rules around citizenship, the Government appears to be moving “the finish line seemingly out of nowhere”.
“This is purely going after people who came here to get a general work permit, to get a critical skills work permit. It’s also going after spouses of Irish citizens,” he says.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan will seek Cabinet approval for proposed changes soon, which will include a requirement to show proficiency in either Irish or English, alongside knowledge of Irish civics, society and politics.
The main concern for immigrants who spoke to The Irish Times, however, is the proposal to increase the amount of time someone must be resident from five years to eight before they can apply for citizenship.
Speaking about the reforms on Monday, O’Callaghan said he was attempting to “restrain the level of growth” in the number of people being granted citizenship.
He said 25,000 people became Irish citizens last year, and that he needed to “reflect on what the rules are in other countries, because it’s only going to go in one direction”.
New rules for Irish citizenship: How will they work?
“We all now just have three more years and a whole lot more requirements that we were never told we had when we agreed to come here as critical skills workers and fill vacancies in the job market that Ireland itself can’t fill,” Howey says.
The wait for citizenship also brings instability, he says.
“If something ever happens to me, my husband doesn’t have a right to live in the country. He has to sell the house that we just bought and go back to the US, where he no longer has a career because I’m the only thing anchoring us to the country.”
Teresa Buczkowska, chief executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, believes migrants are being “targeted” in Irish politics, arguing that O’Callaghan is “trying to show himself as a strong man” on migration.
“It’s purely performative,” she says, believing it is an attempt to “appease certain political views”.
“Making citizenship more difficult to get is not going to limit those numbers,” she says. “People are coming here because Ireland needs migrant workers, and research and after research is saying that Ireland cannot sustain itself economically without migration.”
For Hani Kharboutli, citizenship is not “a passport”.
“I need it for my safety. I need to feel like I belong here,” he says, speaking on the phone from his home in Waterford.
Having already seen rule changes affect his wait for citizenship, he is concerned about the future and believes migrants are being “targeted”.
The 34-year-old, who is gay, fled Aleppo in Syria while it was still under the rule of the Assad regime. He was brought to Ireland under the Irish refugee resettlement programme in 2023.
Kharboutli was close to completing the three-year wait previously required of those granted international protection before applying for citizenship, though this was extended to five years in December.
Kharboutli, who works for the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland, says an eight-year wait will be a “really long time” and he fears further changes could be introduced in that period.
Regressive migration policies risking Ireland’s economic performance, says immigrant council
“You’re doing nothing, you’re living a normal life like everybody else, you integrate into the community, you work and everything, but you still feel that you’re targeted by these politicians, to be honest,” he says.
“There’s chaos everywhere, and it’s all about immigrants.”
Once he applies for citizenship, he says he could be waiting up to 18 months before it is approved, noting that some cases can take up to two years, meaning it could be a decade or so since he moved to Ireland before he becomes a citizen.
Zak Moradi, a 35-year-old who obtained citizenship in 2021, questions whether the Government’s toughening stance on immigration is to “keep a small minority happy”.
He believes the proposals are a “distraction from other issues”.
“They should be talking about these racist attacks and antisocial behaviour,” he says. “We seem to be more worried about someone who is working full-time, paying taxes and trying to earn an Irish passport. I don’t really get it.
“People just want guaranteed safety.”
Moradi and his family, who are Kurdish, were resettled in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, in 2002 after fleeing persecution in Iraq.
Moradi, who previously played for the senior Leitrim hurling team, is now raising awareness at schools across the Island of Ireland about migration and his own experience.
He was granted Irish citizenship in 2021.
“It was the first passport I ever held in my life, so it meant a lot in terms of where I belong and guaranteed security and equal rights.”
Asked for comment, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said the Minister is bringing the proposals to Government in the “near future”.
“No comment is available until the Government has agreed the proposals,” she said.