Young dependent adult application

[cairo362]

Hi!

I am an EU citizen and want to apply as a young dependent adult for naturalisation. I'm currently 22 and have been studying abroad (In Belgium) since 20 years old. I unfortunately didn't apply for the citizenship papers when I should have, and now I have realised it is really important for me to, given that I've lived in Ireland since 2008. My problem is everything that was billed in Ireland was always to my parents, and so I cannot apply as an adult since I just do not reach the points threshold required for each year).
So my question is: would it be possible to apply for a masters in dublin for next September (I'll turn 23 then) and once I reach a year of living in Ireland, but still before turning 24 years old, can I still use my parents residency information? Does I meet the education requirement if I am in a masters and still depending on my parents, but I didn't do my Bachelor's in Ireland? Is there anything else I can do in my position?

I would appreciate any help at all.

Best Regards,
E.

[Vadrar]

I'm not sure that you will qualify to apply as a young dependent adult on a few counts. According to the definition from Citizen's Information here:

Young adults
You can use your parent’s reckonable residence if you are a young adult and do not have the required reckonable residence yourself.

You are a young adult if:

You are aged between 18 and 23 when you make your application
You entered Ireland legally with your family
You are in school or you went straight from school to third level college in Ireland
You are dependent on your parents

From the sounds of your message you won't be applying between the ages of 18 and 23, as you will be 24. But also you haven't gone from school to third level college in Ireland, but in another country. So I can't see how you would qualify as a dependent young adult and suspect you will have to apply as an independent adult. In your year of return you should build your own documentation: eg at least a bank statement showing 3+ POS transactions per month, and a mobile phone bill in your own name if you don't have any better quality utility bils.

You could try using your parent's documents from the years you lived with them though, along with proof from your school of your attendance, and adding an affidavit explaining why you are using your parent's documents.

[Vadrar]

Also, to add: the young dependent adult route is mainly created for children of immigration stamp holders. The reckonable residence referred to in the first line of the quote relates to residency permissions (rather than documentary proof of residence per se), and the need for them to be eligible (ie stamp 4 counts, student visas don't) for naturalisation.

As an EU citizen this element isn't relevant for you (assuming you have been an EU citizen as long or longer than you lived in Ireland), so you aren't adopting your parents' eligible residency because you have your own as an EU citizen. You just need to prove that you were actually resident, which is why I suspect that you will be able to use your parents' proof for those years as long as you have established your own proof when residing in Ireland as an adult in your final year before applying.