{"id":660442,"date":"2026-10-20T14:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/660442\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T14:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:46:08","slug":"citizenship-changes-cork-based-south-african-artist-calls-for-more-empathy-from-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/660442\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizenship changes: Cork-based South African artist calls for more empathy from Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Cork<\/a>-based South African artist has called for more transparency and empathy from the Government ahead of proposed changes<\/a> to the citizenship application process.<\/p>\n

\n Elize de Beer<\/a> told the Irish Examiner that she could miss out on Irish citizenship by weeks if the Government changes rules by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Justice minister Jim O\u2019Callaghan<\/a> has proposed increasing the reckonable residency requirements for aspiring citizens from five to eight years and introducing language tests to prove they can speak English or Irish proficiently.<\/p>\n

The changes will be scrutinised by the Oireachtas justice committee after the Halloween recess, with the Government aiming to have the changes in place by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Ms de Beer, who grew up in Johannesburg, moved to Cork with her husband in August 2021. He is Belgian-South African, meaning that she can live in Ireland on a Stamp 4 EU family visa.<\/p>\n

She works as a bookbinder and visual artist, admitting that she is \u201creally fortunate\u201d, and her immigration status is more \u201cprivileged than others\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIreland has been extremely good to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ms de Beer said that when she moved, she began thinking about applying for Irish citizenship \u201cliterally from the start\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her Stamp 4 visa became active in early 2022, and she will become eligible to apply for citizenship in early 2027.<\/p>\n

However, if the requirements change before the end of the year, this will delay her application by three years.<\/p>\n

Ms de Beer said she was \u201cdisheartened\u201d to hear the proposed changes, especially because they are \u201coutside of your control\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"ElizeElize de Beer has urged for exceptions for people who are at the four-year mark of their citizenship process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe frustration is that we can speak out as much as we want to, we have organisations backing us as immigrants, but we have no real say,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fully understand countries have the full right to change these laws and this legislation. I [see] nothing wrong with that. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe, as immigrants, have so little say in how we navigate it. Those laws are there for a reason. We’re so dependent on Irish citizens and how they vote and their voices for our voices to be heard. <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt was just really disheartening. It really just became a waiting game.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

Ms de Beer said she is on the cusp of applying for her citizenship, and that she thinks there is a \u201clack of empathy\u201d to the new residency plans, and that ministers are essentially saying, \u201ctough luck\u201d.<\/p>\n

‘The goalpost shifts’<\/p>\n

She argued that there should be exceptions for people who are at the four-year mark of their process, saying it is \u201cnot a big ask\u201d and could be a \u201cgood compromise\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make sure that everything is in on time, all the documents are there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, the goalpost shifts, and it’s just disheartening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“With the housing crisis, it isn’t an easy place to live. With inflation going up, the cost of food is going up, [and] people are in situations where it’s not easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who want to stay are really making an effort to stay and doing it properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms de Beer admitted that while she \u201ctotally understands these laws needed to be changed\u201d, there should be \u201cfar more transparency on why\u201d and what the \u201chidden costs\u201d will be, such as language classes.<\/p>\n

Louise Burne, Political Correspondent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Cork-based South African artist has called for more transparency and empathy from the Government ahead of proposed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5658,61,1629,60,43],"class_list":["post-660442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-irish-examiner-instagram","tag-ie","tag-immigration","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}