The Verdict: Need More Info
You can apply once you reach three years of marriage, if you also have three of the last five years on the island. Work out the later of those two dates and keep any permission you hold unbroken.
Both clocks run at once. If you have lived on the island since the wedding they finish together; if not, the later one sets your date. Residence in Northern Ireland counts on this route.
When you apply you must still be living together, which your Irish spouse attests by affidavit, and you must intend to keep living on the island.
Keep documents as you go, because identity and residence are scored on a points system. Once you file, the department decides most applications within nineteen months, on its own published figure.
A Bill approved for drafting on 9 September 2026 would lengthen the residence spouses and civil partners need, and add language and self-sufficiency tests. It is not law and nothing has changed yet. Whether applications already lodged would be decided under the current rules is not yet known, which is a reason to apply as soon as you qualify.