Dáil debates
Thursday, 15 June 2023
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Visa Applications
1:45 pm
Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to raise the issue of visa processing times. I am conscious in doing so of the importance of the process. The process cannot be compromised. A visa is a very important document, enabling foreign nationals to enter our country. First, I want to raise the issue of the atypical visa and the serious delays in the processing time. As we know, it is a requirement for nurses coming to work in Ireland. I want to take this opportunity to welcome a number of retired nurses from my constituency who are visiting the Dáil today and are in the Gallery. When one goes onto the Department's website and inquires about an atypical visa, the turnaround time is 20 working days. We have read recent reports in the national papers that up to 850 nurses are coming from overseas who are affected by this. Without our overseas nurses, our health service would be in a much sadder situation. They provide such an important role in our health service.
Recently, I met a nursing home group which has a base in my constituency. It advises me that they have up to a dozen applications for this visa waiting for 80 days at a time where online sources state it is a 20-day turnaround. This only began in March. Prior to that, the group said there was minimal disruption. Since March, however, there have been significant delays and inconsistencies in processing applications. Reasons for refusal include the metadata of documents submitted. Maybe the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, might be able to advise me, if the Department of Justice has advised her, about what the metadata of submitted documents is. Sometimes they seek clarification from the atypical visa office and there has been no feedback of any kind. Another reason for refusal is the missing middle name in one document. The inconsistency in the application of these documents is causing a huge difficulty.
Nurses have come here. They have given notice in their home countries. They have made life-changing decisions. The bureaucracy here is having a huge impact on their life-changing decisions. I recently met a constituent who is married to a non-Irish national. I do not want to identify countries involved because it is a private matter. I acknowledge that the embassy I am dealing with is most helpful. He is trying to get his wife over to visit him here when he comes to Ireland. He has spent 12 months going through a process to get his wife to visit him and, again, it is not being processed.
What is the issue with the processing times of the atypical visas? I have given another example, of a private citizen looking for a visa for his wife to visit. Again, there seems to be a prolonged period to have that application processed, and it was subsequently refused. We know of the recent decision to discontinue the immigrant investor programme, which brings much-needed funding into many community groups throughout the country. Is the Department of Justice immigration section understaffed, under-resourced or what is going on that has caused so many problems with various visa processes, particularly in recent months?
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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The Deputy welcomed his visitors, who are retired nurses. Most of them are women. I have never known women to retire. They work endlessly.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Troy for raising this important issue and for bringing this matter to the attention of the Minister, Deputy McEntee. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister. I am happy to set out for the Deputy and the House the measures the Department of Justice is taking to resolve the current issues in processing atypical working scheme applications.
The atypical working scheme was developed by the Department of Justice and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to facilitate specialised, highly skilled employment of a short term nature, normally less than 90 days, which was not supported by the mainstream permit process.
The atypical working scheme is designed to accommodate the arrival of non-EEA nationals to fill labour gaps for the benefit of our economy in the short term.
I advise the Deputy that there has been an unprecedented demand for atypical working scheme permissions so far this year and, based on current intake, it is anticipated to be the busiest year since its inception. The number of applications received this year to the atypical working scheme to the end of May was 5,376. This is a massive increase on the same period last year, which saw just 3,260 applications. The current processing time for applications is approximately 35 days. Where there are issues with an atypical application, the atypical working scheme unit strives to return an application for correction, or request further documentation, rather than move to outright refusal. This is to assist with applicants and not to cause any undue cost or delay.
The immigration service regularly holds training seminars on the atypical working scheme application process for stakeholders. The HSE and employer forums have all been invited to attend training seminars that have been organised so far this year. Furthermore, the atypical working scheme unit has made training material available to all recruitment companies or to nursing homes that directly recruit their staff. I also remind the Deputy that where an applicant is granted an atypical permission, the non-national may be required to make an application for a visa in order to travel to the State. All visa applications are processed in chronological order based on the date of receipt. Guidelines on how to apply for a visa are available on the immigration website.
The intention of the atypical working scheme unit is to return the current processing time of 35 days to the business target of 20 working days. I am advised by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, that increased resources have been assigned to processing atypical applications. Additional streamlining measures have also been recently introduced with the aim of reducing processing times.
1:55 pm
Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I said that people had retired from the nursing profession. I did not say they had retired fully, to clarify the point.
I take on board the Minister of State is reading out a response that came from the Department of Justice, but I will share with her the experience of quite a significant nursing home provider. Despite its attempts to seek clarification from the atypical office, it has received no feedback at any point and is left to decipher the confusing automated responses it received. Consequently, its nurse candidates have had to cancel their scheduled Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, exam dates and the provider is forced to resubmit their visa applications in the hope they will be approved. At present, the provider has submitted applications as far back as 15 March 2023, none of which has been approved. Following the submissions of the visas, additional information was requested 36 days later, despite the Department statement that it takes 20 days to process applications. The provider promptly resubmitted the requested information and has now been waiting an additional 40 days for an update since its return to the Department.
Clearly, what the Department is saying is not the experience the people on the ground are feeling. I need the Minister of State to bring back to the Minister for Justice that we need to see a rapid improvement in the processing times for these visas. Our nursing homes and hospitals depend on our ability to get these people, who are choosing to come to work and contribute to Ireland, and on them being dealt with in a fair, efficient and punctual manner. That is not happening currently.
I know the Minister of State cannot answer the question today, but I would like to know what additional resources are being made available to the visa processing unit, considering what is happening with the atypical visa and the example I gave from my constituent. Perhaps she will bring back to the Minister whether the demands on the visa processing unit led to the discontinuation of the immigrant investment programme.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I assure him that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, recognises and acknowledges the crucial role non-nationals play in our health sector workforce. They often work in challenging environments and deal with vulnerable people on a daily basis. Their exceptional commitment was particularly clear throughout the Covid pandemic. It is important for me to say, as the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, how much I depend on, and how I am trying to accelerate disability into, that exact space.
In recognition of the importance of front-line medical personnel, the atypical working scheme unit in the Department's immigration services prioritises these applications. In line with the unmatched number of atypical applications received so far this year, the number of applications being processed and decided upon has also risen. As I stated, more staff have recently been assigned to the atypical working scheme unit to assist with processing these applications. Streamlining measures have been introduced to return the current processing time to the business target of 20 working days. The atypical working scheme unit continues to liaise with all relevant stakeholders in the area and will continue to provide training and seminars to the sector.
I will find out what additional resources there are in response to the Deputy's query on that. I will ask whether that lack of resources has impacted on the investor programme.