Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 415: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason a person (details supplied) has been refused a visa. [8541/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The visa application in question sought to enable the wife of a non-EEA national employed under the employment permit scheme to reside with him in the State. A worker employed under the work permit scheme may be joined by his or her spouse and minor children after he or she has been in the State for one year and been offered a contract for a further year. The worker must also be able to fully support the family members in question without the need to have recourse to public funds. The application in question was refused by my Department at the initial stage as it was felt the documentation did not show that the worker in question was in a position to fully support his wife. The level of documentation supplied in support of the application was also considered by the visa officer to be insufficient.

When the applicant was notified of the reasons for refusal, a full copy of the spouse's passport was requested with evidence that he had returned to his country of origin for the wedding ceremony. An appeal in respect of this application was received on 13 December 2004. However, based on the additional documentation supplied, the visa appeals officer was unable to conclude that the initial refusal decision should be overturned. Consequently, the application was refused on appeal on 21 December 2004 by my Department. As each application is entitled to only one appeal, a fresh application must be submitted should the applicant still wish to travel.