Written answers

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Department of Justice, Equality and Defence

Visa Applications

6:00 pm

Photo of Pat BreenPat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if, in order to boost tourism visitor numbers from China, he will arrange for an individual tourist visa online application option to be added to the Irish Embassy's website in China. [30237/11]

Photo of Alan ShatterAlan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy that my Department is actively pursuing initiatives in the immigration area to encourage and support tourism from China. In particular, I would point to the Visa Waiver Programme for the holders of Short Stay UK visas which commenced on 1 July of this year. Under the programme, holders of the appropriate UK visa are exempt from the requirement to also hold an Irish visa to travel to Ireland. The Visa Waiver Programme covers nationals of a total of sixteen countries, including China.

In relation to the matters referred to by the Deputy, I can say that the creation of a specific Tourist Visa category is being examined by my Department. However, and not wishing to pre-empt the outcome of any such examination, there are challenges involved such as finding an accurate definition of what a Tourist is as opposed to the many and often varied reasons for wishing to travel to Ireland, for example a business trip concluding with a short holiday. The difficulty in accurately defining a Tourist for immigration purposes is not unique to Ireland and many visa regimes worldwide do not define Tourist as a specific visa category. For example, the central Visa Code governing the issuing of Schengen visas specifically avoids trying to define a Tourist category, but instead asks the visa applicant in detail their various reasons for wishing to travel. I should also point out that any technical changes to central visa system would not be without cost and must be considered in light of current budgetary constraints.

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