Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 393: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if it is standard practice to handwrite on the passport of foreign nationals wishing to visit Ireland if their visa application has been refused; and the standard practice for informing a foreign national that their application to visit has been refused. [31317/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that when a visa application is received from an applicant, it is routine practice for the Visa Office or Irish Mission concerned to record on the visa page of the applicant's passport the fact that a visa application has been made. Only in circumstances where the visa is granted will a visa sticker be affixed in the passport over this record. There is no prohibition on the recording in writing in the passport that a visa application has been refused.

As is the case with all refused visa applications, the refusal decision and the reasons for that decision are sent by way of letter to the applicant. In some instances however, depending on the particular circumstances applying in the country where the visa application is submitted, an alternative method of communication may be used. For example, in the case of Irish Visa Office, Moscow, the postal service has at times proven to be unreliable. Therefore, persons are informed of a visa refusal, usually by phone or e-mail and a faxed/scanned copy of the refusal letter can be sent to them on request.

In relation to all applications refused at the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service headquarters in Dublin, in addition to the customary letter explaining the refusal reasons, the refusal decision and the reasons for that decision are posted promptly on-line (in a format confidential to the applicant).