Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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Question 152: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason the spouse of a person who is an Irish citizen (details supplied) was refused a visa; the length of time the appeal will take; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37790/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The visa application referred to by the Deputy was received in the Visa Office, Dublin on the 18 October 2011. It was refused by the Visa Officer on the 11 November 2011 for the following reasons: 1. There was insufficient documentation submitted in support of the application, specifically financial statements were not provided as per visa documentation guidelines; 2. The Visa Officer had concerns that the granting of the visa sought may result in a cost in respect of public funds and public resources; 3. The Applicant had not provided sufficient evidence of a relationship being in existence prior to the visa application/marriage.

The Deputy may wish to note that for immigration purposes it is not generally sufficient for a relationship to have developed over the internet or by telephone/sms, but rather should include a number of face to face meetings between the parties. The onus rests with the applicant to satisfy the Visa Officer as regards the bona fides of the relationship.

As is the case with all refused visa applications, the refusal decision and the reasons for that decision were sent by way of letter to the applicant. In addition, and in common with all visa applications refused in Dublin, the refusal decision and the reasons for that decision were posted promptly on-line (in a format confidential to the applicant). It is open to the person concerned to submit an appeal within two months of the date of refusal, in this case before the 11 January 2012. No such appeal has been received in the Visa office to date from the applicant referred to by the Deputy in his question. Guidelines on the visa appeals process is available on the website of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (www.inis.gov.ie).

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long waited.