Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 204: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 249 of 15 December 2011, if he will examine the case for residency and citizenship in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare, in view of the fact that the applicant has lived here in the company of his parent for the past 13 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1824/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The person concerned was granted permission to remain in the State, initially on Stamp 2A (student) conditions and subsequently on Stamp 4 conditions. The decision to grant him permission to remain had regard for the fact that his mother had been granted permission to remain in the State, in 2002, based on her parentage of an Irish born citizen child. The Stamp 4 based permission to remain granted to the person concerned expired on 5th October, 2011, the expiry date on his Passport.

The person concerned would appear to have left the State without first having secured a re-entry visa. Upon receipt of an enquiry as to how the person concerned could re-enter the State, he was advised, via a family member who made enquiries on his behalf, that the only option available in such circumstances was that a fresh visa application be made, from outside the State.

A visa application for the person concerned was received in the Visa Office, Dublin on the 14th November, 2011. Given the circumstances, the application was dealt with in an expeditious manner. A Visa Officer considered the application and refused the granting of the visa sought on 15th November, 2011 for the following reasons:

(i) There was insufficient documentation submitted in support of the application. The Visa Officer noted that a detailed explanation was not provided as to why the person concerned travelled outside the State without a valid Garda registration card or a re-entry visa and

(ii) There was an inconsistency noted in that the passport submitted by the applicant had not been signed.

As is the case with all refused visa applications, the refusal decision, and the reasons for that decision, were sent to the applicant in writing. 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 secure format.

It is open to the person concerned to submit an appeal within two months of the date of refusal, in this case before 15th January, 2012. Guidelines on the visa appeals process is available on the Website of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (www.inis.gov.ie).

It would appear that the person concerned proceeded to re-enter the State illegally i.e. without a valid visa. It would appear also that the person concerned wishes to have his permission to remain renewed. If he wishes to have his case formally considered, he must make a formal written renewal request to my Department c/o The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS), PO Box 10003, Dublin 1.

Upon receipt of any such renewal application, the case of the person concerned will be examined by the relevant officials in my Department. Once a renewal decision has been made, this decision, and the consequences of the decision, will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned.

I understand also that the person concerned submitted an application for a Certificate of Naturalisation in March, 2010. On examination of the application submitted, it was determined that the person concerned did not meet the statutory residency requirements as set out in the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (as amended). The person concerned was notified to this effect by letter dated 14th July, 2010.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the 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 the INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.