Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 1023: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedures within immigration rules for an Irish national who marries a non-EEA national overseas and both wish to reside in Ireland, but are unable to prove relationship history for the purposes of immigration procedures due to the parties having willingly consented to an arranged marriage which would not have allowed a relationship history to develop in the manner required for Irish immigration law; if there is sufficient flexibility within the system for non-EEA national spouses of Irish nationals to reside in Ireland when they have entered into a genuine marriage but are of a culture that would not have allowed for such a relationship history to develop in this manner; if there is provision in order that there is no discrimination based on religious faith in these cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19041/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Marriage to an Irish national does not grant any automatic right to enter or reside in the State solely on that basis.

A person who is visa-required wishing to come to Ireland to reside in the State with his/her spouse must apply for a "Join Spouse" visa. Where all the required documentation/evidence has been furnished and the Visa Officer is satisfied with the bona fides of the application a long stay visa is approved which will allow the applicant to register with the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) in the vast majority of cases without further reference to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS). In exceptional cases, where a Visa Officer has concerns over the relationship history for example, a short stay visa may be approved. The rationale for this is that the applicant is being afforded the opportunity come to the State and to demonstrate the existence of the relationship by submitting an application to INIS for consideration.

Non-EEA nationals who are already in the State and who are seeking to remain on the basis of marriage to an Irish national are required to make an application for residence to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service of my Department.

The Deputy will appreciate that it would be neither possible nor sensible to devise rules which would comprehend every possible circumstance where non-nationals seek to enter the State. As a general rule applicants should disclose in full the reasons they are seeking to enter the State and supply readily verifiable documentation to vouchsafe those reasons. In circumstances such as those referred to by the deputy where it might not be possible for example for an entry condition such as the parties having met at least three times to be observed, a pragmatic approach is taken.

As is the case for all applications for visas, each application is considered on its individual merits. Our system operates on the basis that the onus is on the applicant to satisfy the authorities as to why s/he should be allowed to enter/remain in the State; it is not the other way around.

Finally, the Deputy may wish to note that more than 90% of all visa applications to enter the State are approved.

It is not clear if the Deputy has a particular case in mind. If so, 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.