Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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120. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the current residency status and possible eligibility for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cavan who also requires a travel documents to facilitate travel to their homeland to attempt to obtain a national passport, which seems to be a requisite in their case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46648/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned was granted permission to remain in the State, on a Stamp 4 basis, for three years on 17/10/2013 as an exceptional measure. In order to renew this permission to remain, the person concerned must provide a current passport or show documentary evidence that they have made serious efforts to obtain one. Future renewals of the permission to remain granted should be applied for four weeks in advance of the permission expiring, as directed in their initial grant letter.

I am informed that in exceptional cases an application for Irish temporary travel document may be considered in respect of qualifying non Irish nationals who are resident in Ireland. In all such cases, INIS must be satisfied that there is no alternative open to the applicant before an Irish temporary travel document will issue. The person concerned has to show that they have made reasonable and formal efforts to obtain a national passport, that it has been formally and unreasonably refused and that their own consular authorities are unable to offer consular assistance to them whilst resident in the State.

It is open to the person in question to submit an application for a temporary travel document accompanied by the relevant supporting documentation to the Travel Document Unit of INIS which is located at 13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2. Full information in this regard and the applicable application form is available at "www.inis.gov.ie".

It is also open to any individual to lodge an application for citizenship if and when they are in a position to meet the statutory requirements as prescribed in the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 as amended.

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.