Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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368. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedures or the process by which a person from the Ukraine can come and stay here either by way of work permit or to come here and seek a visa to remain here on a ongoing basis or on a short term holiday basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4534/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It is open to a visa-required national to make a visa application for any purpose, the onus resting with the applicant to satisfy the Visa Officer as to why the visa should be granted. All information that the applicant wishes to have taken into consideration should be included with his or her application.

The type of visa that will be required to travel to Ireland will depend on how long an applicant wishes to spend in Ireland and the reason for their travel.

Guidelines on the visa application process, including details of the required supporting documentation for all visa categories can be found on the website of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department at www.inis.gov.ie. It should be borne in mind, however, that the information contained on the website is intended to act as guidance only; it does not limit the discretion of the Visa Officer in dealing with individual applications.

A visa- required national can apply for a visa for the purpose of employment after they have obtained an Employment Permit from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI). Information on how to obtain an Employment Permit is available on the website of that Department at www.djei.ie.

All applications for Irish visas are made online at www.inis.gov.ie. Supporting documentation, including passports, for Ukrainian nationals living in Ukraine are lodged at the Honorary Consulate of Ireland in Kiev and processed by the dedicated Irish Visa Office in Moscow, which is a sub-office of INIS. This Office handles all aspects of visa applications, locally.

Queries in relation to general immigration matters 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 awaited.