Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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355. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide, in tabular form, the number of short stay C visas that were granted; and applied for, in each visa office in the years 2011 to 2014. [14283/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Details of the total number of short stay visas processed is set out below. Decisions regarding the grant/refusal of visas are made in a number of Irish Naturalisation and Immigration (INIS) Visa offices overseas, at the INIS Headquarters in Dublin and at embassies of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which process certain visa applications under delegated sanction from my Department. Over the four years in question, the overall grant rate for short stay visa applications was 92%, which is considered high by international standards. It would not be appropriate to consider grant rates per individual office as the profile of types of applications processed vary quite considerably and the more complex applications are dealt with in Dublin. Thus grant rates at individual offices do not present an accurate representation.

As with all visa services worldwide, the central concern in deciding on visa applications is to strike an appropriate balance between protecting the country's vital national interests by maintaining an effective immigration regime, while at the same time not placing unnecessary or unreasonable obstacles in the way of intending visitors. Each visa application is decided on its own merits, in the light of all relevant factors including the risk of irregular migration, with the intention of achieving an appropriate balance.

Short Stay C Visa Applications