Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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537. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will address an issue (details supplied) regarding visa policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21492/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department, that the Dublin Visa Office responded with a comprehensive reply to a query submitted to the 'Oireachtas Mail' dedicated e-mail facility on 26 May 2015, outlining the type of visas which could be applied for based on the information that was provided.

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 their application.

Where the stated purpose of the application is to marry in Ireland, it is advisable to provide evidence of that intention in the form of an acknowledgement from the Registrar. The applicant must show evidence of their relationship with their prospective spouse. The list of documents required are attached on the INIS website at www.inis.gov.ie. The appropriate type of visa is a short stay visa under which the maximum stay allowed is 90 days.

As with all applications for short stay visas, the applicant must show that they have sufficiently strong family, social or economic ties to a place of residence in a country other than Ireland to assure the visa officer assessing the application that the projected stay in Ireland will be temporary and in accordance with the duration and the conditions of the permission granted by the immigration authorities on arrival in Ireland.

Where the stated purpose of the application is to join family in Ireland, the comprehensive statement of national immigration policy on the area of family reunification contained in the Policy Document on Non-EEA Family Reunification was published on 31 December 2013. This outlines the policies that apply to all decision making in relation to family reunification cases.

The financial consideration for the Join Family visa where the sponsor is an Irish Citizen states that an Irish Citizen must not have been totally or predominantly reliant on benefits from the Irish State for a continuous period in excess of two years immediately prior to the application and must over the 3 year period prior to the application have earned a cumulative gross income over and above any State benefits of not less than €40,000.

Declared and verified savings by the sponsor or the applicant may be taken into account in assessing cases. It is not proposed that the Family Reunification determinations should be purely financial assessments. Nevertheless, the State cannot be regarded as having an obligation to subsidise the family concerned and the sponsor must be seen to fulfil their responsibility to provide for his family if they are permitted to come to Ireland.

Guidelines on the visa application process can be found on the INIS website (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.

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 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.