Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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454. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding a visa appeal. [28635/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by officials in the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that a 'visit' visa application from the person referred to by the Deputy was submitted to the Honorary Consul in Kiev in 22 June, 2015. The application was processed by staff in the INIS office in Moscow and a decision to refuse was taken on 3 July, 2015. The letter of refusal indicated that the applicant had failed to satisfy the Visa Officer that they had sufficient obligations to return to their home country following the visit here. The Visa Officer also noted that the applicant did not have a demonstrable immigration history and considered that they would not observe the conditions of the visa if granted.

It is of course open to the person concerned to appeal the refusal decision within two months of the refusal. However they should be in a position to address the concerns raised by the Visa Officer at first instance. Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases 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.