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 person mentioned by the Deputy arrived in the State on 12/07/2007 and that their most recent permission to remain in the State, on the basis of marriage to an Irish National, expired on 25/07/2015. I understand that the person in question only received 6 months' permission on the last occasion it was renewed because their passport only had that period of validity remaining on it. It would appear that, when they renewed their passport, they forgot to go back to have a stamp placed in it and thus their immigration permission expired.

I understand that the person concerned made an application to INIS, in March 2016, for permission to remain in the State, as the spouse of an Irish National, and that this application is currently being processed. All applications are dealt with in strict chronological order; the processing time is currently 6-9 months.

I should also point out that it is also open to the person concerned to consider applying for Irish Citizenship in their own right when they have sufficient reckonable residence.

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 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 Parliamentary Question 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.