Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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117. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will allow a person (details supplied) travel home while their application for permission to remain here on the basis of marriage to an Irish national is processed. [37418/16]

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 referred to by the Deputy arrived in the State on 25/09/2012, and that their most recent permission to remain in the State, on the basis of student conditions, expired on 29/09/2015. The person was accordingly refused renewal of registration by GNIB on 26/10/2016 because they were out of permission.

As the person concerned had married an Irish National in 2014 they subsequently wrote to INIS at the beginning of November 2016 for permission to remain in the State, as the spouse of an Irish National. Unfortunately, they did not complete the required application form nor submit all the required documents, so INIS could not process the application. I understand that the person concerned has not yet responded to the correspondence which subsequently issued from INIS on 17/11/2016 enclosing the application form and requesting the necessary documentation to support their application.

The Deputy may wish to note that 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.