Written answers

Tuesday, 25 May 2021

Department of Justice and Equality

Visa Applications

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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479. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the progress to date in the determination of an appeal for a visa in the case of persons (details supplied); if an application will be treated as an emergency application given the worsening situation in Nigeria; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27495/21]

Photo of James BrowneJames Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The visa applications referred to by the Deputy were refused by the Visa Office in Abuja on 2 November 2020. The reasons for this decision were set out in the refusal letter sent to the applicants at that time. An appeal of this decision was submitted on 19 January 2021.

To be fair to all applicants, appeals for applications of this type are processed in the order in which they are received. While every effort is made to process these applications as soon as possible, processing times will vary having regard to the volume of appeals received, their complexity, the possible need for the visa office to seek further information in relation to certain appeals and the resources available to process them.

Full consideration will be given these appeals however the onus is on applicants to satisfy the Visa Officer that visas should be granted. Processing times and decisions at the Overseas Visa Offices can be checked at the webpage for the relevant Office.

All visa applicants are advised that the onus is on them to provide as much information in support of their application as they feel is necessary. Guidelines to assist applicants are available on the Immigration Service website. When making an appeal, the applicant should take into account the reasons for refusal listed in the refusal letter. The appeal should include any further information or additional documentation they wish to have considered, and should be sent for the attention of the Visa Appeals Officer, in the relevant Visa Office, where the matter will be considered afresh.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility (inisoireachtasmail@justice.ie), 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 is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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480. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when an appeal decision will issue in relation to visas granted to two workers (details supplied) which were subsequently refused by the Irish Embassy in New Delhi. [27496/21]

Photo of James BrowneJames Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The visa applications referred to by the Deputy were refused by the Visa Office in New Dehli on 16 February 2021. The reasons for these decisions were set out in the refusal letters sent to the applicants at that time. Appeals were received for both applications during the month of March.

The Visa Appeals Officer has taken all of the documentation and information submitted with the original applications and with the appeals into consideration. The appeals have not been successful and the original decision to refuse the applications has been upheld. The reasons for the refusal of the appeals are outlined in the refusal letter of 18 May 2021.

If any person, who has been refused a visa, wishes to make another application in the future, their application will be assessed on its own merits taking all relevant information into consideration at that time. Their prior immigration history is a matter of record but does not preclude them from seeking a visa in the future.

As the Deputy may be aware, last week, Minister Humphreys and I announced that two new categories have been added to the priority/emergency visa applications being processed at this time. This includes applications from people who have been granted an employment permit by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) and are travelling for essential business or employment purposes.

However, it is important to note that the granting of an employment permit by DETE, does not determine that a visa will subsequently be granted. There are two very distinct application processes with different checks and procedures in place in each respective Department.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility (inisoireachtasmail@justice.ie), 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 is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.

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