Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The person referred to by the Deputy created an online Join Family (Non-EEA national spouse) visa application on 17 March 2022. The supporting documentation and relevant fees were applied on 13 April 2022 in the Manila Visa Office. These visa applications were received in my Department's Dublin Visa Office for further processing on 14 April 2022.

Processing of this application is ongoing at present. As each application is examined under it's own merits, I am unable to give an exact timeframe for its completion. However, the person concerned can be assured that there will be no avoidable delay in finalising their application. They will be notified as soon as a decision has been reached by a Visa Officer.

Processing of family reunification visa applications, such as this, may take up to six months to determine from date documentation is received in the relevant Visa Office. The Visa Office endeavours to have applications of this nature processed earlier than this, however, this is not always possible. In order to be fair to all applicants, as you will appreciate, applications are processed in order by date received in the Office.

The Dublin Visa Office is currently processing applications of this type received on 17 February 2022. Applicants can keep up-to-date with processing dates by checking the following webpage, which is updated weekly: www.irishimmigration.ie/visa-decisions/.

Applicants are advised not to pay for airline or other travel tickets without having first been issued with a visa.

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.