Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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45. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will account for the long delays faced by non-EU PhD researchers when applying for their yearly stamp; and if her Department will consider conducting a review of visa renewals for PhDs, to allow for essential work-related travel year-round for the duration of all candidates' PhDs. [51681/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department's Registration Office in Burgh Quay is responsible for registering and renewing immigration permissions for customers residing in the Dublin area only. Registrations and renewals for persons resident outside of the Dublin area are processed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) through the Garda Station network. The allocation of appointments for registration and renewal with GNIB, for some 50 locations nationwide, is a matter for An Garda Síochána.

Any person registering for the first time is required to attend at their local registration office in person and, as part of my Department’s ongoing work to meet the demand for first-time registration appointments at its Burgh Quay office, on 10 January 2022, a Freephone service (1800 800 630) was introduced for customers. So far this year, the Registration Office of my Department has issued and processed over 50,000 first time registration appointments.

Additionally, if a non-EEA national is residing in the Dublin area and has an existing valid permission to be in the State, then they do not need to seek an appointment to attend in person to renew their permission. An online renewal facility was launched in July 2020 to processes renewals and there has been 173,000 approx. registrations renewed online since the facility was launched. There is currently a 3 week processing time for online renewal of permissions at present. All persons over the age of 16 are issued with an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) Card which displays details of the permission granted, the conditions attaching and the expiry date of the permission.

I have also checked with EURAXESS Ireland who processes PhD researcher Hosting Agreements on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. They have advised that there is no significant delay in the processing of applications or renewals of contracts with eligible participants with most applications dealt with in a matter of days.

Where a Non EEA National is in procession of an in date IRP card they are free to travel from and return to the State. However, when travelling abroad they should check for any visa requirements or other immigration requirements for their intended destination.

If any non-EEA national PhD student has a particular concern on their individual immigration application, they can contact the Immigration Service Helpdesk by emailing immigrationsupport@justice.ie who will endeavour to assist.