Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

324. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will engage with his counterparts in the United States of America as to the reason that an Irish couple who travel to the USA regularly to visit family on a ESTA visa are now being discriminated and forced to apply for a full visa at a financial cost and a wait of up to one year to be interviewed, solely due to the fact that they holidayed in Cuba. [57463/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As you will appreciate, US immigration regulation and operations are a matter solely for the relevant US authorities, and the Department of Foreign Affairs is not in a position to intervene in decisions taken in relation to ESTA applications.

However, officials from my Department regularly engage with the US Embassy to discuss immigration and visa matters in general terms. I understand that ineligibility for an ESTA does not automatically make an individual ineligible for a US visa, and that any applicant who is denied an ESTA may apply for a visa through the US Embassy. My Department’s travel advice to Irish citizens planning to visit Cuba includes information on the potential impact on ESTA eligibility. This advice can be accessed at www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice/a-z-list-of-countries/cuba/. Information on current visa appointment wait times at the US Embassy can be found at travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wait-times.html.