Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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497. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current and/or expected residency status in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25712/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The person referred to by the Deputy holds a Stamp 4 permission, which expires on 27 February 2024.

They also have a naturalisation application in progress which continues to be processed by my Department, with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation. It will be submitted to me for decision in due course.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.

I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants and my Department has been working hard to clear backlogs. It is recognised that all applicants for citizenship would wish to have a decision on their application without delay. However, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some instances, completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time.

My Department is taking a number of steps to speed up the processing of applications and a number of digitisation measures have been introduced to increase efficiency in the process, including eVetting and online payments. The end result of the digitisation process will be to free up more staff to focus on processing applications in a timely and efficient manner, to improve service to our customers and reduce waiting times.

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 at: 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 Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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498. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current and/or expected residency status in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25713/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The person referred to by the Deputy holds a Stamp 4 permission, which expires on 01/10/2025

They also have also submitted a naturalisation application which continues to be processed by my Department, with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation. It will be submitted to me for decision in due course.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.

The median processing time for applications now currently stands at 19 months. I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants and my Department has been working hard to clear backlogs.

It is recognised that all applicants for citizenship would wish to have a decision on their application without delay. However, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some instances, completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time.

My Department is taking a number of steps to speed up the processing of applications and a number of digitisation measures have been introduced to increase efficiency in the process, including eVetting and online payments. The end result of the digitisation process will be to free up more staff to focus on processing applications in a timely and efficient manner, to improve service to our customers and reduce waiting times.

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 at: 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 Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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499. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when a visa application will be approved in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25716/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the visa application he refers to was granted on 24 May 2023.

The applicant may wish to note that entry into the State is at the discretion of the Immigration Officer at the port of entry. The onus is on the individual concerned to have all documentation relating to their reasons for entering Ireland available for presentation to the Immigration Officer. The Immigration Officer may grant leave to enter to a maximum period of three months or they may, depending on the documentation presented, refuse entry to the state or grant a lesser period than three months.

Any non EU/EEA national who wishes to remain in Ireland for longer than 90 days must register with their local immigration office and apply for further permission to remain, before their initial permission to remain expires. Full details of the registration process can be found at the link below:

www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/how-to-register-your-immigration-permission-for-the-first-time/requirements-and-documents-needed/.

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.