Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Non-EEA national students in the State are registered on student conditions, on a Stamp 2 or Stamp 1G immigration permission, at their local registration office. It is only in cases where the student has encountered difficulties on the student pathway that they are referred to the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) function of my Department to apply for an extension.

Applications to ISD include students who want to continue studying in the State on a Stamp 2 immigration permission and those who are on a Stamp 1G immigration permission and wish to extend or change their graduate permission.

The Graduate Scheme Stamp 1G was developed for the purpose of enabling a beneficiary to seek graduate level employment and to apply for an employment permit through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The permission is granted to allow graduates time to find an employment permit based job.

When a graduate secures an employment permit based job, they obtain a Stamp 1 immigration permission. If the graduate does not secure an employment permit based job during the term of their Stamp 1G permission they are expected to leave the country. Those graduates who are seeking an extension of their immigration permission, or a change of their immigration status, should continue to seek an employment permit based job, which would allow them to change their immigration status and remain in the State.

Applications from students who have encountered some difficulty on the student pathway that have been referred to ISD have been increasing year on year. Over the past year, applications for an extension of student conditions have increased by 25%.

These applications are being dealt with as expeditiously as possible by the Domestic Residence and Permissions area of my Department, which is currently processing applications received in August 2023.