Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 425 to 427, inclusive, together.

I can advise the Deputy that Ireland supports the entry of migrants through legal pathways, to facilitate legal migration into the State. These include arrangements for various categories of persons, including; workers and international students.

Any visa required national that wishes to enter the State, and remain, for up to 90 days must have a Type C Short Stay Visa. A visa required national that wishes to reside in the State for longer than 90 days must have a Type D Long Stay Visa. Details of these legal pathways and the application process for visa required nationals can be found on the Immigration Service website at the following link: www.irishimmigration.ie/

I can inform the Deputy that there are no routine exit checks on each individual leaving the State to verify if a every person has left following the expiry of their immigration permission. To introduce exit checks would require the introduction of border controls on the Island of Ireland.

All non-EEA nationals are expected to leave Ireland upon the expiry of their immigration permission. If a person wishes to remain in the State they must seek a change or extension of their immigration permission, from my Department. If an application to change or extend a permission is refused, the person can be required to submit documentary evidence that they have left the State. Failure to do so, may result in the issuing of a Deportation Order.

A deportation order is a legal order to leave the State. Any person who has been ordered to leave the State and fails to do so is committing a criminal offence, and can be arrested without warrant if they come into contact with An Garda Síochána. Such an order remains on the person’s record permanently – it means they cannot enter Ireland again in future, and it will likely also have an impact on their ability to travel to the UK and the EU. The GNIB carries out inquiries to confirm that people have removed themselves from the State, and works closely with my Department to enforce deportations where this is not the case.

The table below details the number of employment visa applications received from 1 January 2023 to 30 April 2024 together with the top 15 nationalities. It should be noted that these figures are applications only and not every application is successful.

Nationality	Employment	Percent
India	39609	48.6%
Philippines	9746	11.9%
Pakistan	5104	6.3%
People's Republic of China	4408	5.4%
Russian Federation	1880	2.3%
Zimbabwe	1800	2.2%
Turkiye	1756	2.2%
Nigeria	1614	2%
Egypt	1585	1.9%
Sudan	1470	1.8%
Ukraine	1350	1.7%
Sri Lanka	1050	1.3%
Thailand	908	1.1%
Viet Nam	906	1.1%
Ghana	777	1%
Other	7599	9.3%
Total	81,562	100%

The table below details the number of study visa applications received from 1 January 2023 to 30 April 2024, together with the top 15 nationalities. It should be noted that these figures are applications only and not every application is successful.

Nationality	Study	Percent
India	44686	27.6%
People's Republic of China	24344	15%
Russian Federation	19362	12%
Turkiye	17431	10.8%
Saudi Arabia	8606	5.3%
Nigeria	6872	4.2%
Pakistan	6591	4.1%
Mongolia	4872	3%
Kuwait	3380	2.1%
Oman	1855	1.1%
Viet Nam	1837	1.1%
Colombia	1597	1%
Ukraine	1311	0.8%
Nepal	1081	0.7%
Morocco	1026	0.6%
Other	17116	10.6%
Total	161967	100%

The table below details the number of visit visa applications received from 1 January 2023 to 30 April 2024, together with the top 15 nationalities. It should be noted that these figures are applications only as not every application is successful.

Nationality	Visit	Percent
India	122303	23.2%
People's Republic of China	63475	12%
Russian Federation	45727	8.7%
Nigeria	37232	7%
Pakistan	26344	5%
Philippines	23004	4.4%
Turkiye	17953	3.4%
Saudi Arabia	15821	3%
Indonesia	13418	2.5%
Ukraine	12075	2.3%
Kuwait	8670	1.6%
Thailand	8062	1.5%
Sudan	7648	1.4%
Egypt	6698	1.3%
Colombia	6607	1.3%
Other	113113	21.4%
Total	528,150	100%

The table below details the number of other visa applications received from 1 January 2023 to 30 April 2024, together with the top 15 nationalities. It should be noted that these figures are applications only and not every application is successful.

Nationality	Other *	Percent
India	120726	26.9%
People's Republic of China	49111	10.9%
Russian Federation	33001	7.3%
Pakistan	27983	6.2%
Turkiye	20713	4.6%
Nigeria	19159	4.3%
Philippines	12554	2.8%
Ukraine	11012	2.4%
Egypt	10940	2.4%
Afghanistan	7810	1.7%
Saudi Arabia	6707	1.5%
Serbia	6523	1.5%
Belarus	5693	1.3%
Zimbabwe	4738	1.1%
Bangladesh	4638	1%
Other	108317	24.1%
Total	449,625	100%

* The other category includes such visa types as join family (Irish national sponsor), join family (non-EEA sponsor), business, conference etc.

Data on the number of persons that applied for asylum in each of the past ten years who gained entry to the country by way of a holiday visa, a working visa or a student visa or any other visa is not available at this time. While this information is recorded as part of an application for protection, statistics in relation to the number of people that previously were granted a visa are not readily available.