Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1971. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to consider extending document submission deadlines for visas in light of confusion over whether the INIS online portal is accepting document uploads. [41490/25]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1972. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he is aware of reports that the INIS online portal is informing visa and citizenship applicants that further information is required, without specifying what information is required. [41491/25]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1973. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to reports that the INIS online portal is informing visa and citizenship applicants that further information is required for an application, without specifying what information is required, considering that applications may be closed if the information is not received before a defined deadline, if he will consider reopening applications closed for this reason in order to give applicants an opportunity to upload the required documentation. [41492/25]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1974. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to consider issuing confirmation emails after documents have been successfully received through the INIS online portal. [41493/25]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1975. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he is aware that many applicants for visas and citizenship through the online INIS portal are experiencing stress as due to technical issues with the portal given it is unclear whether their documents have successfully been uploaded. [41494/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975 together.

I understand the Deputy has clarified that his question relates to matters relating to the citizenship online application portal.

I have been informed that a small number of citizenship applications were impacted by a technical error with this system, and that this is in the process of being rectified.

In cases where incomplete applications are received, the applicant is notified, and the application is returned with a request to provide the missing documentation within 28 days. A reminder notification is issued after 18 days if the required documentation has still not been provided. Citizenship Division are aware that in some instances, applicants are uploading the documentation but failing to resubmit the application. It is essential that applicants complete the process to resubmit their application. There are currently no plans at present to extend the timeframes mentioned.

My Department has produced a guidance document for all potential applicants which outlines the documents required for an application. This document is published on my Department's Immigration website and is available here:

As part of my Department’s continued commitment to improving its services, the online citizenship application process was introduced in October 2023. This has made the application process considerably easier and more accessible for applicants - facilitating the completion of relevant forms, payments and submission of their application online.

This digitisation has facilitated a record number of citizenship decisions made last year. In just over two years, the Citizenship Division of my Department has gone from processing around 12,000 applications a year, to processing over 20,000 applications in 2023, and made more than 31,000 decisions in 2024.

Furthermore, since January of this year, over 21,000 citizenship applications have been submitted online, which includes more than 8,800 applicants who have successfully resubmitted their application for consideration after uploading missing documentation/information.

These improvements, along with the introduction of online payments and eVetting, are having a positive impact on naturalisation processing times. The length of time taken to process an application has been reduced from 15 months in 2023, to 8 months in 2024.

I expect that going forward, the majority of applicants will continue to receive a decision within one year, however, it is important to note that no two naturalisation applications are the same and some may take longer than others to process.

If the Deputy is aware of any particular issues with the service or an application, he can contact my Department's Immigration Oireachtas service, IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, who can assist to resolve the matter.

My Department continues to monitor customer experience and is committed to its continuous improvement. The functionality of all our online platforms is under constant review.