John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1455. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality for the up-to-date waiting times for applications for visiting visas from South Africa; the reason for the delay in processing said applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44513/25]

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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1471. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the reason for the delays in issuing visas, particularly for those travelling from South Africa; and his plans to address the long wait times. [44743/25]

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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1636. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the reason the processing for tourist visas from South Africa are experiencing substantial delays; his plan to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46010/25]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1455, 1471 and 1636 together.

I can advise the Deputy that on 10 July 2024 visa requirements were introduced for nationals of South Africa, bringing our arrangements into alignment with the visa requirements of Schengen members states, and with those of the UK.

The Dublin Visa Office have established a dedicated “South Africa Desk” to process applications from residents of South Africa. My Department also established Visa Application Centres, located throughout South Africa, with visa service provider VFS Global. This is to ensure the facilitation of legitimate travel with processes that are robust, effective, and fair.

I can advise the Deputy the majority of visa received by the South Africa Desk are being processed within the target processing times. In the first eight months of 2025 the average processing time for a short term visit visa was 11 weeks, for short term business visas it was 6 weeks and for long term employment visas it was 9 weeks.

There are several categories of visas being processed by the South Africa Desk, each with an individual processing target.

Table 1 below details the current target processing times for visa applications submitted to the South Africa Visa Desk:

The South Africa Desk publishes guidance for applicants, target processing times and weekly decision reports, at the following webpage: www.irishimmigration.ie/south-africa-visa-desk/.

I understand extended wait times can be frustrating. I want to assure anyone who is waiting on a decision that my Department is doing everything possible to progress applications as quickly as possible. In recent months, additional resources and staff have been assigned to my Department’s Visa Division which I expect will reduce the waiting times for all applications.

People are advised that unforeseen delays can arise, which are outside the control of the Visa Desk. Processing times for all applications are influenced by a number of factors. The time it can take varies depending on the type and complexity of application; individual circumstances; peak application periods; such as holidays or the start of the school year; and, crucially, the quality and completeness of the application lodged.

Any applicant can now directly check the status of their visa application on the Immigration Service’s new Customer Service portal. They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at:portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/.