Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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348. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the average waiting time to receive a response from the South Africa visa office for applicants who wish to come to Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52690/25]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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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 visas 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:

If an application has significantly exceeded the above times, it is possible that, on initial assessment, the application has not met the criteria to be issued a visa, and further assessment/verification is required. In such instances, processing times will be longer than those stated above.

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/

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.

In 2024, approximately 201,000 visa applications, of all types, were received by the Visa Division of my Department. This reflects an increase of 21%, compared to 2023, with over 35,000 additional applications received. These increases have continued, in the first eight months of 2025, my Department's Visa Division received approximately 151,000 visa applications and has issued over 134,000 decisions. This reflects an increase in applications of 5% compared to the same period in 2024. My officials are working to meet the increased level of demand, and over 5,500 additional visa decisions have issued in the first eight months of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024.

I understand that extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants, and I want to assure anyone who has made an application for a visa that my Department is doing everything possible to progress these applications as quickly as possible. Staffing levels are kept under ongoing review having regard to demands placed on my Department’s Immigration Service Delivery function generally. This year additional resources and staff have been assigned to my Department’s Visa Division in response to the growing demand for these services.

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/.