Eoin Ó Broin
Question:969. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Justice the status of a visa application for a person (details supplied). [46673/24]
View answerWednesday, 22 January 2025
Questions (969)
Written answers
The visa application referred to by the Deputy was refused by the Visa Office in Abu Dhabi on 13 February 2024. The reasons for this decision were set out in the refusal letter sent to the applicants at that time. An appeal of this decision was launched on 02 April 2024.
Appeals for applications of this type are processed in the order in which they are received, to be fair to all applicants. While every effort is made to process these applications as soon as possible, processing times will vary having regard to the volume of appeals received, their complexity, the possible need for the visa office to seek further information in relation to certain appeals and the resources available to process them.
All visa applicants are advised that the onus is on them to provide as much information in support of their application as they feel is necessary. Guidelines in this regard are posted on the Immigration Service website. When making an appeal, the applicant should take into account the reasons for refusal listed in the refusal letter. The appeal should include any further information or additional documentation they wish to have considered, and should be sent for the attention of the Visa Appeals Officer, in the relevant Visa Office, where the matter will be considered afresh.
Full consideration will be given to any appeals received on behalf of the applicants, however the onus is on applicants to satisfy the Visa Officer that visas should be granted.
Processing times and decisions at the Overseas Visa Offices can be checked at the following link:
www.irishimmigration.ie/visa-decisions/#decisions
I can advise the Deputy that in 2023, over 166,000 visa applications were submitted. In 2024, approximately 201, 000 visa applications were received by the Visa Division. This reflects an increase of 21%, compared to 2023, with over 35,000 additional applications received.
The vast majority of visa applications are determined in a matter of weeks. However, some applications, in particular those to join family members here, can take considerably longer.
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. I am acutely aware join family applications, are very important for the persons impacted and I am committed to improving the service my Department provides. Recently, I have assigned additional resources and staff to my Department’s visa division which will I expect will reduce the waiting times for family applications in the coming months.
The person concerned can now directly check the status of their immigration application on the Immigration Service’s new Digital Contact Centre. They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at:
portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/
As an Oireachtas member, you can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process.