Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 June 2026
553. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the current average waiting times for the different types of visa applications being made to his Department, for each of the past five years; and the reason the processing time is growing longer specially for Stamp 4 and family reunification visas. [48929/26]
View answer554. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is he is aware of the difficulties being created by the long wait time for Stamp 4 renewal applications which can lead to the applicant being under severe stress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48930/26]
View answer564. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether any assessment has been carried out of the impact of staffing allocations and redeployments on processing times for Irish residence permit registrations, renewals and Stamp 4 permissions; and if so, to provide details of the findings of that assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48952/26]
View answer565. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average processing time and the number of applications awaiting decision for Irish residence permit registrations and renewals, including Stamp 4 applications, at the end of each quarter from 1 January 2023 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48953/26]
View answer566. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of whole-time equivalent staff assigned to the Irish residence permit (IRP) registration and renewal system, including first-time registrations, renewals and Stamp 4 processing, for each year from 2020 to date and, where available, by quarter from 1 January 2023 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48954/26]
View answer573. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to respond to correspondence received (details supplied) in relation to Irish Residence Permit applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48969/26]
View answer586. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the processing time per category of immigration stamp; the number of staff employed to process immigration applications, in tabular form; if he is aware of the increasing length of time between application and approval; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49184/26]
View answer593. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his attention has been drawn to instances where delays with IRP renewals have impacted first-time home buyers’ ability to draw down on their mortgage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49350/26]
View answer609. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of applications for renewal of immigration permission refused, in each of the years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49509/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 553, 554, 564, 565, 566, 573, 586, 593 and 609 together.
The Registration Office of my Department is currently experiencing an exceptionally high demand for first time registration appointments and immigration permission renewal applications.
I understand that the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants, and I can assure the Deputy that my Department is exploring every avenue available to facilitate as many customers as possible and to increase processing capacity.
The Registration Office is open seven days a week to facilitate customers to process both first time registration appointments and online renewals. Additional staff have been assigned to this work, which has now begun to reduce the processing time for renewals. For certain categories of renewals, the processing time is now approximately 6 - 8 weeks from the time of initial application, with no category exceeding a wait time of 16 weeks.
The Registration Office provide a live application processing date broken down by stamp category, which is updated every Monday, and is available on the Immigration Service website at the following link: www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/how-to-renew-your-current-permission/renewing-your-registration-permission-if-you-live-in-the-republic-of-ireland/.
While my Department endeavours to process applications as quickly as possible, processing times may vary due to a number of factors, such as the number of applications on hand, individual circumstances, the complexity of applications, whether further information is required, and peak application periods.
The Registration Office has also issued a notice to employers regarding the legality of employing someone awaiting renewal. If an employee’s Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card has expired and they are unable to obtain a new one by the expiry date of their current IRP card, they are still legally permitted to remain in the State on their existing IRP card for a maximum of 12 weeks. This is subject to the applicant submitting their renewal application prior to their current IRP card expiring. Further information on this notice can be found here: www.irishimmigration.ie/notice-to-employers-regarding-employees-awaiting-renewal-of-their-irp-card/.
In addition, customers may submit their renewal applications up to 12 weeks prior to expiry of permission, to allow sufficient time for an application to be reached and processed prior to a current permission expiring.
It is also open to any person to request to have their renewal application expedited due to extenuating circumstances, and they can do so by contacting the Registration team of the Department via the Customer Service Portal. They will need to explain their circumstances and the urgent need to travel and will be required to submit proof of travel, for example a flight booking and the reason of the emergency. All such requests are considered on a case by case basis.
Applicants can directly check the status of their immigration application on the Immigration Service’s Customer Service Portal. They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at www.portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/.
The table below sets out the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff assigned to the Registration Office within Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) at the end of each year from 2020 to 2025, as well as the number of staff as of 15 June 2026.
|
Year |
Number of FTE Staff |
|
2020 |
46.7 |
|
2021 |
47.8 |
|
2022 |
44 |
|
2023 |
40.6 |
|
2024 |
89.1 |
|
2025 |
81.7 |
|
2026 (as of 15 June) |
93.1 |
*Please note, figures are correct at time of issue, however, all statistics may be subject to data cleansing.
Staffing levels are kept under ongoing review having regard to demands placed on my Department’s ISD function generally.
Since 13 January 2025, all nationwide first-time registrations of Irish immigration residence permissions are the responsibility of the Registration Office of ISD of my Department. Furthermore, since November 2024, all renewals of immigration permissions transferred to ISD and are done using my Department’s online platform, meaning that applicants from across the country no longer have to attend in person at their local Garda Station.
As a result, information regarding refusals, average waiting times and the number of applications pending in previous years is not available.
The table below details the approximate number of online renewal applications awaiting to be processed at the end of each month so far in 2026.
|
Date |
Number of online renewals awaiting processing |
|
January 2026 |
57,000 |
|
February 2026 |
58,000 |
|
March 2026 |
99,000 |
|
April 2026 |
97,000 |
|
May 2026 |
86,000 |
|
June 2026 |
74,000 |
*Please note, figures are correct at time of issue, however, all statistics may be subject to data cleansing.
