Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 April 2014
498. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedure to be followed in order to obtain Irish visas for the children of an Irish citizen (details supplied) in County Westmeath who are anxious to comply with all necessary regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17981/14]
View answerThe Policy Document on Non-EEA Family Reunification, which I published on 31 December 2013, is a comprehensive statement of Irish national immigration policy in the area of family reunification. It is available on the website of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service of my Department at www.inis.gov.ie.
It is open to a visa required national to make a visa application, for any purpose, the onus resting with the applicant to satisfy the visa officer as to why the visa should be granted. All information that the applicant wishes to have taken into consideration should be included where a visa application is submitted. Comprehensive information on the visa application process is available on the INIS website. It should be borne in mind, however, that the information contained on the website is intended in the nature of guidance only. It does not limit the discretion of the visa officer in dealing with individual applications.
I am advised by INIS that visa applications in respect of the children referred to by the Deputy were submitted at the end of July, 2013. These applications were refused last August and an appeal against the refusals was upheld last October. Detailed refusal reasons were communicated to the applicants/sponsor. It is open at any time to the applicants to make fresh visa applications. However, in so doing they would be advised to address the original refusal reasons and the requirements of the Policy Document referred to above.
Queries in relation to general immigration matters may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility 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 Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
