Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 June 2014
180. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the changes that have been made in immigration controls for persons seeking to reside here, that is, whether a person has to have a work permit, a certain bank balance and so on before he or she can reside here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27657/14]
View answer181. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the financial requirements regarding money in a bank account that immigrants must meet if staying in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27662/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 181 together.
The terms and conditions for immigration in Ireland including financial requirements depend on the length and purpose of the person's intended residence and the category of immigration status. The general principle is that a person coming here should not be a burden on the State and should accordingly have sufficient funds to maintain themselves during their stay. For instance a non-EEA student applying for a visa must have €7000 in funds available to them over and above the cost of their course. A person coming on a work permit is expected to maintain themselves from their earnings while here rather than to have a particular level of savings. Where applications are being made for family reunification the financial checks are on the basis of the sponsors earnings as opposed to bank balances.
In the normal course a person coming to the State to work will require an Employment Permit from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation although some categories of migrants are exempt from this requirement. Further Information is available on the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service website www.inis.gov.ie. Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases 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 Parliamentary Questions process.
