Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 September 2014
155. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding long-term residency and the eligibility for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35088/14]
View answerThe person concerned was granted temporary permission to remain in the State in 2002 under the arrangements then applicable to the non-EEA national parents of Irish born citizen children. This permission was renewed on a regular basis with the latest permission granted to him expiring on 28 January, 2014.
The person concerned applied to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department for further permission to remain in the State on 11 February, 2014. He was requested to provide documentation regarding his family situation, his finances, and proof of continuous residency in the State, by letter dated 25 February, 2014. Some documentation was supplied but it was not considered sufficient. Further documentation was requested by letter dated 30 May, 2014. When the documents requested were received, his passport was examined by the relevant officials of my Department. It showed that the person concerned was absent from the State for considerable periods of time, since his last renewal. In the circumstances, the renewal of his permission to remain was refused by letter issued 19 August, 2014, due to insufficient verifiable evidence of maintenance of his children, allied to his prolonged absence from the State. He was invited to send in observations and comments within 10 working days of receipt of letter. Correspondence has recently been received on behalf of the person concerned, which will be examined by the relevant officials in the INIS.
Officials in the Citizenship Division of the INIS inform me that there is no record of an application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person concerned. I should remind the Deputy that queries in relation to the status of individual Immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by Email using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specially established for this purpose. The service enables up-to-date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek this information through the more administratively expensive Parliamentary Questions process.
