Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 July 2015
167. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position as to whether a non-national and non-European Union citizen who is not lawfully present here but who marries an Irish citizen during the course of being unlawfully present here accrues the right to remain here subsequent to the marriage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26630/15]
View answerA non-EEA national who is unlawfully present in the State is in breach of Section 5(1) of the Immigration Act 2004 which provides that no non-Irish national may be in the State other than in accordance with the terms of any permission given to them by or on behalf of the Minister. Furthermore, Section 5(2) of the Act provides that a non-Irish national who is in the State in contravention of subsection (1) is for all purposes unlawfully present in the State.
A non-EEA national present in the State is obliged to meet the requirements of Section 9 of the Act of 2004 which sets out the obligations of non-nationals in respect of registration and in particular to the requirements of Section 9(2)(b) of the Act of 2004.
A person who is found to be in breach of the requirements of the Immigration Act 2004 may have committed an offence. A person found guilty of such an offence is liable under section 13 of the Act of 2004 to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
The person in question should now present himself to his local Garda Station.
Marriage to an Irish national does not confer an automatic right of residence in the State. A non-EEA national unlawfully present in the State who wishes to reside here on the basis of their marriage to an Irish national may make a written application to the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (INIS) for permission to remain in the State. Details of the qualifying criteria are published on the INIS website www.inis.gov.ie.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the 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 the INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
