Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 January 2018
137. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if in the case of a person (details supplied) they can have the requirement for their Angolan passport waived due to extreme difficulty in obtaining the document; if their national identification card will suffice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2700/18]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that a representative of the INIS wrote to the person concerned on 9 January 2018 requesting certain information and documentation to enable that person's immigration case to be progressed. Included in that communication was a request that the person concerned "....submit a colour copy of the bio-data page from your current passport, or an expired passport..."
The Deputy will appreciate the necessity of any third country national person seeking a right of residence in the State being in a position to provide verifiable documentary evidence to attest to their identity and nationality. As a result, the person concerned should make every possible effort to convince the INIS of their identity and nationality so that their immigration case can be progressed.
I am advised that this is a standard requirement in the context of persons in the immigration process who have not, up to that point, provided documentary evidence of their identity and nationality. It is a reasonable expectation that such persons would be in a position to provide such National documentation to establish their identity, given that they will invariably have crossed international borders, and negotiated international airports, or ports before arriving in this State.
If there are particular extenuating circumstances which means that the person concerned cannot provide a current passport bio-data page to attest to their identity and nationality they or their legal representatives should contact my Department at Info@justice.ie . The INIS will engage further on the matter in the context of the individual circumstances of each case.
