Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 October 2018
307. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to issues in respect of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service's new online appointment system whereby immigrants who apply for re-entry and renewal visas are being blocked from making appointments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43237/18]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that there are currently two online appointments systems in operation for non-EEA nationals. These systems are for registration of permission to reside in the State, and for applications for an emergency re-entry visa appointment.
With regard to the on-line system used by customers to apply for appointments with INIS to register or renew a permission to reside in the State, I am advised that some customers have experienced difficulty in booking appointments. This arose because third party agents had been securing multiple appointments through the use of automatic software.
A set of software fixes was introduced in mid-September to prevent this abuse of the system. As far as can be determined, this software update has been successful in preventing the block booking of appointments by third party agents. The appointments system is being kept under review to identify attempts to abuse the system.
More than 8,500 non-EEA nationals are expected to be registered in Dublin in October. This is an increase of 12% on the number registered in September 2018. INIS expects to register over 85,000 people in Dublin this year - a figure considerably up on last year.
With regard to the on-line appointment system for re-entry visas, this is available for appointments for emergency re-entry visa requests only - the vast majority of customers use the postal system. Customers with urgent travel needs can use the on-line system to make an emergency appointment for a re-entry visa and their application will be dealt with within 24 hours. There have been no problems with this system.
