Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
333. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason for refusal for a family reunification application (details supplied); and if an appeal will be granted regarding the decision to refuse a visa in the case. [12338/20]
View answerAn application by the person referred to for a visa to join an Irish national spouse was refused on 23 January 2020. The reasons for refusal were fully outlined in the refusal letter dated the 27 January 2020.
An appeal against the decision to refuse was received in the Dublin Visa Office on the 18 March 2020, where it is currently awaiting comprehensive examination. All appeals are examined in chronological order based on the date of receipt in the Visa Office.
Currently, there are limited Visa services being provided as all public offices including those at our Missions abroad are closed to the public. As part of the combined efforts to tackle COVID-19 and to ensure customer safety, the Immigration Service took the decision to temporarily cease accepting new visa applications, effective from close of business on 20 March 2020. However, the Visa Division continues to process Visa Appeal cases, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the capacity to process appeals is substantially reduced.
The length of time to process an appeal application can be dependent on a number of factors, including the need to seek additional documentation, the number of appeals received at a particular time and the resources available to process them. As each appeal application is assessed on its own merits it is not possible to provide a timeframe for completion of the appeal process.
However, the current date of receipt for which appeals are being processed for this type of visa appeal in the Dublin Visa Office is 25 January 2019. Applicants can keep up-to-date with the dates the Dublin Visa Office are processing by checking the following page, which is updated weekly:
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/inis/pages/visa%20decisions
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department 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 is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
