The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the way the Immigration Service of my Department conducts its business. All operational decisions taken during this time are in line with Government and public health advice.
There was a temporary suspension on the acceptance of some visa application, including join-family applications, introduced in March 2020. The Immigration Service continued to process those join-family applications which it had received before the suspension was introduced. The suspension on the acceptance of join-family applications was removed in June 2020, and join-family visa applications continue to be accepted and processed. It remains the position that we are not accepting most short stay (fewer than 90 days) visa applications. Details of the other visas which are being processed are available on our website: www.inis.gov.ie.
There are still restrictions in place in some countries which are outside our control and the Immigration Service intends to resume accepting join-family visa applications as soon the local conditions permit in those countries. The extent of the resumption of visa services will continue to be decided in accordance with World Health Organisation (WHO) and Health Service Executive (HSE) guidelines both in Ireland and globally.
The Immigration Service has implemented a suite of measures to help in reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus including the implementation of remote working for staff in order to comply with social and physical distancing measures. Unfortunately, these measures have led to a reduction in processing capacity. While delays are expected including in the processing of join-family visa applications, we are endeavouring to processing such applications as quickly as possible, processing times inevitably vary as a result of these factors.
