Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
1393. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 1278 of 24 March 2020, when the current 880 active cases were received by the INIS; the initiatives which are in place to tackle the backlog by month in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18582/21]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy in relation to applications for permission under the Zambrano judgment (related to decisions under a scheme whereby a non-EEA national who is the biological parent of a minor dependent Irish Citizen Child living in Ireland, can be granted residency rights in Ireland) is not readily available for the entire period in question. Collating this information would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff resources and time, which could not be justified in the current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources.
However, I can confirm that the vast majority of these cases (over 77%), were made since 2019 and 52% were made since 2020. Over 680 of these applications are currently being actively processed by staff of the Immigration Service, where they have written out to applicants seeking additional documents, DNA evidence etc.
All applications received in Residence Unit 4 in the Immigration Service of my Department are processed in chronological order. If the applicant submits all of the relevant documentation along with a completed application form, their application can be processed quickly when reached, as long as there are no queries regarding the parentage of the Irish citizen child. To uphold the integrity of the immigration system, all cases are examined individually on their own merits.
To speed up the processing of applications, and as a result of the limitations on staff attendance at the office during this time, Residence Unit 4 commenced accepting applications via email in April 2020. Non-EEA parents of Irish citizen children who hold a current valid immigration permission and are residing in the Dublin Metropolitan area can also now submit their application to be registered as the parent of an Irish citizen child through the online registration portal at: https://inisonline.jahs.ie/user/login.
Non EEA parents of Irish citizen children who currently do not hold a valid immigration permission to remain in the State, continue to be required to apply for permission under the Zambrano judgment by submitting the completed application form with all the required documentation to Unit 4, Domestic Residence and Permissions Division, Immigration Service Delivery, Dublin 2, DO2 XK70.
