Patrick Costello
Question:498. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice when the issuing of type C visas will recommence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33107/21]
View answerTuesday, 22 June 2021
Questions (498)
Written answers
On 1 June 2021, I announced that my Department was to recommence accepting and processing all long stay visa and preclearance applications. Furthermore, with effect from 16 June 2021, the temporary entry and transit visa restrictions for nationals of South Africa, Brazil and other South American countries that came into effect on 28 January 2021, were lifted.
It remains the position that my Department is not accepting any short stay visa applications, except for cases that fall under the Emergency/Priority criteria set out below. The suspension of short stay applications will continue to be reviewed in consultation with the relevant authorities in the coming weeks.
Any resumption of services is subject to current health and safety advice in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. When making such decisions, the Government considers the expert public health advices of NPHET to tackle the disease. As I have said, the situation will continue to be reviewed in consultation with the relevant authorities in the coming weeks.
The Priority/Emergency visa application cases that continue to be accepted and processed at this time include the following:
- People travelling for business/employment purposes and granted an employment permit by Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment to meet an enterprise’s key business;
- Workers or self-employed persons exercising critical occupations including healthcare workers, frontier and posted workers as well as seasonal workers as referred to in the Guidelines concerning the exercise of the free movement of workers during the COVID-19 outbreak;
- Transport workers or transport service providers, including drivers of freight vehicles carrying goods for use in the territory as well as those merely transiting;
- Patients travelling for imperative medical reasons;
- Transport workers or transport service providers, including drivers of freight vehicles carrying goods for use in the territory as well as those merely transiting;
- Pupils, students and trainees who travel abroad on a daily basis and Third-country nationals travelling for the purpose of 3rd level study;
- Join Family applications;
- Preclearance applications from De Facto Partner of an Irish National, De Facto Partner of a Critical Skills Employment Permit Holder, or of a non EEA Researcher on a Hosting Agreement and Family members looking to join a UK National in Ireland;
- Persons travelling for imperative family or business reasons;
- Persons entitled to avail of the provision of the EU Free Movement Directive;
- Diplomats, staff of international organisations and people invited by international organisations whose physical presence is required for the well-functioning of these organisations, military personnel and police officers, and humanitarian aid workers and civil protection personnel in the exercise of their functions;
- Passengers in transit;
- Seafarers;
- Journalists, when performing their duties.
These measures are designed to support our public health restrictions on movement, including into and out of Ireland. The strong advice therefore is that everyone, regardless of their nationality or visa/preclearance status, or where they started from, who cannot provide proof of an essential purpose to travel to, should not travel to Ireland at this time.