Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 June 2021
417. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Justice if she or her officials can facilitate a face-to-face meeting with a person to discuss a visa application and to outline the procedure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34449/21]
View answerIt is not the usual practice for Visa Office staff to meet directly with applicants. Currently, due to COVID-19 restrictions it would not be possible to facilitate a meeting in any event. However, our website (http://www.inis.gov.ie) provides very detailed information on the various visa types and the application process. If any questions cannot be answered by the material on my Department's website, applicants can contact the staff of the Visa Division directly at visamail@justice.ie.
More generally, the Government advice 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. To support that position, my Department is not currently 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. My Department intends to resume accepting applications as soon as safety concerns abate.
The Priority/Emergency cases that continue to be accepted and processed at this time include the following:
- All long stay employment applications, supported by an employment permit or Atypical permission;
- 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.
All travellers arriving into Ireland must continue to comply fully with the public health measures required by law. These include completing a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form, pre-arrival PCR test and quarantine in a designated facility or at home, as required.
