Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 January 2022
271. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice if her attention has been drawn to the issues persons are having in contacting and getting an appointment with the Garda National Immigration Bureau; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2760/22]
View answerWhen a non-EEA national enters the State and intend to stay for more than 90 days, they must register their immigration permission. First time registrations outside of the Dublin area are processed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) through the Garda Station network and securing of those appointments with GNIB are a matter for An Garda Síochána.
The Registration Office of my Department registers permissions for those residing in the Dublin area.
Since the onset of the pandemic, immigration permissions have been extended nine times, which means that people who held a valid permission to be in the State in March 2020 are legally permitted to remain until 31 May 2022.
As a result of the unavoidable delays that have resulted from closures and the reduced capacity of the Registration Office during Covid-19, a high number of customers are now coming forward to seek an appointment. When the office is open, 50% of normal capacity or 200 first time registration appointments are permitted every day in the Registration Office of my Department. This is the maximum allowed under current public health guidelines, which are strictly adhered to for the safety of all staff and customers alike.
As part of my Department’s ongoing work to meet the current unprecedented demand for first-time registration appointments, on 10 January 2022, a Freephone service (0800 741 741) was introduced for customers. It is currently operating 12 hours a day from Monday to Friday (8am to 8pm) and 8 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday (9am to 5pm). There are between 15 and 20 customer service representatives taking calls and making appointments. All appointments for persons to register their immigration permission are now issued through this service, with operators offering one appointment per call, unless it is for an identifiable family group.
In the first week of operation, over 2,000 customers have received appointments booked through the Freephone service. On average, more than 425 customer appointments are confirmed each day and registration will take place as soon as possible.
The Registration Office’s customer service team is available to support customers who may have language difficulties or may need assistance with translation. A number of multi-lingual videos describing the registration process and what to expect are available on our website www.irishimmigration.ie.
A new Immigration Service appointment and scheduling system, which will streamline and further improve the registration process, is currently being developed and is expected to be available to customers shortly.
Dublin based customers seeking to renew their permission can continue to do so online at inisonline.jahs.ie/user/login.
