Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
1279. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of instances in which an official and-or visa officer requested additional information in respect of an applicant’s standard of English before their arrival here in the past ten years to date. [20187/22]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is not readily available for the entire period in question. Its preparation would require the expenditure of a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff resources and time, which could not be justified in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources.
More generally, all applicants must show that they have the capacity to do their chosen course through the medium of English. If an applicant is applying for an English language course, they must have a basic level of English before coming to Ireland. English language course applicants are not required to provide evidence from a test provider when submitting their application. However, they may be asked by the Visa Officer to provide alternative evidence of a basic level of English before coming to Ireland.
Applicants intending to attend second level, foundation level or a preparatory English course (required prior to some third level courses) must provide evidence of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic Level 4.0 or English Test for Academic and Professional Purposes (ETAPP) Level B1 or equivalent.
Applicants intending to attend all other courses (not second level and not preparatory English) must provide evidence of IELTS Academic Level 5.0 or ETAPP level B2 or equivalent.
It should be noted that these are the requirements for a visa application and some course providers may require a higher standard for certain courses.
The certificate of an applicant’s English language standard must have been issued within two years of the expected start date of a course. As an exceptional measure, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, my Department will accept certificates within three years of the expected start date of the course for the 2021/2022 academic year.
