Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2022
734. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the indicated processing times for fully completed English language long-stay study visas applications submitted to the Irish visa office in each embassy in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30161/22]
View answerPolicy and procedures related to the provision of visa services are a matter for the Department of Justice.
Decisions regarding the granting or refusal of study visas are made in seven regional Visa Offices overseas, at Embassies that process certain visa applications under delegated sanction from the Department of Justice, and in the Immigration Service Visa Office in Dublin.
Since January this year, over 6,100 study visa applications have been submitted through Embassies and Visa Offices overseas. It is not possible to extract the number of English Language long-stay visa applications from the overall number of study visa applications.
All applications received are examined to establish whether they are complete or incomplete before a decision can be made. Whether an application is complete or incomplete will impact the decision that is issued, but not the processing time.
Processing times for visas are published on the visa pages of the websites of Visa Offices and Embassies. For study visas, the indicative processing time is eight weeks. However, the processing time for visas at each location worldwide is determined by a number of factors such as the volume and complexity of applications, whether investigation is required or not, individual circumstances, peak application periods, seasonal factors, and the resources available. While every effort is made to process applications as quickly as possible, processing times inevitably vary as a result.
