Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
347. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice when it can be expected that she will begin announcing the outcome of applications to the Afghan admissions programme and specifically a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50968/22]
View answerIn response to the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, my Department remains focused on processing applications for family reunification made under all admission avenues, including the Afghan Admissions Programme. I understand that this is a difficult situation for our Afghan community and their loved ones.
I can confirm that my Department received the application referred to on the 9 March 2022. I would also like to assure all applicants that the applications continue to be assessed in a pragmatic and humanitarian manner with a view to issuing decisions soon.
In addition to the Afghan Admissions Programme, since the beginning of August 2021 to 26 September 2022, a total of 140 join family visas have been approved for Afghan nationals and 77 family reunification applications have been approved. A significant number of Afghan people have also been allocated places under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), which is under the remit of the Department of Children, Equality. Disability, Integration and Youth. My Department provides the visas to facilitate their travel to Ireland and almost 600 visa waiver letters have been issued to date.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility (inisoireachtasmail@justice.ie) which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
