Family Reunification

Tuesday, 8 November 2022

Questions (870)

Bríd Smith

Question:

870. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Justice the number of family reunification applications under the terms of the International Protection Act received by her Department in the past 12 months by month received in tabular form; if she will provide the number of decisions issued per month on family reunification for the same period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54984/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice

My Department received 782 family reunification applications for 2,287 family members under the International Protection Act 2015 between, 31 October 2021 to 31 October 2022. The table below gives the number of applications received and decided by month. Decisions issued may relate to applications which were received outside the requested period due to the time taken to process applications.

Month	Applications received	Applications Decided
November (2021)	122	73
December	211	107
January (2022)	253	179
February	161	76
March	143	48
April	143	129
May	235	97
June	202	132
July	191	146
August	198	86
September	245	156
October	183	185

I recognise the critical importance of International Protection recipients having their family members reunite with them as soon as possible. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) continued to accept and process Family Reunification (FRU) applications under the International Protection Act 2015.

It is recognised that all applicants for FRU would wish to have a decision on their application without delay. However, the nature of the FRU process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some instances, completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time.

Further information can be found on my Department's website here:

www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-join-family-in-ireland/family-reunification-of-international-protection-holders/