Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 14 Feb 2002

Vol. 548 No. 4

Written Answers. - Visa Applications.

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

197 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the eligibility criteria for student visa requirements for non-EEA nationals who wish to study English here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5250/02]

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

198 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the efforts made by his Department and the Garda Síochána to ensure that criteria for eligibility for student visa requirements are being adhered to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5251/02]

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

199 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if there have been instances reported to him in which visas have been issued to students from English language schools which have not met with ACELS criteria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5252/02]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 197 to 199, inclusive, together.

In response to submissions from representatives of the English language industry, my Department has for a number of years had in place a set of detailed student visa guidelines. These have been circulated to relevant education institutions and are also available on my Department's website. They are intended to assist frequent and high volume users of the student visa scheme. In general terms, however, the principal criteria applied are that the prospective student should have enrolled in a full-time course of study, should have paid fees in full for that course and should have evidence that they have sufficient funds to support themselves during their stay in the State.

Where such persons intend to stay for longer than 90 days, they are required to register with the Garda registration office for the area in which they intend to reside. The standard practice is for the registration office to grant permission to remain in the State for the duration of the course, up to a maximum of one year at a time. It is possible to obtain an extension of permission to remain in order to continue with the course of studies or to move to a new course, provided the above criteria continue to be met. During 2000, an additional requirement was introduced whereby students seeking a renewal of permission to remain are now required to provide a letter from their college certifying that their attendance over the preceding period has been satisfactory. Attendance of 80% or more is regarded as satisfactory.

In general these arrangements are working well and facilitate the many thousands of genuine students who wish to study in Ireland. Enterprise Ireland has estimated that earnings generated by the English language industry during 2000 were in excess of £350 million. There is, however, evidence of a certain amount of abuse of the pro cedures by a minority of persons who seek to avail of the scheme in order to circumvent normal immigration criteria. In this regard our experience is in line with that of all other jurisdictions operating large student admission programmes and the reality is that no system can entirely prevent abuse without disproportionately burdening genuine students with reporting and other requirements.

There are at present ongoing Garda inquiries into abuse of this nature, including the possibility that some organisations have provided letters of attendance, which may not be genuine. In this regard, the introduction last September of a new Garda computerised registration system is of particular value as it makes it possible to quickly generate reports of the persons who have registered and who are in attendance at each education institution and to compare this data with other indications of an institution's overall capacity. While the Garda has statutory powers to enforce compliance with immigration law generally, if it appears from the results of Garda inquiries that additional safeguards are required in order to minimise abuse of the system, then I will certainly give such proposals favourable and urgent consideration.

As the Deputy will also be aware, my Department will shortly be appointing a number of staff to the Irish embassies in Beijing and Moscow to improve the visa processing services at these locations – both embassies receive large numbers of student visa applications. The appointment of these officers, who will be supported by additional Department of Foreign Affairs local staff, will improve the quality of the decision making process thereby reducing the risk of abuse. Their presence will also of course improve the quality of service generally for genuine applicants.

In so far as recognition by the Minister for Education and Science under the scheme administered by the Advisory Council for English Language Studies – ACELS – is concerned, the position is that this is a non-statutory, voluntary scheme. Its principal objective is the development of high quality education service standards rather than compliance on the part of students with immigration requirements as such. Most English language schools in Ireland are certified under the ACELS scheme and my Department certainly welcomes such participation. However, as there is no obligation in law to obtain recognition in order to operate this type of business, it does not follow that not doing so implies that the school is not a genuine one or that my Department can simply refuse to deal with individuals seeking to study there. My Department is, however, represented on the board of ACELS and will continue to work closely with ACELS and all other interested parties with a view to providing a sustainable system of admission and immigration regulation for non-EEA students.