The persons concerned, a husband and wife, entered the State on 27th July, 2004, the husband on student conditions and his wife as his dependant, and they were granted permission to remain in the State on those bases until 10th May, 2007. They were subsequently granted extensions of their respective permissions to remain up to 13th January, 2010, and then again for a further four months up to 13th May, 2010, to enable a prospective employer to apply for a Work Permit on behalf of the husband. My Department's records indicate that his efforts to obtain a Work Permit at that time were unsuccessful.
The first named person concerned had no legal basis to remain in the State beyond 13th May, 2010, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), he was notified, by letter dated 16th June, 2011, of the proposal to make a Deportation Order in respect of him. He was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against them.
The position in the State of the first named person concerned now falls to be decided by reference to the provisions of Section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. All representations submitted will be considered before a final decision is made. Once a decision has been made, this decision, and the consequences of the decision, will be conveyed in writing to the first named person concerned.
In relation to the second named person, she was granted permission to remain in the State on the 13th January 2010 on Stamp 3 conditions until the 13th May 2010. In the event that her spouse was issued with a work permit she was advised to contact the General Immigration Division in order to have her permission to remain extended. She was also advised that should her spouse not be issued with a work permit she was required to leave the State and provide evidence to the Division by the 13th June 2010 that she had done so. I am informed by my officials in INIS that they will be in touch with her shortly.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility 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 from the INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.