Billy Timmins
Ceist:505 Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason for the refusal of a visa in respect of a person (details supplied) [28221/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 12 June 2012
Ceisteanna (412)
Freagraí scríofa
The visa applications referred to by the Deputy were lodged in April 2012 and were processed in the Visa Office, Dublin. It was the decision of the visa officer on 21 May 2012 to refuse the granting of the visas sought.
The visas were refused as the visa officer was not satisfied with the obligations of the applicants to return to their country of origin following the proposed visit. One suggested way in which an applicant may seek to establish obligations to return to their country of origin is by way of social and or economic ties. The visa officer further noted that no clear link to the contact/host had been established. The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) website states that visit visa applicants are required to submit details of how they are known to or related to their contact host and to provide supporting evidence of this. While immigration stamps in an applicant's passport demonstrate previous entry to Ireland, this does not establish how they may be known to the present contact/host.
The Deputy may wish to note that the previous visits referred to occurred in 2008. At that time nationals of Mauritius were not required to be in possession of a visa when seeking to enter the State. The visa requirement for nationals of Mauritius entered in to force on 1 January 2010.
It is noted that the persons concerned do not propose to appeal the decisions to refuse the visas. It is, of course, open to them to lodge a fresh visa application at any time. Where doing so, the persons concerned should be in a position to address the concerns raised by the Visa Officer.
Queries in relation to general immigration matters may be made directly to 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 INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.