I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person mentioned by the Deputy entered the State on 24 May 2008 as a student and currently has permission, as a student, in the State until 27 February 2016.
All non-EEA students resident in the State are subject to the student immigration rules set out under the "new immigration regime for full time non-EEA students" which was published in September 2010 and has been in effect since 1 January 2011. These rules stipulate that non-EEA nationals may reside in Ireland as degree students, subject to the provisions of the new regime, for a maximum period of seven years. Three years are permitted at non-degree level. The person referred to by the Deputy arrived in the State in May 2008 and will have accumulated 7 years as a student in 2016. As such they do not qualify for Stamp 4 status. They are advised to look at the "student pathway" on the Department's website www.inis.gov.ie to see whether there are any post-study pathways available to them.
The Deputy will be aware that 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.