Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 June 2017
118. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedure to be followed to regularise residency in the case of a person (details supplied); if this case can be urgently considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29435/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that, in November 2011, the person concerned applied for Long Term Residency in the State. Long Term Residency is granted on the basis that a non-EEA national has completed five years legal residency in the State on work permit / work authorisation / working visa conditions. Residency is calculated from the corresponding Stamp 1 or Stamp 4 endorsements in an applicant's passport and not by the dates of commencement and expiry of each work permit. Periods of time where a person has not had legal residency cannot be counted in any application for long term residency.
My officials in INIS were in contact with the person concerned on 22 October 2012, seeking further information. To date this information has not been received by INIS and the application has been deemed abandoned.
As the person concerned has not held permission to reside in the State since 23 June 2012, it would therefore seem that they have remained in the State without the permission of the Minister for Justice and Equality. This is in breach of Section 5(1) of the Immigration Act 2004 which provides that no non-national may be in the State other than in accordance with the terms of any permission given to them by or on behalf of the Minister. Furthermore, Section 5(2) of the Act provides that a non-national who is in the State in contravention of subsection (1) is for all purposes unlawfully present in the State.
It would appear that the person referred to by the Deputy failed to meet the requirements of Section 9 of the Act of 2004 which sets out the obligations of non-nationals in respect of registration and, in particular, I would draw the Deputy's attention to the requirements of Section 9(2)(b) of the Act of 2004. A person who is found to be in breach of the requirements of the Immigration Act 2004 may have committed an offence. A person found guilty of such an offence is liable under section 13 of the Act of 2004 to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
It is open to the person concerned to write to the Residence Unit 2 in INIS seeking a temporary permission (Stamp 1) in order for them to apply for a employment permit under the Reactivation Employment Permit scheme. Please see www.inis.gov.ie for details. The Employment Permits (Amendment) Act 2014 introduced on a statutory footing a new Employment Permit type, the "Reactivation Employment Permit", which will address this situation i.e where non-EEA nationals who entered the labour market legally on foot of an employment permit have now fallen out of the Employment Permits regime.
The Deputy may wish to note that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases 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.
