Visa Applications

Wednesday, 10 February 2021

Ceisteanna (626)

Darren O'Rourke

Ceist:

626. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Justice the number of visa applications processed in each processing office in 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6680/21]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice

There are currently seven overseas Visa Offices in addition to the Visa Office in Dublin. These are located in Abuja, Beijing, London, Moscow, Ankara, Abu Dhabi and New Delhi. Additionally, the Department of Foreign Affairs processes certain visa applications in Irish Embassies abroad under delegated sanction from my Department.

The tables below set out the number of visa applications processed or decided in 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the figures for 2020 and to date in 2021, reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for and processing of visa applications. Most recently, as part of ongoing Government efforts to tackle the pandemic, new visa requirements have been introduced for passport holders from a number of South American countries and South Africa. The Order and the associated measures came into effect at midnight on 27 January 2021.

The Immigration Service of my Department has also temporarily ceased accepting new visa/preclearance applications, with effect from close of business on 29 January 2021. It is intended to resume accepting applications as soon as safety concerns abate. Certain Priority/Emergency cases will continue to be processed and these include the following:

- Workers or self-employed persons exercising critical occupations including healthcare workers, frontier and posted workers as well as seasonal workers as referred to in the Guidelines concerning the exercise of the free movement of workers during the COVID-19 outbreak;

- Transport workers or transport service providers, including drivers of freight vehicles carrying goods for use in the territory as well as those merely transiting;

- Patients travelling for imperative medical reasons;

- Pupils, students and trainees who travel abroad on a daily basis and Third-country nationals travelling for the purpose of 3rd level study;

- Persons travelling for imperative family or business reasons;

- Diplomats, staff of international organisations and people invited by international organisations whose physical presence is required for the well-functioning of these organisations, military personnel and police officers, and humanitarian aid workers and civil protection personnel in the exercise of their functions;

- Passengers in transit;

- Seafarers;

- Journalists, when performing their duties.

If an application falls into one of these categories, an application can be made online in the usual way.

-	Applications processed per location (2019)
Office	Total Decided
Abu Dhabi	11034
Abuja	6616
Addis Ababa	339
Amman	318
Ankara	5991
Athens	511
Bangkok	1527
Beijing	18305
Belgrade	1494
Berlin	2071
Berne	641
Boston	355
Brasilia	45
Bratislava	38
Brussels	425
Bucharest	1075
Budapest	110
Buenos Aires	316
Cairo	1422
Canberra	529
Chicago	642
Copenhagen	344
Dar-es-Salaam	214
Freetown	124
Hanoi	973
Helsinki	156
INIS Dublin	1359
Jakarta	2954
Kampala	459
Karachi	3086
Kiev	4744
Kuala Lumpur	151
Lilongwe	231
Lisbon	170
Ljubljana	362
London	9723
Lusaka	315
Luxembourg	107
Madrid	536
Manila	3535
Maputo	97
Mexico	1895
Monrovia	5
Moscow	19008
Nairobi	640
New Delhi	29718
New York	1338
Nicosia	91
Oslo	201
Ottawa	546
Paris	1141
Prague	235
Pretoria	1258
Riga	372
Riyadh	4487
Rome	600
San Francisco	1505
Seoul	39
Shanghai	1829
Singapore	712
Sofia	768
Stockholm	209
Tallinn	114
Tehran	501
Tel Aviv	218
The Hague	870
Tokyo	131
Valletta	48
Vienna	325
Vilnius	59
Warsaw	301
Washington	374
Zagreb	36
Total	153,018

-	Applications processed per location (2020)
Office	Total Decided
Abu Dhabi	3048
Abuja	2016
Addis Ababa	48
Amman	55
Ankara	1780
Athens	99
Bangkok	331
Beijing	3477
Belgrade	362
Berlin	453
Berne	136
Bogota	13
Boston	85
Brasilia	18
Bratislava	8
Brussels	117
Bucharest	280
Budapest	30
Buenos Aires	37
Cairo	453
Canberra	109
Chicago	142
Copenhagen	67
Dar-es-Salaam	86
Freetown	33
Hanoi	340
Helsinki	30
INIS Dublin	672
Jakarta	434
Kampala	135
Karachi	1291
Kiev	1159
Kuala Lumpur	55
Lilongwe	47
Lisbon	50
Ljubljana	121
London	2337
Lusaka	111
Luxembourg	26
Madrid	106
Manila	1118
Maputo	33
Mexico	199
Moscow	3408
Nairobi	179
New Delhi	12344
New York	249
Nicosia	10
Oslo	54
Ottawa	81
Paris	293
Prague	62
Pretoria	446
Riga	95
Riyadh	1261
Rome	169
San Francisco	291
Seoul	15
Shanghai	80
Singapore	210
Sofia	106
Stockholm	57
Tallinn	23
Tehran	172
Tel Aviv	63
The Hague	224
Tokyo	41
Valletta	65
Vienna	63
Vilnius	11
Warsaw	98
Washington	79
Zagreb	7
Total	41,803

-	Applications processed per location (2021)
Office	Total Decided
Abu Dhabi	154
Abuja	95
Addis Ababa	2
Amman	2
Ankara	47
Athens	9
Bangkok	9
Beijing	74
Belgrade	20
Berlin	11
Berne	1
Boston	3
Bratislava	1
Bucharest	4
Budapest	1
Buenos Aires	2
Cairo	6
Canberra	2
Chicago	5
Dar-es-Salaam	1
Freetown	3
Hanoi	22
Helsinki	1
INIS Dublin	31
Jakarta	7
Kampala	6
Karachi	129
Kiev	32
Kuala Lumpur	1
Lilongwe	1
Lisbon	1
Ljubljana	2
London	43
Lusaka	14
Manila	86
Mexico	1
Moscow	25
Nairobi	15
New Delhi	1022
New York	7
Nicosia	1
Oslo	1
Ottawa	1
Paris	5
Prague	1
Pretoria	52
Riga	2
Riyadh	83
Rome	4
San Francisco	5
Singapore	15
Sofia	7
Stockholm	1
Tallinn	1
Tehran	8
Tel Aviv	1
The Hague	1
Tokyo	2
Valletta	2
Vienna	1
Warsaw	7
Washington	2
Zagreb	1
Total	2,102