David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

9. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the measures being taken by her Department to ensure the quicker processing of visa preclearance applications and associated appeals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38096/24]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I ask the Minister about the measures being taken by her Department to ensure the quicker processing of visa preclearance applications and associated appeals. The office is doing great work in most areas, but there are one or two areas where I think there is a bit of slippage. Has the Minister looked at this and can further improvements be made?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As the Deputy rightly said, a great deal of work is being done but we can always improve the service overall and the timelines for people. We are responding and trying to make these changes while at the same time seeing an increase in the number of applications overall. In 2023, we had over 166,000 visa applications submitted and approximately 140,000 of those were granted. These figures are likely to be surpassed in 2024. For the first seven months of this year alone, there were 123,000 visa applications, which is an increase of 20%. At the same time as the figures are increasing, we are trying to continue to reduce the times. Obviously, there are challenges with this but I think we are making progress.

Visa and preclearance applications provide legal avenues for people coming to Ireland for employment, study, visits, to join those here already, for work and business or for other reasons. The vast majority of visa applications are determined in a matter of weeks. However, some applications, in particular visas to allow people to join family members here, which are the ones people probably come to me most about, can take considerably longer. If it is a join family visa for an Irish citizen, it takes six months, but it can be up to a year for a non-EEA citizen. I appreciate that is far too long for many people. The challenge here is that we are, essentially, undertaking a screening process designed to establish if that person has a legitimate reason to come to Ireland prior to travel. It is also necessary to undertake verification, undergo processes and vetting in other areas too.

In saying that, I have put in place a team tasked specifically in this area with identifying how we can improve and speed up the process and reduce these overall times. Obviously, applications and their times are influenced by several different factors. The length of time taken can vary depending on the type and complexity of applications, the individual circumstances and if it is during a peak application period such as summertime or, especially, the return to school time. Crucially, the quality and completeness of the application lodged can also have an impact. While the waiting times initially may be four or five weeks, if there must then be an appeal, that sets the waiting time back in some instances by three or four months. One thing I know we would all say to anybody putting in an application is to ensure all the application details and information and anything being asked for is provided. I will always, though, endeavour to ensure we will do everything we can to speed up the processes regardless of the type of application.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister for her response. Can the Minister tell me now or perhaps later how many visa applications of various types are currently in the queue? The Minister may not have this information now but perhaps she might have it later.

I am also aware that the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious in Ireland has some concerns about how its procedure is working and has sought a meeting with officials in the Minister's Department. Will she facilitate a meeting with the organisation as soon as possible, please?

Additionally, can the Minister tell me what the situation is concerning the single application procedure regarding work permits and visas? A commitment was given that there would be a single application procedure in this regard. How is this progressing? Those are my three queries.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

To the latter question, as the Deputy rightly said, last May I jointly announced with my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke, that a project to adopt the single permit to work and live in Ireland would be developed. There is a two-stream process now. The outcome of this initiative will streamline this process for applicants coming to Ireland to work by combining three separate applications into one single procedure. This is a complex project that will take several years but it is continuing. We are working on it and we have established a group within the two Departments to do this. In the interim, we are putting in place as many measures as possible to try to speed up the process.

I am always happy to engage with any groups or to speak with groups where they feel there is a specific backlog or challenge. If we look at short-stay visas, however, the average processing time for first instance decisions is three and a half weeks. If there is an appeal, then the process does move to a waiting time of, on average, five months. I again ask people to ensure they have their information right. For long-stay visas, the first instance decision took six weeks. For all types of preclearance applications, the average processing time is three months and two weeks. They do vary, but for the most part we stick to those timelines that are set.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister for committing to meet the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious in Ireland because it is concerned about some of the issues it is encountering. I am sure they can be resolved with the very efficient officials speedily and efficiently.

Are there different processing times in the different embassies across the world regarding visa applications and has the Minister any information on any of these?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Depending on the country, there are differences in the numbers of applications and ways in which embassies in the original countries are operating. While I do not have the exact times, I can tell the Deputy that the top ten nationalities in terms of the short-stay visa grants are India, China, Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, the Philippines, Egypt, Colombia and Saudi Arabia. This ranges from 25,000 applications to 850 applications. Depending on where people are coming from, but also the structures in their countries, there are variations in the overall timelines. When we take into consideration the fact that this year alone we have had a 20% increase in the numbers of all types of visas, coupled with the significant increase in the number of international protection applicants coming through the system, as well as the work we are doing to support those coming from Ukraine, the number of staff has been increased significantly right across the immigration service. We have managed to keep the times within the timeframes we are setting and are still trying to reduce them further through engagement with the individual embassies and those individuals impacted by certain cases. My focus is to ensure we can have this system as efficient and effective as possible.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

One of the important ways we will do this is through investment in technology.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

We are way over time.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

We have already seen the investment in the normal visa structures but also in the international protection system and how this has allowed us to process many more applications.