The Irish Government has approved the establishment of an Afghan Admission Programme that will provide up to 500 additional places for Afghan family members. Afghan nationals living in Ireland on or before 1 September 2021 will be able to apply to nominate up to four close family members who meet the eligibility criteria and who are currently living in Afghanistan, … Read More

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has announced the appointment of a new three-person independent group to monitor the implementation of the White Paper to End Direct Provision. The provisional tasks of the group will be to  monitor the progress of the transition to a new model of accommodation and supports for International Protection Applicants as set … Read More

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The Department of Justice has stated that the processing of short stay entry visa processing has resumed from Monday 13 September. Processing has resumed for visa required nationals legally resident in the EEA who can produce a valid Digital COVID Certificate (DCC). It will also resume for people in this category where they do not have a DCC if they … Read More

The 2021 Population and Migration Estimates released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the number of immigrants is estimated to have decreased by 23.7 per cent year-on-year from 85,400 in 2020 to 65,200 in 2021. The number of emigrants also decreased from 56,500 to 54,000 in the year to April 2021. These combined changes have resulted in net … Read More

The Irish Government has said that it intends to expedite the processing of current international protection applications from Afghan nationals. Family reunification applications made by Irish citizens and Afghan beneficiaries of international protection will also receive focussed attention, considering the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. The Department of Justice estimates that approximately 150 people will be granted permission to enter Ireland … Read More

ESRI/EMN Ireland has published research that sheds new light on how data are managed within the international protection procedure in Ireland. Biographical data such as names and date of birth, biometric data such as fingerprints, and details on a person’s protection claim, are collected in the various phases of the procedure. These data form the basis of a person’s application … Read More

A total of 4,400 new Irish citizens have been naturalised so far this year since the temporary statutory declaration process opened in January 2021. The new temporary system enables applicants to complete their naturalisation process by signing a statutory declaration of loyalty. It has been in place since 18 January 2021. The declaration replaces the requirement for citizenship applicants to … Read More

An essential resource for students, academics and researchers, the latest version of the EMN Glossary offers an EU-wide multidisciplinary vocabulary of approximately 500 terms and concepts related to migration and asylum, which are translated  into over 20 languages. Since its first publication in 2010, the Glossary has been a valuable resource for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers in the field of … Read More

Ireland has been kept on the Tier-Two Watch List for the second consecutive year according to the recently published 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TiP) report. Published by the U.S. Department of State, the 2021 TiP report notes that while the Irish government has made significant efforts to eliminate trafficking in persons, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared … Read More

The Council of the European Union and European Parliament together with the European Commission have agreed that the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) will be transformed into a new European Union Agency for Asylum. The Agency will have a reserve of 500 experts from Member States and a reinforced mandate. It is intended that the Agency will contribute to more … Read More

The United Nations Human Rights Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has published the Global Trends report 2020, which shows that nearly 82.4 million people were displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order in 2020. This marks a four per cent increase on the record-high 79.5 million internationally displaced people at the … Read More

The Department of Justice has announced the lifting of the temporary entry and transit visa restrictions that came into effect on 28 January 2021. Restrictions, including the suspension of visa-free travel, are lifted for nationals of South Africa, Brazil, and other South American countries. The move is in line with the Government’s Resilience and Recovery Plan for Living with COVID-19. … Read More

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has announced changes to the employment permits system for workers outside the European Economic Area (EEA). The occupation of Health Care Assistant has been removed from the ineligible occupation list. I; individuals must attain a relevant QQI Level 5 qualification after two years employment in the State and receive a minimum salary of … Read More

The Government has approved publication of the General Scheme of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 which provides for a number of legislative changes across different policy areas. The Bill proposes the reduction of the residency requirement for the naturalisation of children born in the State, to parents who are not Irish citizens, from 5 years to … Read More

The Department of Justice has announced that essential family reunification is one of two new categories being added to the priority list of visas currently being processed. Applications will also be accepted from people who are travelling for essential business or employment purposes and have received an employment permit from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. People seeking to … Read More

The European Parliament and European Council have reached political agreement on a proposal for new rules for the entry and residence of highly skilled workers from outside the EU under the revised Blue Card Directive. The revised Directive was originally proposed in 2016. The new scheme aims to attract new skills and talent by introducing more efficient rules for attracting highly … Read More

A new Guide to Opening Bank Accounts that will make it easier for international protection applicants and people with status to open bank accounts has been published by the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI). The guide states that banks in Ireland welcome international protection applicants as banking customers and will now accept temporary residence certificates (TRCs) as proof of … Read More

The Government has approved plans for a revised National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to make it easier for human trafficking victims to come forward and be supported. The revised proposal acknowledges that in addition to An Garda Síochána, other state bodies and NGOs can play a role in identifying victims of human trafficking and referring them to the NRM. Currently the … Read More

Recent developments  On 22nd April, the Immigration Service Delivery updated its FAQ document on the ‘Impact of Covid-19 on Immigration and International Protection’ explaining the most recent updates to asylum and migration services in Ireland. Citizenship, immigration registration and permissions On 6th May, the Department of Justice announced that the Registration Office at Burgh Quay will reopen to customers living in … Read More