Helen McEntee

People who held a valid permission to be in the State in March 2020 will be legally permitted to remain until 20 September 2021, even if their Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card has expired and they are awaiting a new one.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said: “As the Covid-19 situation continues to evolve, I want to reassure people whose immigration permissions are due to expire shortly that your legal status in the country will continue to be maintained.

“To do this, I am introducing a further automatic extension to 20 September 2021 for anyone already holding a valid permission.

“This extension will benefit those who cannot get an appointment to register or renew an existing permission. However, I encourage anyone who can renew, particularly Dublin-based customers who can use the online system, to do so and not to wait until September.”

This is the seventh extension announced by Ms McEntee since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The last two-month extension and the two extensions before that were all described as the “final” extension.

The minister said: “It is intended this will be the final temporary extension of immigration permission, however we will continue to keep the situation under review as part of our national response to the pandemic.”