Immigration

Five-year multi-entry visas will be made available to people from all visa-required countries, justice minister Helen McEntee has announced. Up to now, Ireland has offered one-year, two-year and three-year multi-entry visas, with the option of a five-year multi-entry visa only available to Chinese p

Around 250 people have regularised their immigration status in Ireland through the time-limited scheme launched two months ago. The regularisation scheme for long-term undocumented migrants opened for applications at the end of January and will run for six months. A separate strand for people who ha

Northern Ireland's High Court has awarded costs against the Home Office where their unexplained delay in issuing a visa forced the applicant to bring proceedings. The court found that the applicant was justified in issuing the proceedings, despite the fact that her visa arrived five days after threa

Immigration barristers in Ireland have joined colleagues from across the European Union in offering pro bono legal assistance to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. The Immigration, Asylum & Citizenship Bar Association (IACBA) is coordinating and inviting practitioners to participate on a r

Non-EEA doctors will be able to access a Stamp 4 permit after just two years of working in Ireland instead of the current five years under changes to working arrangements and immigration permissions. The move, which will benefit up to 1,800 doctors in the State, aims to reduce the administrative bur

The Northern Ireland Assembly can "roll back" the Home Office's hostile environment in some areas, according to a new legal analysis. The research paper produced by barrister Mark Bassett for the Belfast-based Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) highlights what can be done by Northern I

The UK Supreme Court has dismissed a legal challenge to the £1,012 fee required to register children as British citizens, while recognising that the fee excludes large numbers of children from their rights. The ultimately unsuccessful legal challenge was brought by the Project for the Registra

The regularisation scheme for long-term undocumented migrants has opened for applications from this morning. Thousands of undocumented migrants and their families who are living in Ireland are expected to be eligible for the scheme, which began accepting online applications at 10am and will run for

Priti Patel's proposed new UK border laws would breach the UK's obligations under international law, UN experts have said. In a joint statement, five UN special rapporteurs said the Nationality and Borders Bill would "seriously undermine the protection of the human rights of trafficked persons, incl

People arriving at Dublin Airport without permission to enter the State will be held in dedicated detention facilities at the airport under Garda plans. The former Transaer building at Dublin airport has been refitted and now contains the new Dublin Airport Garda station and additional office facili

The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which determined that the minister for justice and equality failed to consider the “emotional and social dependency” in a non-EU national’s application for an EU residency card. The High Court held that the minister’s d

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban has said his government will keep its controversial immigration laws, in defiance of an EU ruling. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) last month ruled that Hungary's law criminalising lawyers and activists who helped asylum seekers fell foul of EU

The Supreme Court has determined that a Mauritius national who worked in Ireland without a permit was not entitled to statutory maternity leave payments despite making PAYE and PRSI contributions to the State. The decision has potentially far-reaching consequences for individuals working in Ireland

Westminster legislation which would require non-Irish EU citizens to apply for pre-travel clearance before crossing the border is "unworkable and would be unenforceable", a Sinn Féin MLA has said. Speaking in the Assembly yesterday, Dr Caoimhe Archibald, MLA for East Londonderry, said the pro

New legislation which will widen the offence of people smuggling will not lead to prosecutions of humanitarian organisations, the government has insisted. The Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill, which replaces most aspects of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000, was approved by T