The Minister has a statutory power to “amend or vary” any permission to reside granted to a non national resident in the State pursuant to Section 4 (7) Immigration Act 2004.

The relevant statutory provision is Section 4 (7) Immigration Act 2004, which states:

“A permission under this section may be renewed or varied by the Minister, or by an immigration officer on his or her behalf, on application therefore by the non-national concerned.”

We submit many applications to the Minister pursuant to Section 4 (7) Immigration Act 2004 for clients in order that they can apply to change their status from one form of permission to another. These applications are fully at the Minister’s discretion, and are considered on a case by case basis. For example, persons who are dependent on a sponsor are often issued stamp 3 permission, and when their circumstances change such that they are no longer dependent, they may need to apply to change to a stamp 4 permission in order to take up employment and support themselves independently in the State.

Recent judgments of the courts have found that applicants must submit their application for a change in their immigration permission prior to the expiry of their current immigration permission, otherwise the provisions of Section 4(7) may not be applied to their application.

Applications submitted after expiry of current immigration permission may not be accepted or considered under Section 4(7). Such applications may be result in the issuance of a notice under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999, notifying the applicant that the Minister is aware that they are present in the State without current immigration permission and that she intends to make a Deportation order in respect of them. Please see section on Deportations for further information.

A Change of Status Application is fully at the Minister’s discretion. Therefore, it is very important to provide full details of the applicant’s immigration history, current circumstances, future intentions in the State and the purpose for which the Applicant is requesting the change of immigration status. Substantial documentary evidence in support of the application is a fundamental requirement to submit the application.