Tag Archive for: registration

UPDATE TO ELIGIBILTY REQUIREMENTS FOR STAMP 4

UPDATE TO ELIGIBILTY REQUIREMENTS FOR STAMP 4

The Department of Justice have recently changed the eligibility requirements for a Stamp 4 upgrade for employment permit holders. Please note that Stamp 4 support letters are no longer required for this upgrade, and your Stamp 4 permission can be registered at your registration office.

Effective from 3rd April 2024, employment permit holders with a Stamp 1 or 1H permission who have completed 21 months of employment are eligible for a Stamp 4 upgrade at their registration office.

The eligible categories include Critical Skills Employment Permit holder, individuals resident on the basis of a Hosting Agreement as a Researcher, or a Multi-Site General Employment Permit holder as a Non-Consultant Hospital Doctor.

General Employment Permit holders can now obtain a Stamp 4 after 57 months as opposed to 60 months. This means that General Employment Permit holders do not have to apply for long-term residence to the Immigration Service Delivery and can instead upgrade their permission to a Stamp 4 at their registration office.

A significant change to this is that the time period is now judged from date of commencement of employment, rather than the date of registration of Stamp 1 permission, as it had been previously. This had been a significant issue for employees recently due to long delays in registration. Commencement of employment in the State will be determined via your Employment Detail Summary, available on revenue.ie/myaccount.

This blog has been drafted with reference to the following website:

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/update-to-eligibility-requirements-for-stamp-4-upgrades/

For further details on immigration permissions or stamps please visit the following link:

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/information-on-registering/immigration-permission-stamps/

Berkeley Solicitors are available to provide support and assistance to any employment permit holders looking to upgrade to a Stamp 4.

This blog article has been prepared on the basis of current immigration law and policy, which is subject to change. Please keep an eye on our blog and Facebook page where articles relating to updates and changes in immigration law and policy are regularly posted.

EXCLUSION OF UKRAINIAN CITIZENS AND HOLDERS OF TEMPORARY PROTECTION FROM REGISTER OF NON-NATIONALS

It has now been five months since the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of the 4th March 2022 and since the Department of Justice commenced granting Temporary Protection for persons fleeing the conflict in Ukraine in accordance with Section 60 of International Protection Act of 2015.

Currently, the Minister still has yet to open the Register of Non Nationals to Ukrainians and holders of temporary protection.

With the exception of one client of Berkeley Solicitors who was successfully registered on stamp 4 permission on the basis that they urgently needed to leave the State, we are not aware of any other holders of temporary protection who have been registered.

In lieu of registering the immigration permissions of the relevant parties, the Minister granted such persons letters confirming their temporary protection along with a right to work, PPS number and other supports.

In response to a Parliamentary Question dated 8th May 2022, Minister McEntee stated

As of 8 May 2022, a total of 28,531 people had arrived in Ireland from Ukraine and my Department had issued approximately 28,002 temporary protection permission letters.
In relation to the registration of their immigration permission, people who have arrived from Ukraine will have been given a 90 day immigration permission, as standard on arrival, by an immigration officer. Arrangements for the registration of the permission and the issuance of an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card will be finalised by my Department as soon as possible. All necessary steps will be taken to ensure that the process is as simple and stress-free as possible. The practical arrangements will be communicated at the appropriate time.

According to the FAQ page of Department of Justice website updated on the 8th June 2022, the Minister is taking steps to register the immigration permissions of Ukrainians and holders of temporary protection:

“The Department of Justice is putting in place the arrangements for the registration of the permission and information will be provided to you at the appropriate time. The department is taking all necessary steps to ensure that the registration process will be as simple and stress-free as possible for you.”

While we welcome the provision of residence permission and other rights to persons who have fled Ukraine, the failure of the Irish authorities to register holders of temporary protection and to provide them with IRP cards is not satisfactory. It garners a number of negative consequences specifically pertaining to visa required nationals who hold temporary protection and are unable to leave the State as they cannot obtain a re entry visa.

We submit that Minister for Justice is required to facilitate the registration of all non nationals in Ireland who have been issued with permission to reside pursuant to Section 9 of the Immigration Act 2004, and this includes the holders of temporary protection.  Section 9 also places an obligation on all non nationals with permission to reside to register.

It is our position that the Minister of Justice is currently failing in her duties to Ukrainians and holders of temporary protection in not facilitating them to register.

FAILURE TO REGISTER TEMPORARY PROTECTION HOLDERS

The Minister for Justice has made a decision not to register the immigration permission of persons legally resident in Ireland with Temporary Protection in accordance with Section 60 of the International Protection Act, the Temporary Protection Directive (2001/55/EC) and Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022.

The Minister has granted such persons letters confirming their temporary protection along with a right to work, PPS numbers and accompanying supports. The provision of residence permission and such rights to persons who have fled Ukraine is very welcome.

However, the failure to register the holders of temporary protection and provide them with IRP registration cards is problematic for a number of reasons.

Non-EEA citizens resident in Ireland are required by law to register pursuant to Section 9 of the Immigration Act 2004, failure to register is in fact an offence under the 2004 Act.

Citizens of Ukraine are now non- visa required in the Irish Immigration context and it appears their re-entry to Ireland following any travel is being facilitated by production of their temporary protection letter, however the standard immigration procedure would be to produce to the immigration officer a valid IRP card.

A specific difficulty arises for holders of temporary protection, who fled from Ukraine, who are nationals of visa required countries.

Without an IRP card to recognise their legal residence in Ireland such persons are in fact restricted in being able to travel outside of the State as they have no document to facilitate their return to the State.

The Minister has abolished the re-entry visa system for adults and therefore the reality is that in absence of a valid IRP card, such persons would have no document to facilitate their return to Ireland.

Furthermore, it is unclear as to the rights of family reunification for holders of temporary protection as they do not hold a distinct immigration registration stamp.

Berkeley Solicitors has successfully obtained registration for a holder of temporary protection and are happy to note that our client has been issued with Stamp 4 registration permission.

This will allow our client to travel in and out of Ireland without difficulty. Our client also now holds Stamp 4 registration which is a clearly reckonable stamp for the purpose of a naturalisation application and has clearly defined rules as to the right to family reunification.

In our view the Minister for Justice should facilitate the registration of all persons in Ireland who have been issued temporary protection with Stamp 4 permission without further delay.

STAMP 0 PERMISSION ACCEPTED AS RECKONABLE RESIDENCE FOR NATURALISATION

MINISTER FOR JUSTICE ANNOUNCES FURTHER EXTENSION OF IMMIGRATION PERMISSIONS

On 26th March 2021, the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee published a notice announcing a further temporary extension of immigration and international protection permissions. This extension applies to immigration and international protection permissions to reside in the State that are due to expire between 21st April 2021 and 20th September 2021.

It applies to all persons with a current valid permission, whether pursuant to domestic law or powers of the Minister, or pursuant to Directive 2004/38/EC (the EU Free Movement Directive).

All such permissions are automatically renewed by the Minister to the 20th of September 2021.

Any permission that was renewed by the previous notices and was due to expire between 21st April 2021 and 20th September 2021 is automatically renewed by this notice until 20th September 2021.

The automatic renewal is on the same basis as the existing permission and the same conditions will continue to apply.

Announcing the measure, the Minister for Justice commented:

“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.”

The notice also confirms that the Registration Office in Burgh Quay remains closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Persons who were issued with appointments for first time registrations will be contacted directly by the Immigration Service and they will be prioritised for appointments once the Public Office can safely reopen.

The notice can be read in full here.

If you or a family member have queries about your immigration permission, please do not hesitate to contact our office.