Immigrants unable to renew permits over admin blunder

THOUSANDS of immigrants are terrified they could yet lose their eligibility for citizenship after they found themselves unable to renew their residency permits over the past six weeks.

The Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern has admitted to the Dáil he is “aware of difficulties” between two arms of his department: the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) and the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) in Dublin.

Parents of Irish-born children, who have to renew these permits every three years. were being turned away by gardaí this year even though INIS had taken advertisements in newspapers last December saying that GNIB and local immigration offices were now taking charge of processing the permits. Up to 17,000 immigrants have this IBC/05 status due to their children’s Irish birth.

Such immigrants cannot legally work in this country without an up-to-date permit and the Immigrant Council of Ireland say several have contacted them to say they have lost their jobs over a lack of up-to-date documentation.

In an answer to a parliamentary question from Cavan-Monaghan Deputy Caoimhghín O Caoláin, Mr Ahern said he regretted the difficulties.

“The practical arrangements for the registration of those parents, who are being granted renewal of their permission to remain in the state are being discussed with the GNIB. I anticipate that a notice clarifying the arrangements will shortly appear in the newspapers and will also be posted on the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service website,” he said. It’s believed that the GNIB began processing complaints in the past number of days.

However, the Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) say the six-week delay could mean immigrants will be turned down for citizenship in the future, as a stipulation for nine years’ unbroken residency “is strictly adhered to” by immigration officials and that “previous such administrative blunders have meant that citizenship applications were turned down”.

“This issue has shown a total lack of co-ordination amongst the various arms of the Department of Justice. Ireland is notoriously difficult to get citizenship from and there have been many cases where such administrative errors have meant that an application has been thrown out. This can’t be allowed to happen this time,” said the ICI spokeswoman.