2026-07-01

11. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to outline the measures being taken to address ongoing delays in the processing of family reunification for critical skills professionals working here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49851/26]

Family reunification for people recruited here for critical skills is an issue I have raised here previously and it still has not been addressed adequately. I am constantly getting people into my office raising their situation with me where they are waiting for their spouse and children 18 months and more. It is very difficult on families. What immediate action can be taken to reduce those delays?

As the Deputy will be aware, Deputy Brophy has ministerial responsibility for this, but he and I have a close and shared view in respect of this issue. Obviously, we both fully recognise that so-called join family visa applications are very important for the people involved. I understand that people are eager to have their families join them in Ireland and I can appreciate why Deputy Moynihan, as a hard-working Deputy, or, indeed, any other Deputy in the House, is asked frequently by persons who have such occupations as to when they will be provided. My Department operates seven overseas visa offices, as well as the visa office in Dublin. Processing times for these join family applications can take time. They can vary between visa offices. Most visa applications receive a decision within our published target times. Some applications can take longer, depending on the circumstances. Processing times are influenced by a number of factors, including the complexity of the application, the volume of applications received, and the quality and completeness of the information provided. It is important to recall these applications are screening processes. They require careful probing in order to establish that the person has a legitimate reason to come to Ireland prior to travel. A critical skills employment permit holder, as I say, can apply for a join family visa at the same time as their employment visa. These applications can then be processed together and typically receive a first instance decision within the ten-to-12 week business target. People who make join family visa applications separately, will generally receive a first instance decision within the 12 month business target. In December 2025, the immigration service of my Department introduced online payment functionality to my Department's online visa system. This allows applicants to pay visa fees as part of the online application process. The initiative is being rolled out on a phased basis and is currently live in 40 countries.

First, I acknowledge the headway that is being made on it. On the idea that most are within target, for many that is not their lived reality. To put it in context, these are the people who are caring for our elderly in our nursing homes, caring for us in our hospitals, maybe doing the NCT on our cars and maybe even cultivating our food on our farms, and they are not able to have their family around them. Many of them, Indians and Filipinos, who have been in contact with me on it are telling me of experiences of 18 month and more. That is a big stress and pressure on families. Is it a capacity issue to clear the backlog that is there? Can people who are waiting longest be prioritised?

Last year, I and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, introduced a new non-EEA family reunification policy. It sets out the rules that apply in respect of it. Every country in the world has a regulated system in respect of family reunification. It has to involve a system where there are rules in place. If you fit within the rules and you have the resources to bring family members over, it is permissible. Part of the reason, I suppose, is that there are so many visa applications being received in the Department of justice. For instance, last year we received over 206,000 visa applications. That was an increase on the previous year as well. There are a lot of join family visas issued as well. In 2025, there were 14,599 join family visas. That was down on 2024. It was 17,000 that year. They have to be probed carefully. I cannot just say, "Give out the family visa".

It is right and proper that there would be proper checks and verification and a thorough examination of all of the different applications. The experience that I am hearing from my constituents is that it takes approximately 18 months or more. I understand that there is a target of 12 months. Even that target seems lengthy, and it is difficult for families. Is it the case that it is slow because there are not enough people to deal with the backlog? Is there a need for additional staffing to clear a short-term backlog and to prioritise people who have been waiting the longest? It is a pressure on those people who have been hired to do critical work in our communities. That pressure will often put them thinking on whether they should be going back home and leaving a skills gap that we need to fill here as well.

A critical skills employment permit holder who applies for a join family visa at the same time as their employment visa typically receives a first instance decision within the ten- to 12-week business target. For stand-alone join family applications and those linked to general employment permits, the current business target for a first instance decision is 12 months. I know they can be frustrating. I assure anyone who has made an application for a join family visa that my Department is doing everything possible to progress these as quickly as possible. It is not an issue of resourcing within the Department. There are a lot of staff in the Department of justice working on this but it requires a lot of information to be procured, to be examined and to be assessed before a decision is made in respect of it. Through advocacy by Deputies such as Deputy Moynihan, the message is coming loud and clear to me and I will pass that back to officials in the Department that I want us to try to see the process expedited.