CHILDMINDING IS generally not considered a valid reason to come to Ireland on a visitor visa, a Department of Justice spokesperson has told Metro Éireann.
On the contrary, the spokesperson said that its visa officers are “very wary of deception” in cases where a person such as a grandparent or aunt/uncle applies for a visitor visa “but their real intention is to stay in Ireland on a more permanent basis to mind their grandchildren or niece/nephew.”
The spokesperson added: “If such deception is suspected, the visa will be refused in almost every case. There are no plans to change this approach to such cases.” But some immigrants who applied for visitor visas for in-laws for short-term visits say that they cited childminding in their successful applications.
One African father, who is an Irish citizen but didn’t want his name disclosed, told Metro Éireann that support for his wife – who’d just had their first child – was cited as the main reason in his application for a visitor visa for his mother-in-law, who came in 2005.
She was granted a three-month visitor visa which was extended “only under serious pressure”, when her son-in-law forcefully insisted that he was not attempting to secure a permanent stay for her. She returned to her native land when the extension expired, he added.
A Department of Justice spokesperson remarked that while the Minister for Justice can make exceptions to extend stays for more than 90 days, it is not the department’s policy to “convert short stays into something longer or more permanent. In short, a visit is a visit and generally shouldn't be converted into something else.”
In Ireland, firm family reunification entitlements exist for recognised refugees, work permit and green card holders, but only to invite spouses and children aged under 18.
Provisional figures for 2008 show that 22,036 visitor visa applications were processed by the Department of Justice. Of these, 16,931 (77 per cent) were approved, and 5,105 (23 per cent) refused.
However, Nigerian nationals are much more likely to be declined. Of the visitor visa applications decided in 2008 in Abuja, 779 (37 per cent) were approved, and 1,329 (63 per cent) were refused.
– Catherine Reilly
