CHILDREN of migrant workers are being given a category of residency stamp insufficient for them to qualify for Irish citizenship and EU-rate college fees, the Philippines’ Consul to Ireland has warned.
“We are requesting that they are issued with stamp 3s,” Ferris told Metro Eireann. “When they come in as dependents from the Philip-pines, they seem to give the spouse a stamp 3; they don’t give the children anything, they don’t register children until they are 16 years of age, and then they seem to give them stamp 2s or 2As, which are useless types of stamps, because they don’t count for time in Ireland. It’s like being an asylum seeker. And we’re campaigning for a stamp 3, which does count for time in Ireland. With that stamp 3 they can then get a work permit,” he said.
Ferris said the situation is causing particular difficulty for Filipino-born teenagers who’ve received secondary schooling in Ireland and whose parents may have worked in Ireland for several years, but who still cannot qualify for EU fees at third level. Non-EU college fees typically reach amounts of over 10,000 euro per academic year.
“They’ve been locked out of the third level education system, in effect,” said Ferris, who added that he has encountered up to 30 Filipino teenage sons and daughters of migrant workers eager to access third level education, but who are now having major problems qualifying for reasonable college fees, even if their parents have been working in Ireland for several years.
He added: “Coming up now are all these work permit holders who are on minimum wage with children, and they certainly won’t be able to afford those fees, so they have to send them back to the Philippines where it only costs a 1,000 euro a year to become a nurse.
Ferris estimates that there are now around 16,800 Filipinos living in the Republic of Ireland, several thousand more than the Census 2006 figure of 9,548. Metro Eireann understands that the Filipino Ambassador to the UK recently visited officials at the Departments of Justice, Health and Education on a “fact finding mission” and as a means of raising a number of issues affecting Filipinos in Ireland.
Addressing the Filipino community in Cork during his visit, Ambassador Edgardo Espiritu said: “I am fully aware of your concerns, particularly on the proposed changes in Irish immigration and residency legislation, as well as your children’s access to higher education.”
He said he had brought their concerns to the attention of Irish officials, and has requested the latter to consider providing less expensive third level education opportunities to children of Filipinos and migrants who are from countries outside of the European Union.
“The Irish officials are sympathetic to your situation and that of your families, especially on the matter of cancellation of dependant visas for children who would have reached 18 years old,” said Ambassador Espiritu.
Metro Eireann also understands that the ambassador is making enquiries with “the relevant authorities” with regard to the establishment of a Filipino embassy in Dublin.
A Department of Justice spokesperson explained: “Stamp 2 and stamp 2A are issued to non-EEA national students pursuing a full-time course of studies.” The spokesperson confirmed that such a stamp does not count with regard to time resident in Ireland for citizenship application purposes: “Student permission to remain is not reckonable residence for the purpose of obtaining citizenship by naturalisation.”
The spokesperson added that under current immigration legislation, non-EEA nationals are not required to register until they reach the age of 16 but that “the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill provides for all non-EEA nationals to register with the GNIB”.
Asked if the department was aware of calls for non-EU children to be issued with stamp 3 residency and if it has any plans to implement this, the spokesperson said: “The various stamps, including the stamps issued to children of employment permit holders, are currently under review in the context of the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2007.”
With regard to what guidelines there are for immigration officials in the issuing of particular categories of residency stamps, the spokesperson responded: “The particular stamp granted to a non-EEA national is dependent on the grounds for seeking permission to remain in the State – for example, employment permit holders are issued stamp 1.”
