Author
Refugees and subsidiary protection beneficiaries in Ireland receive a ‘Stamp 4’ residence permit.[1] For refugees this grants permanent residency and an Irish Residence Permit (formerly the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) card) is issued firstly for one year and then renewed for three years renewable. Refugees are able to apply for naturalisation after three years from the date of their asylum application (see Naturalisation).
Subsidiary protection beneficiaries also receive a ‘Stamp 4’ residence permit. This allows them to stay in Ireland for a specified period of time, which is normally of three years’ renewable duration. They have a right to apply for naturalisation after five years from the date they were granted subsidiary protection.
In June 2020, an online immigration permission renewal system was launched for applicants living in Dublin. This system was subsequently extended to all applicants in December 2020.[2]
In January 2022, a new Immigration Service appointment scheduling system, which will streamline and further improve the registration process, was announced. The interim ISD Registration office Burgh Quay created a free phone number to call, so applicants resident in Dublin could book a first-time registration appointment.[3] As of January 2023, the revised appointment and scheduling system was fully operational, however, applicants continued to experience significant delays in obtaining appointments in order to register their permission.[4] As of February 2024, these delays had largely alleviated with most applicants waiting approximately 2-4 weeks for an appointment to register.[5]
From 13th January 2025, the responsibility for registering all applicants in the Republic of Ireland was transferred to the Immigration Service Delivery and will no longer be carried out by the Garda National Immigration Bureau, as was previously the case whereby an applicant resides outside of Dublin. In order to make an appointment for first time registration, an applicant is required to book an appointment online through the Immigration Service Delivery website.[6] As of February 2025, applicants seeking to register were reporting significant delays of approximately 2-3 months in obtaining appointments.[7] Delays continued throughout 2026 with appointment availability severely limited.[8]
Regularisation scheme
In December 2021, the Minister for Justice announced a scheme to regularise long-term undocumented migrants, which opened on 31 January 2022. The scheme allowed applicants with at least four years’ undocumented residence (or three years for those with minor children), including those with Deportation Orders, to regularise their status. A separate strand opened on 7 February 2022 for international protection applicants who had been in the asylum process for at least two years.[9]
While widely welcomed by NGOs and undocumented communities, concerns with respect to the programme remained. Time spent in the protection process did not count as undocumented residence, leaving some long-term residents ineligible for either strand despite extended periods in Ireland.
According to data released by the Department of Justice, 6,548 applications in respect of 8,311 people were submitted under the Long-Term Undocumented strand of the scheme, including 1,108 applications in respect of minors, submitted as a part of family applications. As of 12 December 2022, 4,857 decisions had been issued to applicants and of these 4,796 (97%) were positive decisions and 94 (2%) were negative decisions, while 47 (1%) applications had been withdrawn by applicants for various reasons.[10]
[1] INIS, Permission, stamps & conditions, available here.
[2] ibid.
[3] Information provided by ISD, January 2022.
[4] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council Information and Advocacy Service, January 2023.
[5] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council Information and Advocacy Service, February 2024.
[6] Immigration Service Delivery, ‘Information on registering your immigration permission for the first time’, 10 January 2025, available here.
[7] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council Information and Advocacy Service, February 2025.
[8] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council Information and Advocacy Service, January 2026.
[9] Department of Justice, Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrant Scheme, 13 January 2022, available here.
[10] Acting Minister for Justice Heather Humphreys, Response to Parliamentary Question No 290, 15 December 2022, available here.