Agnieszka Perz's welcome was anything but warm when she arrived at Dublin Airport last week to begin a four-week holiday.

A 25-year-old restaurant owner from Warsaw, she was on her second visit to the country. She stayed here last April with her boyfriend, who now works for a multinational computer firm in Galway.

Agnieszka planned to stay with her boyfriend until Christmas, and take a short English course here, before flying home.

Her boyfriend, Marcin Ostasz (27), explains: "The last time we came over there were no problems. They did not even look at our passports. But because she was travelling alone and her English was not very good she was an easy target."

Agnieszka was first told she couldn't come into the State as she had insufficient funds on her person. She offered to withdraw up to $2,000 from a cash machine with her credit card but this was deemed inadequate.

Then she was told she hadn't enough documentation to confirm the nature of her visit, despite producing a letter from her boyfriend explaining that he would support her during her stay, return flight tickets as well as travel and medical insurance certificates.

Arrangements were made to put her on the next flight back to Poland and her luggage was taken.

She kept her mobile phone, however, without which, says Marcin, "she would have been sent back straight away".

A series of phone calls followed as Marcin spoke to friends and work colleagues, as well as paying in advance for an English course and faxing a receipt to the airport. Even a junior Government minister was contacted to stop Agnieszka from being deported.

Five hours later, with no explanation given, she was told she could stay. By which stage her luggage was already winging its way back to Warsaw.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said it would not comment on any individual case.