The Government has announced changes to the rules around citizenship and family reunification for people from outside the European Economic Area (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) working in Ireland or seeking international protection here.
What’s happening?
The basic intention, the Government says, is to tighten rules and bring them more closely into line with other EU countries. Those granted international protection will have to wait longer – five years instead of three – before becoming eligible for citizenship. There will be earnings and housing requirements to ensure they can provide for the family members they seek to bring here.
For those who came to Ireland to work, and who hold permits to do so, the amount of time they will have to wait before applying to have a family member join them is to be cut from two years to one. Family members who get to join them will potentially get a permit allowing them to live and work more freely.
Children aged 16-18 will be allowed to work once they get here but those aged between 19 and 23 will no longer be regarded as children for the purposes of family reunification.
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What are the requirements for someone in work to bring in a family member?
Those in the more highly skilled roles – holders of critical skills permits, such as engineers, computer programmers and doctors – will continue to be able to bring family members immediately. Those on general employment permits (GEP), including healthcare assistants, meat factory and agricultural workers, will continueto have to meet minimum income levels.
There was some relief among NGOs briefed on the changes, announced on Wednesday, that the €30,000 requirement to bring a spouse to Ireland remains unchanged. This is now the minimum that nearly all GEP holders earn. The amount that needs to be earned to bring a child into Ireland is linked to the Department of Social Protection working family payments (currently made to support lower-income families) in order to ensure these payments are not needed to support newly arrived children.
As the Government has increased these payments significantly in recent years due to the rising cost of living, the minimum requirements have also been raised. From January, a GEP holder will have to earn more than €50,000 per year to bring a single child here, an increase of about €7,000.
For a dependent adult – a sick parent, for instance, or adult child – the earnings requirements will now start at €92,789.
There will also be a more formal process for establishing applicants have suitable accommodation to house family members and the necessary application fees, to deter applications that are bound to fail but which are currently contributing to backlogs of 12-15 months, the Department of Justice says.
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When are the changes happening?
Some, like the ones related to children’s entitlement to work, come into effect for new applicants with immediate effect; others are expected to be implemented in the coming months.
The department says, meanwhile, that it has commissioned the Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) to conduct research into the economic and social impact migrants have. It says the research findings are expected to contribute to future policy development.
What does the Minister say?
“Today’s announcement is a further step to ensure that our immigration system is fair and rules-based,” said Mr O’Callaghan, who put the number of people coming to Ireland under family reunification provisions last year at 23,000.
“It is essential that when non-EEA family members are coming to the State to join someone already legally resident here, that they can be adequately supported without recourse to State funds, and this was a key aspect of the review.”
And others?
“We are shocked that this new policy is more restrictive than before,” says Neil Bruton of Migrant Rights Centre Ireland. “People who are doing essential jobs, caring for our vulnerable, preparing our food, labouring on our farms, will continue to be kept apart from their loved ones. This is not fair and we strongly urge the Minister to reconsider.”
Prof Ciara Smyth, of the University of Galway’s School of Law, says the restrictions on those coming through the international protection system will also be counterproductive in many cases.
“If you are forcing people to take the first job they can get so as to be reunited with their family, you will have many people with sought-after qualifications working way below jobs they are qualified for because often it takes a long time to have those qualifications recognised or to meet other requirements to work in their field here.
“That’s not good for the country because when people come here, you want them contributing to the economy, and society, in the best way they can.”
