Parents of an Irish Child
This document provides information on:
1. Does having an Irish child entitle me to residency in Ireland?
2. What was the Irish Born Child (IBC)/05 scheme?
3. My residency is due for renewal, what do I do?
4. What will happen after the end of the next period of residence?
5. I was refused residency under the IBC/05 Scheme. I am still living in
Ireland. What is my situation?
6. I was granted residency in 2005 under the IBC/05 scheme. My
spouse/partner and other minor children remain in my country of
origin. Am I entitled to bring them into the country?
7. Where can I get more information on the rights of parents of Irish
children?
1. Does having an Irish child entitle me to residency in
Ireland?
There is no automatic entitlement for parents and other family members of
Irish citizen children to reside in Ireland.
Prior to February 2003, residence permits were routinely granted to parents of
Irish citizen children. For a brief period between January 1, 2005 and March
31, 2005, there was a special administrative scheme in place which allowed
non-Irish nationals to apply for residency in Ireland on the basis of being a
parent of an Irish citizen child. This scheme is no longer in place.
However, it remains open to parents of Irish citizen children to apply for
permission to come to, or remain in, Ireland on the basis of general
immigration rules.
2. What was the Irish Born Child (IBC)/05 scheme?
The IBC/05 scheme was an administrative scheme introduced by the
Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform in January 2005 to allow the
parents of Irish citizen children, who were born in Ireland before January 1,
2005, to apply for permission to stay in the country due to the fact that they
had an Irish citizen child.
Anyone who was in this position could apply for residency. Conditions for the
granting of residence permits included that the parent or parents had been
living continuously in Ireland since the birth of their child and that they had no
criminal record. The immigration status of the parents was irrelevant and
people who were undocumented in the country could also apply for residency
under the scheme.
The closing date for applications was March 31, 2005. More than 18,000
applications were received and approximately 17,000 people were granted
residency under the scheme. Those granted residency were able to register
with the immigration authorities and receive a Certificate of Registration for
two years under Stamp 4 conditions which entitled them to work and to
access social welfare payments.
Most of those people who were refused residency were refused on the basis
that they could not prove continuous residency in Ireland since their child was
born.
3. My residency is due for renewal, what do I do?
If you received residency in Ireland as the parent of an Irish child under the
IBC/05 scheme, you will be able to apply to have your residency renewed, in
most cases for a further three years, when your initial permit has expired.
Most people will have renewed their residency in 2007.
If you want to renew your residency, you will need to fill out the IBC/05
renewal application form available at:
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Application%20Form.pdf/Files/Application%20F
orm.pdf
Persons granted permission to remain in Ireland in the period January
15, 2005 to March 31, 2006 under the IBC/05 Scheme, who wish to
renew, must apply for renewal by Monday 31 March 2008.
Persons granted permission to remain in the State as of April 1, 2006
under the IBC/05 Scheme, who wish to renew, must apply to the IBC
Unit/Department one month in advance of the date on which their
permission to remain in Ireland expires.
Hard copies of the application form are available from the Irish Naturalisation
and Immigration Service (INIS), 13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2 and at Garda
District Headquarters outside Dublin. Forms are also available at the
Immigrant Council of Ireland as well as at some non-governmental
organisations working with immigrants and asylum seekers.
The fully completed application form should be sent by registered post to the
IBC Unit, Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform, P.O.Box 10003,
Dublin 2.
As part of the renewal process, you will need to be able to show that you have
been continuously resident in the State since the granting of a residence
permit to you, that you have no criminal record and that you have made
efforts to become ‘economically viable’ – such as looking for and taking up
work or studying.
If you complete the form fully and satisfy the renewal criteria, you should be
granted permission to remain in Ireland. In most cases, this will be granted for
a further 3 years. Upon receipt of the letter granting your renewal, you will
then have to renew your Certificate of Registration at your local GNIB office.
You will need to pay a fee of 100 euro for your Certificate of Registration. This
fee can be paid by credit card or bank giro only.
4. What will happen after the end of the next period of
residence?
At the end of that time, most parents granted residency under the IBC/05
Scheme will have at least five years legal residence in the Irish State which
means they will be able to apply for long-term residency or Irish citizenship.
You may have five years legal residency in Ireland before that time and, if so,
you can apply for long-term residency or citizenship at that time if you wish,
without waiting until your permission to stay is due to run out.
However, while your application for long-term residency or citizenship is
pending, you will need to renew your residence permit to ensure that you
continue to reside in Ireland legally pending the processing of your
application.
5. I was refused residency in under the IBC/05 Scheme. I am
still living in Ireland. What is my situation?
The Supreme Court held on December 20, 2007 that the Minister for Justice,
Equality & Law Reform was under no obligation to consider the Constitutional
or Human Rights of Irish citizen children when refusing their applications
under the IBC/05 Scheme.
In allowing an appeal by the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform
against an earlier judgment by the High Court in November 2006, the
Supreme Court held that “the IBC 05 Scheme was a scheme established by
the Minister, exercising executive power, to deal administratively with a
unique group of foreign nationals in a generous manner, on general
principles”. The Court recognised that “at no stage was it intended that within
the ambit of the scheme the Minister would consider, or did the Minister
consider, Constitutional or Convention rights of the applicants”. And in
accordance with the findings of the Court, “applicants who were not
successful in their application under the IBC 05 Scheme remain in the same
position as they had been before their application”.
In the view of the Supreme Court, Constitutional and Convention rights of Irish
citizen children and their families are “appropriately considered” in the context
of representations pursuant to Section 3 of the Immigration Act, 1999 – after
receipt of a notice of the Minister’s intention to issue a deportation order.
_ What does this mean for Irish citizen children and their families in
Ireland?
Persons whose applications under the IBC/05 Scheme were refused, but who
have not yet been issued with a Section 3 letter – notification of intention to
deport – are likely to receive such notification in the coming weeks or months.
Representations would then have to be made within 15 working days of the
date of the notification, setting out in detail the circumstances of the family as
well as the situation and needs of the children involved.
It is current practice that persons whose applications for permission to remain
pursuant to Section 3 of the Immigration Act, 1999 are successful will be
granted permission to remain in the State on Stamp 4 conditions, that is, with
the right to access employment and/or set up a business.
Should such an application not be successful, parents will be issued with a
deportation order without any further appeal being available. The only judicial
remedy open to parents at that stage would be an application to the High
Court for the judicial review of the decision to refuse a residence permit and to
issue a deportation order.
Parents who already have a pending Section 3 application are advised to
update their applications frequently to ensure that the Minister for Justice,
Equality & Law Reform has all relevant information regarding the situation of
the Irish citizen child and his or her family members at the time of the making
of the decision whether to grant a residence permit or to issue a deportation
order.
It is open to persons who have not yet made an application for permission to
remain in the State on the basis of being a parent of an Irish citizen child to
write to the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform, setting out the
reasons why they feel they need to be granted permission to remain. It is
currently unclear whether the Minister has an obligation to consider such a
‘free standing’ application. In the view of the Supreme Court expressed in the
Bode decisions, “the appropriate process within which to consider
Constitutional or Convention rights of applicants is (…) the process under
Section 3 of the Act of 1999”. However, the Supreme Court does not seem to
have assessed the possibility of an obligation of the Minister for Justice,
Equality & Law Reform to consider applications made pursuant to Section 4 of
the Immigration Act, 2004, for permission to be in the State or for the variation
of an existing permission to be in the State.
For further information please contact:
CADIC Helpline
Immigrant Council of Ireland – Independent Law Centre
Tel.: 01 674 0200 (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
from 2pm to 4.30pm)
6. I was granted residency in 2005 under the IBC/05 scheme.
My spouse/partner and other minor children remain in my
country of origin. Am I entitled to bring them into the
country?
Under the IBC’05 scheme, applicants were asked to sign a statutory
declaration which stated that the applicant understood that, if they were
granted residency, this would not give them any entitlement to reunification
with any other family members residing outside of the country.
Despite this stated policy, the right to family life of Irish citizen children is a
right protected by the Irish Constitution and the European Convention on
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Immigrant Council of Ireland
and the CADIC Coalition are of the view that there cannot be a blanket refusal
of family reunification and that the circumstances of each individual case must
be taken into account when a decision on family reunification is made.
Therefore, while the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform has
discretion as to whether or not to grant family reunification, he also has the
duty to ensure that any refusal of family reunification is in accordance with the
law, pursues a legitimate aim and is necessary in a democratic society.
For more information about applying for family reunification, please contact
the ICI Information and Support Service.
7. Where can I get more information on the rights of parents
of Irish children?
For more information on your rights as a parent of an Irish child, please see
the CADIC Coalition Information in the Policies and Campaigns section of this
website or contact the CADIC Helpline at the Immigrant Council of Ireland –
Independent Law Centre.
CADIC Helpline
Immigrant Council of Ireland – Independent Law Centre
Tel.: 01 674 0200 (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
from 2pm to 4.30pm)
ICI Information and Support Service contact details:
This document has been produced for information purposes only and is not a substitute for legal
advice. Every effort has been made to ensure it is accurate and up to date at time of publication
– January 2008. However, the ICI disclaims any responsibility for errors or omissions in the text.
Drop-In Service:
2 St Andrew St, Dublin 2.
Open 10am to 12.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Fridays.
THE DROP-IN SERVICE IS CLOSED ON WEDNESDAYS.
Telephone Service:
Tel: 01 674 0200.
Open 2pm to 4.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
THE TELEPHONE SERVICE IS CLOSED ON WEDNESDAYS.
Email Service:
Email: info@immigrantcouncil.ie.
This document has been produced for information purposes only and is not a substitute for legal
advice. Every effort has been made to ensure it is accurate and up to date at time of publication
– January 2008. However, the ICI disclaims any responsibility for errors or omissions in the
text.
