Minister McEntee announces the full civilianisation of Irish immigration permission renewals
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From: Department of Justice
- Published on: 14 October 2024
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD has today (Monday) announced the final transfer of responsibility for the renewal of Irish immigration permissions from An Garda Síochána to Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) of the Department of Justice.
From today, immigration permissions that are due to expire from 4 November onwards can be renewed online using the ISD portal. This means that applicants across the country will no longer be required to attend in person at their local Garda Station.
Prior to this, the online renewal system was only available to those who lived in Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, Cork and Limerick.
This is another step forward in the Garda civilianisation process as recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI).
Welcoming this major progress, Minister McEntee stated:
“I am determined to take any and all opportunities to civilianise administrative immigration functions in An Garda Síochána. Civilianisation allows Gardaí to focus their time on the more operational and enforcement side of their immigration work such as investigations and deportations.
“The transfer of registration functions nationwide is a crucial step forward in this effort.”
Referring to wider efforts to modernise immigration services, the Minister McEntee went on to say:
“As part of Budget 2025, I have allocated an additional package of €25m for investment in the immigration system. Within this, I have provided €5m for investment in digital systems to modernise the current systems in place.
“I am eager to provide our customers with a customer-focused, efficient service and a more streamlined and modern immigration system.”
The Department of Justice has established a modernisation programme to transform its immigration system making it faster, easier to access and more efficient for all its users.
It will replace legacy immigration management systems by introducing a single view, on a single platform, of an individual’s engagement with all aspects of immigration services. When delivered, this platform will significantly improve customer service capacity alongside comprehensive self-service functionality, and enhanced border security capability and capacity.
ENDS
Notes for editors:
Online renewals of permissions from all applicants nationwide should be submitted using the ISD online renewal portal. Applicants will not need to attend the Burgh Quay Registration Office in person to renew an immigration permission unless it is deemed necessary.
All online renewal applications, including when requesting a change of stamp, are accepted up to 12 weeks before the Irish Residents Permit (IRP) card expiry date. IRP cards will be posted directly to the address provided on the application.
The Immigration Service website provides a live update on processing times for renewal applications.
To ensure fairness, applications are processed in the order in which they are received.
For first time registrations, applicants who live in Dublin, Meath, Kildare, Wicklow, Cork or Limerick, will continue to book an appointment to register at Burgh Quay in Dublin.
If an applicant lives in any other county, they should contact their local Garda Immigration Office for details on how to register for the first time. Please note that first time registrations made at Garda Immigration Offices will be phased out over the coming months and all first-time registrations will move to the Burgh Quay Registration Office after that.