THE ONLINE SYSTEM for people to renew their immigration status in Ireland is to be hugely expanded to reduce footfall at the Registration Office on Dublin Burgh Quay.

Last year, around 3,500 third-level students from outside the EU renewed their immigration status here by way of an online portal.

It’s been announced today by the Department of Justice that this system has been expanded to all non-EU nationals based in Dublin who are seeking to renew their registration in the State.

The department says this will make the process of renewals more straightforward for  “10,000s of people every year”.

Last year, between 60,000-70,000 renewals were processed by the Registration Office in Burgh Quay. 

In March it was announced that immigration permissions due to expire between 20 March and 20 May would be automatically extended for two months. 

First-time registrations must continue to take place at the Burgh Quay office, with the department stating that this is due to the requirement that biometric data such as a photograph and fingerprints are taken. 

The registration office at Burgh Quay is due to reopen on 20 July for people seeking to register for the first time. 

“With the reopening of the Registration Office in Burgh Quay we will initially prioritise appointments for people who had their first time registrations cancelled when we had to close the office in March due to Covid-19 restrictions,” Justice Minister Helen McEntee said today.

Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) will be contacting those affected to organise a new appointment. It is important that people only come to the Registration Office if they can’t renew online. While Covid-19 is still circulating in the community, we are seeking to reduce the footfall in our Registration Office.

ISD processes registrations for those resident in Dublin and the Garda Naturalisation and Immigration Bureau (GNIB) processes applications outside of Dublin through garda stations throughout the country.

The department is also seeking to advise applicants that GNIB are currently considering how they can reopen registration offices countrywide.