Ireland visa renewals delayed and denied as skilled workers face deportation

Jaishree Malik, a 25-year-old Indian national who worked as an event organiser at Trinity College Dublin, has lost a year-long battle to renew her Irish work visa and must return to India. The Irish government sent her a letter on 5 October proposing a deportation order, and she is due to fly out of Dublin airport in the early hours of 14 November.

Malik is leaving voluntarily rather than being deported, but she says others are in the same position: people whose visa renewal and extension requests have been delayed or refused despite having job offers.

Key facts

• The deportation letter was issued under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999, on the grounds that she had remained in the state without permission.
• Malik came to Ireland in 2022 on a student visa for an M.Phil in literature at Trinity College Dublin.
• After graduating, she stayed and worked for two years under the Third Level Graduate Scheme.
• A delay in processing her extension application cost her her job in February, and the Department of Justice told her she had no right to work while the application was pending.
• Students from Gaza have taken test cases to Ireland's High Court after their visas were refused.

Who is affected?

The main cases described involve graduates and workers in Ireland applying to extend or renew their permission to stay, and students from Gaza who had scholarship offers from Irish universities but were refused visas. A group representing the Gaza students said the problems began this summer, with refusals for documents that had never been requested, such as a bank statement and proof of intention to return, followed by instructions to appeal by post with original documents.

Why is this happening?

The Irish government has tightened border enforcement and rules on migration, asylum and naturalisation amid a housing shortage and pressure on public services that is partly attributed to immigration. Justice minister Jim O'Callaghan has said the authorities want to curb population growth that he described as seven times the EU average. Labour party leader Ivana Bacik said Malik's case reflected a hardening of immigration policy that was costing employers good staff.

What have officials said?

A Department of Justice spokesperson said he could not comment on the court cases, but that screening and verification are integral to the immigration system and that there has been no change in policy towards Palestinian students. "Each visa application is assessed on its own merits," he said.

What this means for travellers and workers

Anyone planning to work in Ireland after studying should be aware that, in the cases described, a renewal application left applicants without permission to work while it was processed. Malik also lost a job offer from the department of public works because her immigration status was unresolved. Applicants from Gaza have been told to appeal with original documents sent by post, which the student group says is impossible.

Malik plans to keep performing her comedy set, which includes reading from her deportation papers, until she leaves. The High Court cases brought by the Gaza students are continuing.