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Official data relating to immigration shows that an increasing number of foreign nationals want to relocate to Ireland, writes Ger Connolly (pictured) in Mason Hayes & Curran

The Minister for Justice and Equality recently published the Immigration Annual Review 2018, providing an insight into the statistics linked to immigration in Ireland. The Review also highlights the policy and operational developments that occurred during 2018, and provides an overview of the key focus areas to help deal with the increased number of visa and work permit applications being processed.

Alongside this Review, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation also released the Employment Permit Statistics 2019, providing the latest statistics on the types of permits, nationalities of applicants, and the companies that permits have been issued to so far this year.

To no surprise, the statistics highlighted in the reports confirm Ireland’s appeal is on the rise, with an increasing number of foreign nationals looking to invest, visit, work and study in Ireland.

The Immigration Review confirms a 12% increase in the number of visa applications processed and an 11% increase in the number of foreign national’s granted residency in Ireland. The largest number of applications came from China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Ukraine.

Employment Permits

The total number of employment permits issued for the January to August 2019 period was 11,169, a year-on-year increase of 39%. Of those permits, the overwhelming majority have issued for the service industry sector.

In Association with

The least popular sectors include entertainment, sport, education, domestic and exchange agreements.

Visas

140,533 visa applications were made in 2018, an annual increase of 12%. This is no surprise due to Ireland’s strong economic performance and the introduction of new flight destinations to and from the country. The top ten countries of applicant origin for visa decisions in 2018 were India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Turkey, Philippines, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

Residency

142,924 non-EEA nationals were registered to live in Ireland in 2018, an annual increase of 11%.

Pre-clearance Schemes

Two new schemes were introduced in 2018 to assess people’s applications before they travel to Ireland. The first scheme is The Minister of Religion Scheme, which allows Ministers to work with an eligible religious body or faith community in Ireland. 123 applications were made under this scheme, 82% of which were successful.
The second scheme is The Volunteer Scheme, which allows people to carry out volunteer work for registered charities in Ireland. 209 applications were made under this scheme with 81% being successful.

New Citizens

8,225 new citizens received their certificates of naturalisation in 2018. The top 10 nationalities of people naturalised were Polish, Romanian, British, Indian, Nigerian, Pakistani, Filipino, Latvian, Chinese and Brazilian.

Conclusion

This increased number of foreign nationals will continue to benefit the country greatly by providing a highly skilled and diverse workforce. These individuals are adding to the competitiveness in the workforce, expansion in the growth potential of the economy and increasing cultural and social development. As the number of such highly skilled and diverse workers continue to rise, so too will the benefits for Ireland.

Ger Connolly is an Employment Law Partner with Mason Hayes & Curran.
Email: gconnolly@mhc.ie
www.mhc.ie