Minister Ahern to overhaul student immigration regime

The Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform, Mr Dermot Ahern T.D. today published a set of proposals for reform of non-EEA student immigration and initiated a public consultation process on the issue.

The discussion document drawn up by the Department, in consultation with a number of other Government Departments, contains more than 20 specific proposals, including capping the length of time a person can spend in Ireland as a student, introducing a two tier system to facilitate the targeting of incentives towards the upper end of the academic spectrum, a tighter inspection regime, possible changes in respect of visas and new guidelines on work placement or internship. Some transitional measures are set out for those already in the system. Examination of the current provisions regarding access of students to the labour market is to be the subject of a separate review.

Submissions on the draft proposals, which are available on www.justice.ie, should be made via e-mail to studentpolicyproposals@justice.ie or by post to:

The Student Immigration Review Group
Immigration and Citizenship Policy
Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS)
13/14 Burgh Quay
Dublin 2

The final date for receipt of submissions is Friday 9 October 2009.