Two Filipino engineers recruited by an Irish med-tech start-up in Galway have gone public about delays in obtaining their Long-Stay D Employment Visas, highlighting the summer backlog facing non-EEA professionals. In a post late last night on r/visas, the pair said they lodged applications at the Irish Embassy in Tel Aviv on 13 July—backed by already-approved Critical Skills Employment Permits—yet were warned processing could take “three to six months” because previous Australian visitor-visa refusals triggered extra security checks. While individual anecdotes rarely make headlines, the story is resonating with recruiters because Ireland’s July labour-market survey showed 21 per cent of open STEM roles are now being filled from the Philippines and India. Immigration practitioners say the Tel Aviv embassy is routing a growing share of complex files to Dublin for centralised risk assessment, stretching summer turnaround times from the usual four weeks to as long as ten. Employers who rely on the Critical Skills Employment Permit route should prepare contingency plans—such as remote onboarding from the applicant’s current location—and ensure candidates submit complete travel histories to avoid referral delays. The Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment told Global Mobility News it has seconded three additional case-workers to the Dublin Visa Office for August. The case also underscores the lingering impact of historic visa refusals on Irish risk scoring. Immigration lawyers recommend attaching refusal letters, evidence of compliance on previous trips and a personal cover note explaining changed circumstances. With Ireland targeting 50,000 additional ICT workers by 2030, smoother visa workflows will be essential. The experience of the two applicants is an early warning that summer surges could jeopardise start-up project timelines if employers fail to build realistic lead-times into assignment planning.
Source: Reddit – r/visas
