Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) has refreshed its visa-decision tables, covering applications finalised up to 6 October. The update, posted on the agency’s website late last night, shows that Dublin Visa Office is currently issuing decisions on study-visa files lodged on 22 June, while family-reunification appeals from Irish-citizen sponsors are being decided on files dated 4 July 2024. Business visas (short-stay C) remain largely on schedule at six-to-eight working days, officials say. The data confirm what universities had feared: despite extra summer overtime, the study-visa backlog now sits at just over 10,800 files, with an average 14-week wait. Sources within ISD attribute delays to a security-vetting upgrade on 1 August that requires additional biometric cross-checks against EU-LISA’s EES database. Chinese and Indian applicants are the most affected cohorts, together representing 62 % of pending cases. As a mitigation measure, ISD quietly extended the enrolment-deferral window for higher-education institutions to 31 October. Colleges can now issue revised start-dates without triggering automatic visa withdrawals, provided they notify the visas@justice.ie mailbox within seven days. Employers relying on graduates-to-be should adjust project timelines, as many master’s programmes will now finish four to six weeks later than planned. For mobility managers, the key takeaway is to build at least three months into the timeline for D-study visas and to file appeals swiftly—ISD warns it will refuse late appeals outright once the 60-day statutory limit expires. Travel-risk teams should note that applicants whose passports are currently with ISD may request emergency returns for essential travel, but only with documentary proof and a €150 courier fee. ISD’s next decision-table update is scheduled for Tuesday, 13 October. Stakeholders are encouraged to monitor the page, as ISD has signalled it may introduce priority processing for STEM master’s applicants if backlogs persist into November.
Source: Immigration Service Delivery
