Additional requirements to obtain temporary residency card extensions in Ireland

Due to prolonged employment permit processing times at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, more foreign workers must now apply for a temporary extension of their Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) residency card while their renewal permit is processing. The GNIB has now also introduced additional evidentiary requirements to obtain this temporary extension.

Previously, foreign workers could obtain a temporary GNIB residency card extension by providing a dated copy of the employment permit application as proof of a pending renewal application.

Effective immediately, a receipt of payment to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is now also required to obtain a temporary GNIB residency card.  This new requirement prolongs the GNIB residency card application process by at least a week, and could leave the foreign worker out of status if they wait to renew their employment permit close to the expiry of the permit.

What This Means for Employers and Foreign Nationals

Foreign workers should apply for employment permit extensions as early as possible to avoid being out of status, and should ensure to apply for a temporary extension of their GNIB card before expiration.

Employers are advised to register for Trusted Partner status to avail of the much shorter employment permit processing time (currently three weeks).

Canada - Employers advised to initiate work permit extension applications 180 days in advance of expiration

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will now accept inland work permit, study permit and visitor record extension applications more than 90 days from expiration. This is due to swift and significant increases in the typical processing time for extension applications.

CIC’s informal policy in the past has been to advise against foreign nationals filing inland extension applications outside of 90 days from the date of expiry. However, CIC has confirmed to Fragomen that it now has no objection to inland extension applications being submitted earlier to account for the current processing times.

The processing time for an extension application filed online at CIC’s Case Processing Centre in Vegreville, Alberta (CPC-V) is currently 114 days – more than double the processing time in April of this year.

What this means for Foreign Nationals

Employers and foreign nationals should begin reaching out to their immigration professionals to begin extension cases at least 180 days prior to the expiration of current work permits or other temporary resident status documents, particularly those who have work permits based on Labour Market Impact Assessments.