New rules for immigration delayed

Ireland is one of the most popular countries among students that want to learn English. Data published by  the Department of Justice and Equality say that were 35,400 non-EEA students in the country in last February. The main countries of origin for the persons concerned are the following: Brazil 30%, China 9%, USA 8%, India 7%, Malaysia 6%, Saudi Arabia 5% and Venezuela 4%.

Being part of Union European, immigration law and and the possibility to work are some of the reasons that make Ireland so popular. But  last year, after stories about ten schools shutting their doors started to be published in the news,  the “Regulatory Reform of the International Education Sector and the Student Immigration Regime” was launched jointly by the Ministers for Education and Skills and Justice and Equality.

The new rules include an updated list with the schools that are allowed to issue visas, that will be reduced from 12 months to 8 months for English-language courses. These changes were scheduled to be implemented on 1st October. But this week, the immigration service published a notice saying that all changes  have been delayed. The statement says that this is due to gaps in the information provided by colleges in making applications for inclusion on the new visa list, with the department having to seek further clarification and detail as a result. “All changes due on 1 October will be deferred for a short time.”

• Flávia Lovisi