Visa for Ireland (ROI) for Mauritius citizens

Mauritius citizens required a visa for tourism and temporary residency in the Republic of Ireland starting January 1st 2010.  The legal framework, statutory instrument no 453 (2009) has been published.

The explanatory note of the statutory instrument stated : The principal change effected by the Order is that nationals of Mauritius are, from 1 January 2010, subject to an Irish visa requirement.

The main Irish media (Independent, The Irish Times) and Mauritian media (L’express, Kotzot, Mauricien) are not covering this issue.

An article of the Mauritian online media DefiMedia explained that the reasons for this new visa requirement for the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius Arvin Boolell , are together the level of unemployment in ROI, the recent closure of some ROI higher education college and the fact that some citizens of Mauritius overstayed their  temporary residency permit.

For Claire O’Sullivan of the Irish Examiner, the new visa requirement is due to an “exodus” of Mauritus citizen “fleeing” their home to South Ireland (ROI). Well,  is it a true and accurate report ?

It is then still not possible to inform you on the reasons of this new visa requirement for the citizens of Mauritius visiting the Republic of Ireland (ROI).

Visa waiver extended to French overseas territories

The French embassy in Port Louis, Mauritius stated on its website that from December 28th 2009, a visa waiver regulation allows citizens of Mauritius to visit visa-free for up to 3 months every 6 months, French overseas territories (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane, Nouvelle-Calédonie, Polynésie française, Iles Wallis et Futuna, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre et Miquelon). A previous regulation allowed citizens of Mauritius to visit visa-free, the island of Reunion for visit up to 15 days for a maximum of 120 days per year.

The French and Dutch overseas territories were not included in the Agreement between EC and Mauritius.

Freedom of Information in ROI about immigration?

The article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms states :

1 Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. (..)

The Republic of Ireland (ROI) has ratified the Convention on February 25th 1953 and was condemned for violations of the Convention 23 times since 1959.

In 1997, the Republic  passed the Freedom of Information Act 1997. Under this Act,  any citizen can make a request for a public document. But this request cost in the Republic of Ireland €15 not including photocopying cost and other charges decided by the public body handling the request. Even more surprisingly, the Freedom of Information Act doesn’t apply to all the documents held by Garda including statistics, policy documents and administrative records.

The public document about immigration policy and statistics are held by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law reform (INIS) and Guarda (GNIB).

In order to write an article about the reasons for the new visa requirement for citizens of Mauritius visiting Ireland, a FOI request was made to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law reform for the following records relating to :

1) matter used, or intended to be used, by the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform for the purpose of making the decision «As and from 1 January 2010 nationals of Mauritius will be subject to an Irish visa requirement.»

2) the reasons of the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform for the making of the following decision «As and from 1 January 2010 nationals of Mauritius will be subject to an Irish visa requirement.»

Unfortunately, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform would only accept some mode of payment only available in the ROI : “bank draft, postal money order or personal cheque made payable to “The Accountant, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform“. Credit card, debit card and international bank transfer were not accepted, make it not possible to pay the €15 fee for the FOI request.  The Department of Justice  refused to grant a waiver of the €15 fee and then to process the FOI request due the lack of payment of the €15 fee.

It is then not possible to inform you on the reasons of this new visa requirement for the citizens of Mauritius visiting the Republic of Ireland (ROI).

18 citizens of Mauritius helped to return home in 3 years

According to the IOM Dublin, only 18 citizens of Mauritius were helped to return home from September 2006 to September 2009. Around 900 people returned home with the help of IOM during the 3 years 2006, 2007 and 2008.

The citizens of Mauritius are only around 2% of the total number of people who voluntary returned home with the help of IOM.

The Council adopted the 6 Agreements and amended 539/2001

On November 30th 2009, the Council of Europe adopted without debate, decisions concluding the 6 visa waiver Agreements between the EU and six island states following their approval by COREPER II on November 26th 2009.

The Council also adopted the amendment of regulation No 539/2001 granting visa free travel in Schengen area for citizens  of Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of), Montenegro and Serbia. The amended regulation will apply from 19 December 2009 to holders of biometric passports.

Residents of Kosovo are not part of the amended regulation.

The European Parliament and the Council stated in a joint political declaration : “The European Parliament and the Council invite the Commission to present a legislative proposal for amending Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 as soon as it has assessed that each country meets the benchmarks set out in the Commission’s roadmaps, with a view to achieving visa liberalisation for citizens of those countries as soon as possible.“

Accidentally on purpose ? 3980 or over 5000 ?

On November 5th 2009, the press office of the department of justice, equality, and law reform stated as the main and only reasons of the new visa requirement for citizens of Mauritius from January 1st 2010 was : ” There are currently over 5000 Mauritian nationals registered with the Garda National Immigration Bureau, mostly as students“.

On November 20th 2009, the minister of justice, equality and law reform confirmed this information by issuing the same statement in written answers to the Dail.

On November 23th 2009, the press office of the department of justice, equality, and law reform finally responded to a query of November 11th 2009 asking for a breakdown by stamps of citizens of Mauritius registered with GNIB :

Stamp 1 : 71, Stamp 1A : 28, Stamp 2 : 3641, Stamp 3 : 51, Stamp 4 : 125, Stamp 4EUFam : 56 and Stamp 5 : 1

The total number of citiziens of Mauritius registered with GNIB is 3980 so well under “over 5000“. On Kildastreet.com, a poll is still organized to vote on the written answer to the Dail of the question 285 : “Does this answer the above question ?”  Again, Definitely not!

The press office of the department of justice, equality and law reform didn’t respond to e-mail for comment on this difference in numbers.

New visa Agreement between France and Mauritius

A new visa Agreement between France and Mauritius was signed in Paris on September 23th 2008. The Agreement was submitted on June 10th 2009 to the “Senat” in France. The committee on foreign affairs of the “Senat” submitted a bill authorizing the adoption of the Agreement on November 3th 2009.  A vote will take place in the “Senat”, and then in “Assemblee Nationale“, before the Agreement will be in operation.

Credit : Photo Sénat

This Agreement is introducing 4 new type of visa for citizens of Mauritius :

• a “circulation” visa for stay up to 3 months every 6 month, valid up to 5 years only for highly qualified individuals  (businessman, lawyers, “intellectuals” , artists and international athletes). This visa is obsolete with the EC-Mauritius visa waiver Agreement open to all citizens of Mauritius regardless of qualification. No quota;
• an “internship” visa for stay up to 12 months. “Internship” is a non paid short term work contract. If the contract is over 3 months, the minimum “internship” pay is 398,13 Euros. The minimum wage is currently 1047,44 Euros in France. No quota;
• a “migration and development” visa for stay up to 15 months. This work permit is restricted to 61 job positions listed in the Agreement (Exhibit 1), all in the dirty, dangerous and demeaning type (3D). This work permit can be extended once for 15 months. Quota : 500 per year ;
• a “18-35” visa for stay up to 12 months. This work permit is not restricted to a particular job position but only available to the age group 18-35 years old holder of a “diploma” or appropriate work experience; This work permit can be extended once for 6 months. Quota : 200 per year ;

The “18-35” visa is also available for citizens of France wishing to work in Mauritius under a reciprocity clause in the Agreement.  But the “migration and development” visa is only available to citizens of Mauritius residing in Mauritius. The definition of residence for the purpose of the “migration and development” visa is not defined in the Agreement.

380€ par mois

The 6 Agreements scheduled to be approved by the Council

The Council of the European Union under the Swedish presidency, is scheduled to formally adopt the decision on the conclusion of the 6 visa waiver Agreements on November 30th 2009 at the 2979th Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting. The 6 visa waiver Agreements were provisionally applied from May 28th 2009.

Credit : The Council of the European Union

EP approved the 6 Agreements

The European Parliament (EP) discussed in plenary session on October 19th 2009 the 6 visa waiver Agreements.

The European Parliament then approved them on October 20th 2009.

Written answer at the Dail of the minister for justice, equality and law reform (ROI)

On November 10th, the minister for justice, equality and law reform, Dermot Ahern TD (Fianna Fail) gave  the following written answers for the question 285 of  Charles Flanagan TD (Fine Gael) :

Question 285: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the fact that citizens of the Republic of Mauritius may visit 27 EU countries, including the UK and Ireland, without applying for and being granted a visa; if he will make a statement on the position regarding same and the proposals and changes to the current regime. [40505/09]

(..)

Visa and pre-entry clearance systems are at the core of immigration controls and the inclusion of nationalities on lists of persons who require visas is usually the result of experience regarding the nationalities concerned. There are currently over 5,000 Mauritian nationals registered with the Garda National Immigration Bureau, mostly as students. Taking the population of Mauritius as being approximately 1.25 million this means that one in every 250 Mauritian nationals is in Ireland.

(..)

The written answer given by the minister for justice, equality and law reform was the same one given by the press office of the department of justice, equality and law reform on November 5th 2009.

The answer given by the minister for justice, equality and law reform is not satisfying. It failed to give the  real reasons  of his department to impose a new visa requirement and to justify why the Republic of Ireland will be the only country in the European Union to require a visa for citizens of Mauritius.

On Kildastreet.com, a poll is organized to vote on the answer of the question 285 : “Does this answer the above question ?” Definitely not!