Coming to Ireland as an asylum seeker or refugee

Information

The term "refugee" is used in everyday language in Ireland to describe a number of categories of people. These categories of people may have different legal statuses. As a result of these different legal statuses, they may have varying rights and obligations in Irish society. All these of these people are linked to the refugee process as defined in Irish law and based on international convention.

Proposed changes to immigration law: The Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2010 (pdf) which was published in June 2010 is designed to replace all the present immigration legislation. Its provisions include a new single category of application for protection which would replace applications for refugee status and leave to remain.

At present the breakdown of those different categories is as follows:

Asylum seeker

An asylum seeker is a person who seeks to be recognised as a refugee under the terms of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees as defined in Section 2 of the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended.

Convention refugee

A convention refugee is a person who fulfills the requirements of the definition of a refugee under the terms of the Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees as defined in the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended and is granted refugee status.

Programme refugee

A programme refugee is a person who has been invited to Ireland under a Government decision in response to a humanitarian request, usually from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), either for the purposes of temporary protection or resettlement.

Leave to remain

A person who does not fully meet the requirements of the definition of refugee under the terms of the Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees as defined in the Refugee Act, 1996, may be granted leave to remain in the State for humanitarian or other compelling reasons. Leave to remain may be also be granted to non-EU nationals who have been refused a declaration as a refugee and are not eligible for subsidiary protection under the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 (pdf).