The current immigration arrangements for family reunification are set out in the Policy Document for Non-EEA Family Reunification, which is available on my Department's website. The policy document sets out the rationale for applying resource requirements as part of the overall assessment of whether to approve an application for family reunification.
In general, Healthcare assistants are eligible to be employed under a General Employment permit (GEP) issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. A person residing in the State on the basis of a GEP is eligible to apply for family reunification after 12 months. Sponsors of family reunification applications must demonstrate their capacity to provide for their family member(s) if they are to be granted a permission to come to Ireland. Separately, it is open to spouses of general employment permit holders to apply for employment permits in their own right and enter the State and work.
However, the policy, which was last amended in 2016, is currently under review. The review is examining a wide range of matters relating to applications for family reunification including the nature and suitability of current income thresholds.
My Department works closely with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to ensure that our labour market migration arrangements ensure Ireland’s competitiveness in attracting skilled migrant workers. In addition to the review of the Non-EEA Family Reunification policy, work is underway to unify the current system whereby employment permits and immigration permissions are currently dealt with separately. The Government has agreed in principle that a single application procedure for employment permits and immigration permissions should be developed and that an Inter Departmental Working Group should be established to develop an implementation plan for consideration by Government.
The Inter-departmental Working Group is examining the operational, policy and legal considerations of simplifying the process for employment permits and immigration permissions to improve on timelines to secure critical skill workers. The Working Group aims to report back to government with an implementation plan and associated timelines shortly. The Working Group’s report will also enable Government to consider opting-in to the recast EU Single Permit Directive at a future date.
