New International Protection Rules

The 2026 Act has now replaced previous immigration law governing asylum in Ireland, the International Protection Act 2015.

Under the new Act, decisions on standard cases will be made within six months, three months for accelerated cases, and 12 weeks for border procedures (including appeals and return decisions).

Certain applications will be fast-tracked, particularly those considered weak, late, or from countries with low recognition rates.

The border procedure will be mandatory for certain applicants, whose cases may be processed without "entering the State". This means they will be required to stay in a designated location (Screening Centre at Citywest, County Dublin) while they wait for a decision on their asylum application.

Under the 2026 Act, if you arrive to Ireland to claim asylum, you will undergo screening at a screening centre (most likely the Citywest Convention Centre).

If you have an existing immigration permission in Ireland before applying for asylum, you will not have to undergo screening (although there may be exceptions to this). 

Screening will be completed within 7 days. What happens during screening:

  1. Your fingerprints and photograph will be taken
  2. You will be asked questions about how you travelled to Ireland and what documents you used
  3. You will be asked to undergo:
    • a health assessment to identify any serious diseases or needs, and;
    • Preliminary Vulnerability Assessment to identify if you have any special needs when it comes to your accommodation/reception and also engaging with the asylum process
  4. You will be provided with information on the process
  5. You will make your asylum application during this time
  6. If you have an existing immigration permission in Ireland before applying for asylum, you will not have to undergo screening.

Which procedure you are placed in will significantly impact how your application is dealt with, especially when it comes to processing times and your freedom of movement.

Standard Procedure

  • If your case is not subject to the border or accelerated procedure, it will be placed in the standard procedure; or
  • You may be referred to this procedure due to vulnerability identified during the screening process
  • You should be appointed to an accommodation centre while your asylum application is being processed (you do not have to stay at a screening centre)
  • It should take 6 months to process your application (not including an appeal), however the time limit can be extended up to a maximum of 21 months in certain circumstances.
  • You will have one month to appeal your international protection decision to the new appeals tribunal (Tribunal for Asylum and Returns Appeals -TARA) if necessary

Border Procedure

  • You may be required to stay at the border or screening centre (Citywest) while your asylum application is being processed, if you did not have permission to enter Ireland AND one of the following situations apply:
    • you applied at a port or screening centre (“external border crossing point”)
    • you were transferred back to Ireland under the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR)
    • you were apprehended in connection with an unauthorised crossing of the external border
  • Your case will be determined within 12 weeks from start to finish (this includes appeal)
  • You will be asked to fulfil reporting requirements (max every 24 hours)
  • You may also be placed in this procedure if you were transferred back to Ireland under AMMR
  • The border procedure can be mandatory if you are deemed to have intentionally misled the authorities, to be a danger to national security, destroyed a travel document (in bad faith), or if you come from a country with EU recognition rate lower than 20%
  • You will have 10 days to appeal your international protection decision to TARA.

Accelerated Procedure

  • This procedure should be applied to applicants who are not subject to the border procedure but whose case is deemed inconsistent, false, improbable or misleading, after the screening process.
  • It may also be applied if someone delayed making an application for asylum, is considered a national security threat, is making a second application, is from a safe country of origin or from a country where the EU recognition rate is lower than 20%. 
  • Your case should be determined quickly (although slower than the border procedure): it should take 3 months to process your application - if you need to appeal, it could take longer than that.
  • You should be appointed to an IPAS accommodation centre while your asylum application is being processed. You should not be required to stay at a screening centre or fulfil reporting requirements.
  • You may be exempt from this procedure due to vulnerability or case complexity
  • You will have 10 days to appeal your international protection decision to TARA.

A return decision means the government decides that a person must leave Ireland, usually because an asylum application is rejected or withdrawn. The person might be sent back to their country of origin or to another country found to be responsible for them.

Return decisions will be issued much faster under the new Act, along with the negative first instance decision.

You can appeal a return decision to the appeal tribunal, however the appeal does not suspend the return decision. In other words, it is possible that someone subject to a return decision could be removed from Ireland, while the appeal is yet to be concluded.

If someone is removed from Ireland following a return decision, they are banned to re-enter.

However, if an applicant subject to a return decision opts to return to their country voluntarily or leaves Ireland in compliance with the decision, the return decision and the re-entry ban may be revoked.

Under the 2026 Act, you will be entitled to apply for free legal aid from the Legal Aid Board.

You should apply for legal aid as soon as possible after you apply for asylum.

The Legal Aid Board will also be providing a new Legal counselling service which will be based in Citywest.

The counselling service will mainly consist of explainer videos and group information clinics to help applicants understand the legal framework. The information given will not be specific to an individual’s case. 

Provision of legal counselling will stop once a legal representative has been allocated.

The Government has been discussing the possibility of charging rent to employed IPAS residents for a few years, however it has not been implemented to date.

Contribution percentages might be between 15% to nearly 40% of your weekly earnings, depending on income.

Under the 2026 Act, applicants will have to wait 2 years (from the date of receiving the Ministerial Letter) before making an application for family reunification

When assessing the application, the applicant's income and claiming of social welfare/housing assistance will also be considered. Unfortunately, we do not have more details on this yet.

In addition to spouse and minor children, eligible family members will also include:

  • adult children who are dependant on the applicant or living with a serious mental or physical disability
  • parents who are dependant on the applicant or living with a serious mental or physical disability
Contact Doras for free and confidential support