Moving to Ireland is still a choice made by many thousands of people.
Ireland’s non-Irish population makes up 12% of the total population (about 544,000
people.) The majority are from EU countries.
In 2013, approximately 166,000 new applications (i.e. visa,
residence, protection and citizenship) were received by the Irish
Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS).
The 2013 year end estimate of non-EEA nationals with
permission to remain in Ireland is approximately 120,000. The
majority of persons with permission to remain in the State are here for
work or study purposes.
The current top 6 registered nationalities are India (11%), Brazil (10%), China (9%),
Nigeria (8%), USA (6%) and Philippines (6%).
Visas
Approximately 95,000 entry visa
applications were received in 2013, an increase of 8% on 2012 and a
cumulative increase of 14% on 2011. The approval rate for entry visa
applications was 91%.
The top 5 nationalities applying for visas for Ireland in 2013
were India (16%), Russia (15%), China (11%), Nigeria (6%) and Turkey
(5%).
Students
The total number of non-EEA students registered to study or train in Ireland at the end of 2013 was approximately 39,600. This is one third of all the non-EEA nationals with permission
to remain in the Ireland.
Of these students - 39% of students are in Higher
Education (Degree Programmes) , 21% are engaged in further education
(non Degree) courses, 27% are taking language courses and 13% other
(e.g. secondary school).
International Protection and Asylum
Provisional figures indicate that 946 applications for asylum were
submitted in 2013. The equivalent figure for 2012 was 956. The
comparative figure in 2002, when the volume of asylum applications was
at a peak, was 11,600.
