A new petition launched on 22 February 2026 is urging Ireland’s Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) to tackle mounting delays in Irish Residence Permit (IRP) renewals. The Change.org campaign, started by health-care worker Janet Baby Joseph, has already garnered 90 verified signatures and dozens of testimonials from residents unable to travel or work while waiting for renewed cards.(change.org)
Under current rules, non-EEA residents must hold a valid IRP card to prove lawful stay, access public services and re-enter the country after overseas trips. Although the Department of Justice introduced an online renewal portal in 2023, applicants report wait times of five to seven months – well beyond the six-week service target. Delays expose families to income loss if employers cannot complete payroll right-to-work checks, and they strand residents abroad when emergency travel is required.
![Change.org Petition Highlights Backlog in Irish Residence Permit Renewals]()
Travellers and residents looking to navigate these challenges can save time by using services such as VisaHQ, which offers visa and passport processing, appointment scheduling and real-time status tracking through its Ireland portal (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/). By streamlining paperwork and providing expert guidance, the platform helps reduce administrative stress while ISD works to clear the backlog.
Petitioners are asking ISD to create a priority service for urgent cases, publish weekly queue statistics and improve customer-service communications. Immigration consultants say the backlog partly reflects a surge in applications from Ukrainian beneficiaries whose temporary permissions expired in December and a spike in student renewals ahead of the spring semester.
For multinational employers the issue is more than an administrative nuisance; it is a compliance risk. Staff whose IRP lapses technically lose permission to work, potentially triggering fines under the Employment Permits Acts. Companies should diarise renewal dates, maintain copies of ISD acknowledgement e-mails (which act as interim proof) and budget extra lead time in assignment planning.
Under current rules, non-EEA residents must hold a valid IRP card to prove lawful stay, access public services and re-enter the country after overseas trips. Although the Department of Justice introduced an online renewal portal in 2023, applicants report wait times of five to seven months – well beyond the six-week service target. Delays expose families to income loss if employers cannot complete payroll right-to-work checks, and they strand residents abroad when emergency travel is required.
Travellers and residents looking to navigate these challenges can save time by using services such as VisaHQ, which offers visa and passport processing, appointment scheduling and real-time status tracking through its Ireland portal (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/). By streamlining paperwork and providing expert guidance, the platform helps reduce administrative stress while ISD works to clear the backlog.
Petitioners are asking ISD to create a priority service for urgent cases, publish weekly queue statistics and improve customer-service communications. Immigration consultants say the backlog partly reflects a surge in applications from Ukrainian beneficiaries whose temporary permissions expired in December and a spike in student renewals ahead of the spring semester.
For multinational employers the issue is more than an administrative nuisance; it is a compliance risk. Staff whose IRP lapses technically lose permission to work, potentially triggering fines under the Employment Permits Acts. Companies should diarise renewal dates, maintain copies of ISD acknowledgement e-mails (which act as interim proof) and budget extra lead time in assignment planning.
