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The online system will free up immigration staff to focus on processing applications, the Department of Justice said.
Starting 4 November, all immigrants in Ireland who need to make immigration requests can do so through an online portal, a service that was previously only available to people living in certain areas. Irish start-up ID-Pal has been announced as the Government’s partner to provide a secure, automated online identity verification process for this service.
The Digital Contact Centre (DCC) is a new self-service portal that will enable people to book and amend first-time registration appointments and keep track of their application status, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in its announcement.
Previously, only those living in Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, Cork and Limerick could apply for immigration permissions online, with other applicants needing to go to their local Garda station to make an in-person request.
This service is open for appointments after 13 January 2025. Appointments that have been booked up to 10 January 2025 will continue to be managed by the current call centre facility.
Today (31 October), the DOJ announced the selection of Irish AI-powered identity-verification company ID-Pal to provide technology to support a safe and secure online system.
ID-Pal serves businesses in more than 30 industries with remote identity and address verification using biometric, facial matching, liveness testing, address verification and document checks.
The company says it’s able to verify identities in real time, offering “verification coverage” of more than 7,000 identity documents and 200 verified address data sources globally. It claims that its GDPR-compliant solution gives “zero access” to customer data.
This partnership between ID-Pal and the DOJ is “part of a broader effort” by the department to “future-proof its public services, ensuring that they are both scalable and secure”, the DOJ said.
At the DCC’s launch last week, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, TD called the new centre a “significant milestone in the digitisation of the immigration function” in the department.
In response to a query from SiliconRepublic.com, the DOJ said the new digital hub “does not replace Immigration Service Delivery” but is an addition to “make services more accessible”.
“This new innovative and streamlined online platform will replace old help desk systems and will enable my department to handle queries faster and provide a more efficient service to our customers,” she said.
The new system will allow people to check the status of their applications, and over time will allow people to raise queries in relation to visas, registration, domestic residence permissions, travel documents, EU treaty rights and citizenship applications.
Currently, almost half of the queries received by the immigration service are from people querying the status of their applications – applications that take weeks to process. The new system will allow the immigration service staff to devote more time to processing applications, the DOJ said.
“This collaboration with the Department of Justice highlights our commitment to providing cutting-edge identity verification solutions that support the digital transformation of public services,” said Colum Lyons, the CEO and founder of ID-Pal.
“By modernising processes and enhancing security, we’re helping create a more efficient, accessible and secure immigration system for Ireland.”
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