Nearly 500 foreign nationals gathered outside the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) on Burgh Quay in Dublin in the early hours of Friday morning to queue for work, study and re-entry visas.
The regular early morning visa queue, which normally snakes around the corner from Burgh Quay onto the Corn Exchange Place, stretched all the way around the block, doubling up into two queues outside the GNIB main entrance.
Women and children wearing heavy coats, scarves and hats stamped their feet and sipped warm drinks to keep warm in the cool autumn morning temperatures.
Those at the top of the queue camped out overnight, arriving at 12am to ensure they would receive one of the sought-after tickets from the GNIB office.
The issue of the length of queues has been on ongoing source of controversy as people are forced to stand on the street for hours, with some turned away and told to return the following day in the event of the office closing.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice told The Irish Times in June 2014 the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service planned to introduce an online booking system for appointments which could save applicants waiting outside for hours.
One year later the department says the introduction of the online appointment service for the re-entry visa process was at “an advanced stage and final testing of the system is now taking place”.
Omonike Sydney joined the queue with her 3-year-old daughter Annabelle shortly before 5am.
Ms Sydney, who had wrapped up her young daughter in a pink duffle jacket, has lived in Ireland since 2008.
“I’ve been here before, two years ago, but the queue was not as big as this. I came around 7am that time and got a ticket. Standing on the streets you get very cold. Even if it’s raining, you have to stand here.”
Further along the queue, Nitin Ratwar and Vipin Tanvar from India say they are frustrated they can't re-apply for their visas online.
“They said last year they would bring in the online system by January,” said Mr Tanvar. “I’m in Ireland four years and every year it’s a pain.”
“Two years ago they raised the fees from €150 to €300 and everyone thought they were going to improve the situation,” said Mr Ratwar. “The only thing they improved was their own offices.”
“It’s not about how much we’re paying, it’s a waste of your working hours. People don’t understand, they treat us as if we’re refugees. That’s how it feels. It’s really shocking.”
Erika Mimatto Feuerschuette from Brazil began queuing with friends for her student visa at 4am.
“They should just change the system, do a schedule like in Brazil or the USA,” said Ms Feuerschuette. “There you have an appointment and don’t have to wait. They are treating us like animals.”
Ms Feuerschuette arrived in Ireland a month ago to study English but is not sure she made the right decision coming here. She feels unsafe after a Brazilian teenager was injured in an attack earlier this month.
“I thought maybe now I’m not in Brazil it will be more safe, but sometimes I realise it’s not the case.”
A GNIB spokesman outside the office on Burgh Quay said tickets would be released to applicants between 7.30am and 9am. A public post on the garda.ie website said daily updates would be provided at 9.30am, 12.30pm and 4.30pm on the number of tickets remaining.
According to the website, there were no tickets left by 8.30am on Friday.
A spokesman from the Department of Justice attributed the increase in numbers queuing to overseas students arriving in Ireland to begin the academic year.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said applications for re-entry visas could be made by post and encouraged applicants to make “full use of the postal service insofar as possible”.
The Department said every effort was being made to provide a “customer friendly service for callers at the Burgh Quay offices”, saying the GNIB Public Office was open from 8am to 9pm every Friday and also remains open through lunchtime.
Numbers seeking to register for visas in the State are expected to double between September and November, according to the department. Approximately 100,000 applicants attend the Burgh Quay office every year, making it one of the busiest offices in the State.
The Department said special arrangements were in place to accommodate students from September to mid-November “to minimise the amount of time persons at work are required to be away from their jobs”.
