Foreign students complain at €300 charge that doesn’t apply to visits under 90 days

By Chinedu Onyejelem

Hundreds of non-Irish nationals could get their GNIB registration fee refunded if it was paid in error, Metro Éireann has learned.

In a reply to a query on why some North American students on a three-month study and internship programme were asked to pay a €300 registration fee while others were not, the Department of Justice told Metro Éireann that immigrants legally in Ireland on such temporary visits or programmes are not subject to fees.

“All non-EEA students participating in internships or study programmes of 90 days or less in Ireland are not required to register with the GNIB,” the department said, adding that those who believe they have registered in error can apply for a refund to the Border Management Unit of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS).

But visitors from the US and Canada may not be the only non-EEA nationals that have registered with the GNIB when they were not supposed to do.

A Nigerian who does not want to be identified said his mother in-law who was on a temporary visit to Ireland last year paid the €300 registration fee usually applicable to people on residence visas.