The Minister for Justice has been urged to cut the “extortionate” €300 fee for the Irish residence permit required by non-EU residents here, including nurses and international students.
The Irish residence permit (IRP) costs just €20.44 to produce, but the €300 fee, which yielded €58 million for the exchequer last year, is substantially more than that charged by other European countries, according to campaigners.
The Fair Fees Campaign Group, unveiled by the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland on Wednesday, aims to get the fee cut. Non-EU workers such as nurses, chefs, engineers, IT specialists, agri-food workers, truck drivers, and international students and their family members often have to pay the IRP card fee every year, the group said.
Campaign co-ordinator Neil Bruton said the fee, particularly when compared to the fees for other State registrations such as passports, seems to be “a tax on migrants”.
“It’s unfair, it’s exploiting people who have no choice but to pay.”
The IRP card fee doubled to €300 in 2012 as an austerity measure and has not been reviewed since, the group outlined.
In contrast, a residency permit in Greece costs €16, while the fee in Spain ranges from €16.08-€21.87. Austria charges €20, Switzerland €42 and Luxembourg €80.
The group has started a petition calling on the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, to reduce the IRP fee to a level more in line with similar fees charged for other State registrations.
“Can you believe that a 10-year passport costs €75 and a driver’s license costs just €55, but the price of an IRP card is €300?” said Lijie Shao, spokesperson for the group.
“It only costs €20 to issue. It’s extortionate and unwarranted and we have no other choice but to pay. The Government generates additional income off our backs because of where we come from.”
In the midst of the cost-of-living crisis, people are being forced to make big sacrifices to make ends meet, and this fee “makes it much worse”, Ms Shah said. “Reducing this fee would make us feel equal and valued in the country we call home.”
Vanee Renghen, also part of the campaign, said she works in retail and is “a proud mum of two gorgeous boys”.
“My husband and I have already spent almost €5,000 on the IRP card fees. This year we had to postpone my son getting new eyeglasses because we had to pay to renew our IRP cards. As a mother, it is the hardest thing when you have to make sacrifices that impact on your kids’ wellbeing.”
