Visas to be checked after civil servant arrested

Thousands of visas will be checked for authenticity following the arrest of a 64-year-old civil servant and four Chinese nationals in Dublin yesterday. The five were arrested in connection with suspected irregularities in the granting of visas, mostly to Chinese nationals.

It is believed student visas may have been granted to non-nationals who officially came to Ireland to study but opted to work instead. Those in Ireland on student visas are required to submit college attendance records to prove that they are studying here. One senior garda source said last night it is suspected there may have been irregularities with those attendance records.

Officers from the Garda National Immigration Bureau and detectives from Dublin's Terenure Garda station arrested the five people as part of an investigation into the prevention of corruption.

The 64-year-old civil servant was arrested just after 11.30 a.m. yesterday at Burgh Quay, Dublin. A spokesman for the Department of Justice confirmed that the civil servant was a member of its staff, working in the immigration division. He declined to comment further.

Two male and two female Chinese nationals were arrested in follow-up searches in the Dublin area. They were arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1994.

The civil servant was being detained at Terenure Garda Station. A 25-year-old female Chinese national was detained at Kevin Street Garda station. Another 22-year-old male Chinese national was being held at Pearse Street Garda station along with a 21-year-old Chinese woman and another 35-year-old Chinese man.

It is understood the civil servant who was arrested had access to the visa application process. It is believed he may have been involved in the granting of more than 1,000 visas over a long period of time. One source close to yesterday's arrests said all of those visa applications would now be examined to assess their authenticity.

"We don't know exactly how many visa applications he may have been involved in or how many of those would even fall under suspicion but that is something that will now be looked at," he said.

Even low-ranking staff in the Department of Justice would have access to the visa process. Some clerical workers are charged with checking that all necessary documents, such as attendance records, are in place before a visa applications goes to a higher-ranking official for a decision.