The procedure for being given leave to remain after rejection of your application for a declaration as a refugee is as follows:
If you have failed to get a declaration as a refugee having gone through the process of applying to the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, your file goes automatically to the Repatriation Division of the Department of Justice where a recommendation is made to the Minister for Justice on whether you should be deported or given leave to remain.
The recommendation to give you leave to remain is based mainly on how safe the country to which it is intended deporting you is.
The Minister for Justice on receiving a recommendation from the Repatriation Division will make a decision on whether or not to grant you leave to remain. You will be informed in writing if the Minister for Justice decides to grant you leave to remain. Alternatively you will be informed of the Minister's intention to have you deported.
If the application is successful, the parents of the child will be issued with a letter from the Asylum and Immigration Division to take to the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) as proof of the person's right to remain in the state. The Asylum and Immigration Division will also inform the GNIB by letter of the decision. The GNIB then issues a Green Registration Book, which takes about two weeks to process.

Rights conferred on Convention refugees and people given leave to remain are:

• The right to seek and enter employment in the state;
• The right to carry on any business, trade or profession in the state;
• The right to access education and training in the like manner and to the like extent in all respects as an Irish citizen;
• The right to receive the same medical care and services and the same social welfare benefits, including housing, as an Irish citizen;
• The right to reside in the state;
• The same rights of travel in or to or from the state as those to which Irish citizens are entitled [note: this is on the basis that the Minister for Justice issues a travel document];
• The same freedom to practise their religion and the same freedom as regards religious education of their children as an Irish citizen;
• The right to the same access to the courts as an Irish citizen;
• The same right to form and be a member of associations and trade unions as an Irish citizen;
• The right to acquire, hold, dispose or otherwise deal with real or personal property or an interest in such property in the same way and subject to the same obligations and limitations as an Irish citizen.
• The right to apply to the Minister for Justice for permission for a member of their family to enter and reside in the state.

While it is not set out in legislation, persons given leave to remain in the state are normally conferred with the same rights and privileges as those conferred on Convention refugees, under section 3 of the Refugee Act, 1996.

Withdrawal at first stage
If your application for a declaration is still under consideration by the Refugee Applications Commissioner, you may withdraw your application by submitting a Withdrawal Form to the Refugee Applications Commissioner. The Minister for Justice will be notified of your withdrawal and he/she may arrange for your removal from the state unless you have applied for or have been granted leave to remain in the state.

Where to apply:

Immigration and Asylum Division,
Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform,
13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2
Phone: 01 616 7700
Lo-Call: 1890 551500
info@justice.ie

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform,
13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2
Phone: 01 616 7700
Lo-Call: 1890 551500
info@justice.ie

Garda National Immigration Bureau,
13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2
Phone: 01 616 7700
Lo-Call: 1890 551500
info@justice.ie
Opening Hours: 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. (Monday - Thursday). 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Friday),
8 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Saturday)