Visa delays for Iranian researchers, says academic

A UCD academic has said that delays in processing the visas in Iranian researchers and students is costing Irish research time and money.

Dr Fatemeh Golpayegani of UCD school of computer science told RTÉ's This Week that as someone involved in running publicly-funded research projects, she needs a clear timeline on when researchers from Iran will be able to join those projects.

Dr Golpayegani said that for PhD applications the research institute first secures funding and then advertise the PhD positions.

"What we are seeing in UCD and across other universities in Ireland is an increasing number of rejections and refusals for Iranian nationals.

"When they go for the appeal, the appeal is also taking a longer period compared to the other nationalities," she said.

The Department of Justice does not hold statistics specific to PhD applications, but provided more general data on Type D Long Stay Study Visa which includes language schools and secondary schools.

In 2023, 113 applications were received and 43 refused.

In 2024, 94 applications were received, with 26 being refused.

Last year, 106 applications were received, 81 were refused.

Dr Golpayegani said she has noticed this trend over the past two years and compared it to her own PhD application from Iran in 2013. Back then her visa was approved after eight weeks.

The delays in visa approvals is having an impact on the research happening in Ireland, Dr Golpayegani said.

"In UCD we have currently 58 Iranian national students," she said.

"79% are actually at the graduate research level.

"So they are contributing heavily to our research development and research delivery in Ireland; if we take this pool of applicants out of this process, this means that we would not be able in Ireland to hire highly competent people to come here and do research and deliver for our research."

Iranian still waiting for visa to be approved

"Arash" (not his real name) is an Iranian with a job offer from Trinity College Dublin to work on a machine learning research project at the university.

He got the job offer eight months ago but is still waiting to take up the role as his visa application is still pending.

On 28 February the US and Israel bombed Iran, beginning the now two-week-old war.

Two weeks before the war in Iran began, Arash and several colleagues, also with offers to study or do research at an Irish university left Iran for Turkey.

"What was once an administrative delay has now become a matter of safety and survival."

He is currently living with five other people but says he will have to go back to Iran when his money runs out.

Arash has written to Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan asking for his visa to be approved.

"The situation with bombardment is really getting crazy," he said.

"I hope, I really hope I leave this hellish place.

"I really want to go to Ireland, to some place that I can call home."

Arash believes he will lose his job offer in several months if his visa application does not come through in the next few months.

He added he is aware of Iranian students that have applied to universities in other EU countries and have had their visas approved although they applied after him.

Arash said that in Iran it is very difficult to communicate with anyone as a result of internet shutdowns and the risk of civil war.

"What was once an administrative delay has now become a matter of safety and survival," he said.

He added: "The uncertainty and feeling of being in limbo is one of the most difficult parts of this situation."

The Higher Education Authority told RTÉ's This Week that the number of Iranian students studying at postgraduate level registered in Irish publicly funded higher education institutions was 205 last year.

In 2023 it was 215 and in 2024 it was 225.

Dr Golpayegani said that she as observed UCD being supportive to the Iranian students who are waiting for visa approval and those that are appealing a visa rejection.

The Department of Justice told RTÉ's This Week: "Visa and preclearance applications... are important screening processes, designed to establish that a person has a legitimate reason to come to Ireland prior to travel.

"Verifying an application is an important part of our immigration system. Each visa application is assessed on its own merits, taking all relevant information into consideration at that time."

It also notes there is a right of appeal.

Dr Golpayegani said she accepts that the Department must assess each visa applicant properly .

"What we need from this situation would be more clarity in terms of the timeline," she said.

The academic added: "If we know a clear timeline, talking as a researcher having publicly-funded research projects, we can make decisions in a more certain way."