Getting Documentation – New Horizon Athlone

GNIB certificate and stamp 4

Obtain a Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) certificate of registration and stamp 4. This stamp allows you to work and claim social welfare benefits. Click here for full information on the Irish immigration system.

Travel documents

People with refugee status are entitled to a United Nations refugee travel document. See “Travel documents for people with refugee or subsidiary protection status” on the Citizens Information website.

Be aware that the UN refugee travel document is the equivalent of a home country, rather than a European Union, passport. You may still be required to obtain a visa for any travel to other EU countries.

Irish citizenship

If you have refugee status you can apply for Irish citizenship after three years residence. We recommend that you do this as soon as possible; it makes life very much easier.

FAQ’s

We are a front line refugee support group mainly working on the Lissywollen Direct Provision site in Athlone. Our focus is on providing information and help to the 300 (on average) residents living there.

We also work on the Temple Direct Provision site in Horseleap, Moate.

Everyone in the DP sites in Athlone and Temple is what is described as a ‘Convention’ refugee. People who have arrived in Ireland under a United Nations resettlement program are known as ‘Programme’ refugees.

Convention refugees are people who have made their own way to Ireland and have applied for recognition of refugee status when they arrive.

Various official and unofficial routes and methods are used to travel to Ireland. These change continually, depending on weather conditions and enforcement levels at crossings.

On arrival people are normally housed for a few weeks in Baleskin, near Dublin airport. They are then dispersed to various direct provision centres around the country.

People can get protection if they meet the conditions set out in The United Nations Convention on Protection of Refugees.

See Definition of a Refugee