Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011

34.

Amendment of Immigration Act 2004.

34.— The Immigration Act 2004 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following section for section 11:

“Requirements as to documents of identity and supply of information.

11.— (1) Every person (other than a person under the age of 16 years) landing in the State shall be in possession of a valid passport or other equivalent document, issued by or on behalf of an authority recognised by the Government, which establishes his or her identity and nationality.

(2) Every person landing in or embarking from the State shall furnish to an immigration officer, when requested to do so by that officer—

(a) the passport or other equivalent document referred to in subsection (1), and

(b) such information in such manner as the immigration officer may reasonably require for the purposes of the performance of his or her functions.

(3) (a) A person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(b) In proceedings brought against a person for an offence under this section, it shall be a defence for the person to prove that, at the time of the alleged offence, he or she had reasonable cause for not complying with the requirements of this section to which the offence relates.

(4) This section does not apply to any person (other than a non-national) coming from, or embarking for, a place in the State, Great Britain or Northern Ireland.

(5) In this section and section 12, ‘non-national’ means a person who is neither—

(a) an Irish citizen, nor

(b) a person who has established a right to enter and be present in the State under the European Communities (Aliens) Regulations 1977 (S.I. No. 393 of 1977), the European Communities (Right of Residence for Non-Economically Active Persons) Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 57 of 1997) or the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2006 and 2008.”,

(b) by the substitution of the following section for section 12:

Requirements as to production of documents.

12.— (1) Every non-national present in the State (other than a non-national under the age of 16 years) shall produce on demand—

(a) a valid passport or other equivalent document, issued by or on behalf of an authority recognised by the Government, which establishes his or her identity and nationality, and

(b) in case he or she is registered or deemed to be registered under this Act, his or her registration certificate.

(2) (a) A non-national who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(b) In proceedings brought against a person for an offence under this section, it shall be a defence for the person to prove that, at the time of the alleged offence, he or she had reasonable cause for not complying with the requirements of this section to which the offence relates.

(3) In this section ‘on demand’ means on demand made at any time by the Minister, any immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána, for the purposes of establishing that the presence in the State of the non-national concerned is not in contravention of section 5.”,

and

(c) by the substitution of the following section for section 19:

Fees.

19.— (1) (a) There shall be paid to the Minister by the non-national concerned in respect of the making of an application for, or the giving of, a permission, or both, such fee (if any) as may be prescribed with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

(b) There shall be paid to the registration officer concerned by the non-national concerned in respect of the issue of a registration certificate such fee (if any) as may be prescribed with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

(c) There shall be paid to the Minister by the non-national concerned in respect of the issue of a travel document such fee (if any) as may be prescribed with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

(2) The Minister may refuse to—

(a) consider an application for a permission,

(b) give a permission, or

(c) issue a travel document,

if the appropriate fee, prescribed under paragraph (a) or (c) of subsection (1), has not been paid.

(3) The registration officer concerned may refuse to issue a registration certificate if the appropriate fee, prescribed under subsection (1)(b), has not been paid.

(4) A fee payable under this section may be recovered by the person to whom it is payable from the person by whom it is payable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(5) Regulations under subsection (1)(a) may prescribe different fees to be paid in different circumstances or in respect of different permissions (including permissions to which different conditions are attached under section 4(6)).

(6) Regulations under this section may provide for the waiver in specified circumstances of any prescribed fees, including fees payable by—

(a) adult persons unable without undue hardship to arrange for their payment for themselves and their dependants,

(b) applicants within the meaning of the Act of 1996, and

(c) persons in respect of whom a declaration (within the meaning of that Act) is in force.

(7) In this section, ‘travel document’ means a document (other than a document to which section 4(1) of the Refugee Act 1996 refers) issued solely for the purpose of providing the holder with a document which can serve in lieu of a national passport.”.