IRP Renewal - Huge backlog in Cork City (seeking advices and info)

Overview and the Issue
Greetings all!
I live in Cork City and have previously registered / renewed my IRP all at the Garda Station on Anglesea Street.
I'm on a Stamp 4 IRP which is due to expire in early April, thus a renewal is needed.
The problem, however, is the immigration office here in Cork City seems to have a huge backlog and I'm still waiting for an appointment.

Appointment and Backlog
The immigration office of the Garda Station on Anglesea Street uses an appointment system via email, which I experienced in previous years.
Last December I wrote to the local immigration office asking for an appointment for IRP renewal, and on 20th Dec I received their acknowledgement letter which stated that:

We are experiencing an extremely large volume of requests and are processing all applications in strict Chronological order. (No Exceptions) We are currently processing appointment requests from September 06

I've been waiting patiently since then, and unfortunately there is no update on this.

Seeking Help on Advice and Information
In case the worst scenario happens that I'm unable to renew my IRP before it expires (e.g. no appointment booked by the immigration office, or appointment booked but falls beyond the expiry date), does it mean that I'll have to leave Ireland to avoid illegal stay?
Possible answers that I can think of:

1. Okay to stay and no further action required. This is to assume that sending the appointment request was enough and I shall just keep waiting.
2. Okay to stay but with further actions required, e.g. I need to reach out to a solicitor, to the local Gardai, or to a local TD for help, which may help lead to the result that I could keep waiting for a renewal despite the expiry.
3. Cannot stay beyond the expiry date and I have to prepare for a departure.

Besides, it's also very much appreciated if you have any relevant info to share with. E.g.

• Are you also waiting for an appointment for IRP renewal / registration?
• Did you recently receive an appointment for IRP renewal / registration?
• Have you or some one you know stayed beyond the expiry date of an IRP and are confirmed to be okay by the immigration department?

Any info would be surely valuable.

Proposal: A Similar Timeline Thread (if deemed useful)
(cc @ moderators)
If there appear to be many enough visitors that could possibly benefit from such information, I'd recommend to start a similar thread dedicated for timeline information on IRP renewal outside Dublin[1], similar to the existing threads named "20XX Citizenship Applications Timelines Only".
Proposed message format:

Location:
Required action: (Registration / Renewal / Change of stamp type)
Stamp type:
Current expiry date:
Appointment requested date:
Appointment requested acknowledgement date:
Appointment requested acknowledgement letter "currently processing" date:
Appointment letter received date:
Appointment made on date:
New IRP received date:

[1]: This is based on my understanding that people in Dublin use a different online system which might be exempt from such issues. Or let's have that included as well if helpful.

Thanks for your precious time on reading this.

Did you already apply to renew your Stamp 4 with the ISD/INIS? If so, did you receive an approval letter from them which instructed you to make the local Garda immigration officer appointment?

When I went to renew my Stamp 4 last year (living outside of Dublin), they pointed back to my original approval letter from 5 years earlier which stated I was supposed to reapply 6 months in advance of it expiring, irrespective of what the ISD website said to do at present (E.g. renewals accepted within 12 weeks of expiry). It's frustrating that people living outside of Dublin are treated differently for these renewals and it seems the online information is not entirely accurate for those same people.

I would say that if you are already approved (I.e. you have a letter from the ISD/INIS/DoJ) you are okay as the immigration officer told me that all Irish customs/border check systems apparently receive this approval information. However, should you travel this will not account for other countries outside of Ireland and that's where the IRP card could be required. You will just have to wait until you get the Garda immigration officer appointment to apply and gain the new IRP card.

Some decent information can be found here: https://www.irishimmigration.ie/registe ... al-dublin/

Hi,

Have you get an appointment yet? I have the same problem and i want to know which date are they processing now.

Thank you

they are processing now beginning of November

Looks like things got speeded up, now it's 4th of December.

I was checking if anyone posted that Limerick and Cork IRP renewals will be handled by Dublin via online effective July 8th. Here is the announcement https://www.irishimmigration.ie/transfe ... -limerick/

I expect you are still waiting. Can you share if you are able to switch on July 8th?

I've sent an appt request for Limerick and still have time but would appreciate knowing all good when I renew.

Hi All,

Could you please forward any updates regarding the new online renewal registration for Limerick and Cork?
I have an appointment booked already, but haven't received confirmation yet of appointment date.
When I booked my appointment at the beginning of June the backlog was only at Feb.

Don't know if the online renewal will be faster at scheduling appointments.

Please advise?

I shared the online renewal option for Limerick with a colleague of mine who was due for renewal. They went online and completed with no issue. I would expect same for Cork application.

They registered and then submitted documents online. Their only learning was on any password restricted documents like payslips to convert in advance. They needed to relog in as had timed out.

Hope this helps.

Asking for a friend of mine, He's reaching the end of his 5 years general working permit in August so he should be eligible to have his stamp changed to stamp 4. He's filling the new online renewal system for the first time (He's based in Cork) and there is a place for "person id' which he doesn't have one. The problem is he can't leave it blank nor write "NA", it has to be a certain format or he can't continue. Does it mean that he needs to phone the department in Dublin to request for an appointment in person? Thanks.