The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O'Callaghan TD, has announced that Pakistan will be added to the list of countries subject to accelerated processing for international protection applications.
Under an accelerated decision-making process introduced in November 2022, international protection applicants that fall under this procedure are receiving first decisions in around four months and this is expected to reduce in the coming months. Applications from Pakistan have grown considerably in recent years and, in each of the last two quarters, Pakistan nationals have ranked as the second highest nationality for applications for international protection. Accelerated processing for certain IP applications was introduced in November 2022.
From Tuesday 26 July 2025 it applies to: Applicants from 15 safe countries of origin (Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, India, Kosovo, Malawi and Morocco, Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of), Montenegro, Serbia and South Africa. Those from a country with a high caseload of applications (Nigeria and Pakistan).