Different Types of Statuses

After applying for international protection, people can receive any of the following:

Refugee Status is granted when an international protection applicant receives a positive decision based on the Refugee Convention definition of a refugee. However, there are other people who receive refugee status before coming to Ireland. They are known as resettled refugees or programme refugees and would have been processed by UNHCR from places like Lebanon and Jordan. Along with many other countries in the world, Ireland has a long history of accepting resettled refugees under Resettlement Programmes.

Subsidiary Protection is granted when a person applies for international protection and their reasons for seeking protection do not meet the criteria of a refugee as defined in the Refugee Convention, but there are grounds for believing that they would face a real risk of suffering serious harm if returned to their country of origin. 

Permission to remain is another status granted to protection applicants in Ireland who fall out of the criteria for refugee status or subsidiary protection but cannot be returned for humanitarian or other compelling grounds. This may include medical grounds, family connections in Ireland, length of time, work, and education in Ireland. This is at the discretion of the Minister for Justice.  People with permission to remain can live and work in the country, but cannot apply for family reunification. 

Temporary Protection is another type recently used by European states to provide protection to Ukrainians after Russia invaded Ukraine.

NB: The conditions attached to each status can vary considerably.