Minister O’Callaghan announces new addition to accelerated processing list for international protection applications
- Published on: 29 July 2025
- Last updated on: 29 July 2025
The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan, has today 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.
Commenting on this change, Minister O’Callaghan said:
"I am committed to ensuring that the protection system works for those who genuinely need our help.
"One of the ways in which we do this is to prioritise certain applications: for people from safe countries, or from those countries with a large number of applications.
"This approach allows us to adapt to the changing patterns of international protection and is a critical element of our firm but fair approach.
"And this approach is working.
"This year there has been a 43% reduction in application numbers compared to this time last year.”
Notes
Section 73 (1) of the International Protection Act 2015 allows for the Minister to accord priority to any application, or to request the Chairperson of IPAT to accord priority to any appeal, having regard to criteria set down in s 73 (2). Section 73A, allows for accelerated processing of cases having regard to the criteria set down in s 73 (2).
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).
The table below shows the number of international protection applications from Pakistan from 2021 to cob July 24 2025.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025* | Total | |
| Pakistan | 68 | 242 | 624 | 1,391 | 905 | 3,230 |
*All figures are correct at time of issue, however, all statistics may be subject to data cleansing.