How Irish Visa Decision Lists Work
Ireland doesn't send most visa applicants a status update while they wait. Instead, each embassy and visa office publishes a list of decided applications, and you look for your application number on it. The lists look different at every office, appear on different days and cover different periods — which is where most of the confusion comes from. This guide explains each one, using what we have seen from tracking every update since the summer of 2026.
What's on a decision list
Each entry is just an application number and a decision — approved or refused. There are no names, no visa types and no refusal reasons; those come in the letter or email sent to you. Your application number is the 8-digit reference on your application summary and acknowledgement (see where to find it).
If your number isn't there, your application hasn't been decided yet — the lists only ever contain decided applications. It is not a sign of a problem.
Office by office
| Office | Format | How often (what we've seen) |
|---|---|---|
| New Delhi | One spreadsheet (.ods) covering the whole year, replaced with each update | Most working days — 20 updates in September 2026 and 18 in the 30 days to 15 October |
| Beijing | One spreadsheet covering the year, replaced with each update | Roughly weekly, most often on a Monday (11 of 16 updates) |
| Abu Dhabi | A new PDF report each week | Weekly; each report covers the week to Friday |
| Abuja | A new PDF report each week | Weekly; each report covers the week to Sunday |
| Ankara | A new PDF report each week | Weekly; each report covers the week to Sunday |
| Dublin Visa Office | A table on irishimmigration.ie | Weekly, usually on a Tuesday (12 of 16 updates) |
Spreadsheets vs weekly reports
The difference matters when you search by hand:
- New Delhi and Beijing keep one growing file for the year. Download the latest version and search it — older versions are simply replaced.
- Abu Dhabi, Abuja and Ankara publish a separate PDF every week, each covering only that week's decisions. If you were decided three weeks ago, your number is in that week's PDF, not the newest one — so you may need to open several.
- Dublin shows its decisions as a table on a web page, which can be slow to load and search on a phone.
This is why the Snifox tracker exists: it reads every list and report as it appears, so one search covers everything an office has published.
How big each update is
Updates vary a lot in size. In September 2026, New Delhi published almost 6,000 decisions across about 20 updates — usually a few hundred at a time. The weekly-report offices publish a few hundred per report at most: Abuja's reports, for example, typically list between 30 and 80 decisions. Seeing a small update doesn't mean an office has slowed down; it may simply have published on a different day that week.
When to check
- New Delhi: check on working days, ideally late morning India time, after the day's file appears.
- Beijing: check after the start of each week.
- Abu Dhabi, Abuja, Ankara: check once a week, after the new report is posted.
- Dublin: check from Tuesday each week.
Or skip the checking: the tracker's email alert tells you the moment your number appears on any new list.
Check your own application — search every decision these offices have published, free, no sign-up.
Check My Application Status →Frequently Asked Questions
My application number isn't on the list. What does that mean?
It hasn't been decided yet. The lists only include decided applications, so keep checking after each new update.
Do the lists show why a visa was refused?
No. They only show the application number and whether it was approved or refused. The reason is in the decision letter sent to you.
How often does the Irish Embassy in New Delhi update its decision list?
On most working days. It published 20 updates in September 2026 and 18 in the 30 days to 15 October, each replacing a single spreadsheet that covers the whole year.
Why can't I find my number in the newest Abu Dhabi, Abuja or Ankara report?
Those offices publish a separate PDF each week covering only that week's decisions. If your decision was made in an earlier week, it is in an earlier report.