Work permit problem

Saruman

My Girlfriend from the US who had been working in Prague for the past year moved here over a month ago. She had a job offer from a company called S!t€l (a US company i should add!) and they said just move over here and you will have a job. So she did, she stayed with me at first then got a place near me and she worked for them for 3 weeks. When it was time for her to get a PPS number after getting letters etc saying she worked there she was told she needed a work permit number so she went back to $!t€l to get that from them and was told "eh we dont give out work permits, its our policy!" Now she is greatly confused and upset as she has moved from a job in Prague to here because she was told she had a job, at no time was she asked if she needed a work permit. She is American and has never worked in Ireland so of course would need one but the idiots never thought about that. so now she is here and trying to look for a job but will need a permit.

anyone any "Good" advice? as in not the obvious stuff like contacting the embassy and stuff like that. What i mean is... does anyone think that because of the way she was treated by $!t€l, should she have a case of being allowed to stay here. All she wants to do is work here.. either way she WILL work here and if i have to marry her sooner than i planned (been with her almost 5 months, first 4 had to travel back and forth). then i will marry her and she will be able to work.

Just makes me sick that she was treated like this and is now stranded here in the sense she has not enough money to leave and go back to Prague or the states so i would have to pay for it.

Souperfreak

I understand this, as I am also american and my fiancee is Irish for the last 3 and half years we have been travelling back and forth from Chicago to Dublin.

Ways to get a work permit....

You have to get hired, and then they have to apply for a work permit for you. The job has to be posted on FAS or other advertising for four weeks before they can apply with the work permit office. Then it takes 8 weeks for the application to get through the work permit office. If you lose your job or want to change you have to go through that all over again.

MARRIED: if you get married. Get married in the US. It takes less time for the Irish nationalist to obtain their american citizenship. Plus if you get married in the US she wil have a work permit straight away she will no longer need a work permit.

I am leaving my job which has a visa for me and we are getting married in September so I can start working again.

TRUST ME AFTER THREE YEARS OF SEARCHING MARRIAGE IS THE EASIEST WAY!


for more information on work permists check out www.entemp.ie

I would say if the company won't apply for her visa then marriage it is, because if she gets caught working without a permit she will get deported and barred.

Saruman

thought as much and we have discussed this and pretty much come to that conclusion. You have to give 3 months notice to marry here :rolleyes: so maybe US is best option but we dont want to live there.

Souperfreak

Grand if you don't want to live there but being married in the US takes one day. Getting married here as you said takes 3 months. 3 months is a long time to be out of work. Not just money wise but sanity wise, you know?!

Go to your states website....and look up marriages to see how long it will take you. I am from MN and you can get married the same day you apply for your license. Only stipulation is that the judge that marries you can not be the same judge that gives you the marriage license. But there is no waiting period like some states...also check-out residency factors.......in other words if you are from a state that has a waiting period see if you can marry her in a different state with different laws then the waiting period doesn't apply!

MadsL

DON'T marry in the states without entering on a fiance visa. Marrying while you are there without one, whilst legal, will likely get you deported and banned from returning for 5 years for abuse of the visa waiver program. Instead....


Marry in N.I.

There is no residency requirement (wasn't for me but I am UK passport holder - check what the situation is for Irish passport holders, but the GFA probably covered this)

7 days notice.

No border as such to cross when you come back. So no hassles.

Good luck.

MadsL

Sorry 14 days notice. and "Any two persons, regardless of where they live, may marry in Northern Ireland provided that:

both persons are at least 16 years of age on the day of their marriage. Persons over16 years and under 18 years of age require parental consent;
they are not related to one another in a way, which would prevent their marrying
they are unmarried (any person who has already been married must produce documentary evidence that the previous marriage has been ended by death, divorce or annulment);
they are not of the same sex;
they are capable of understanding the nature of a marriage ceremony and of consent to marry.


http://www.groni.gov.uk/index.htm

Souperfreak

That is an interesting thought Northern Ireland! I will check that out! According to the american embassy we can get married in the US without a finacee visa provided that we aren't planning to stay after the wedding. If we are returning to Ireland we can get married and then apply for citizenship afterward.

MadsL

apply for citizenship

Whole new kettle of fish. Your GF will need to be resident here for 4 years before she will be eligible for citizenship. She can work during that time though if she is married to you. After that time she can get dual Irish/US citizenship. Well worth it as Ireland is one of the few countries in the EU where that this can be done. She will then have full EU rights.

For US citizenship your new wife will need to be resident in the US to apply and...
well it gets complicated. I know someone who took two years to get their Korean wife into the States.

Lots of info here...
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants_types_marriage2.html#1b

you might want to consider an immigration lawyer, they can cut through the red tape and speed up the process.