visa for my foreign girlfriend

LegacyUser

I have been going out with a lovely japanese girl for almost a year, we're living together and are really happy. everybody: awwwwwww

Her work visa expires soon and I'm trying to figure out what our options are.
She doesn't want to stay in the country illegally.
She heard from a few friends who were in a similar situation a while ago that they could go to immmigration office on the quays and tell the ppl there that they are engaged to be married and they were given a 'fiance visa'
which allowed them to stay in the country but not work.

She doesn't want to become a student, she's already qualified and while we could run out and actually get married, it seems way to soon after less than a year. I do love her and I can't see us breaking up but It's too little time to make a huge decision like that.

If I had to I would go to japan with her, but I think I'll be in exactly the same boat over there
and I have less qualifications and nearly no japanese so a job would be really difficult to get.

If a company wants to hire her they can apply for a work visa but It seems if there is a person who could do the job that doesn't need a visa they HAVE to offer it to them first.

Thanks for reading, any advice, people who have gotten over this problem.
There's got to be enough lovely foreigners around so that others have experienced this

MyStuffForSale

I had a friend in a similar situation a few years ago. Also Japanese. They got engaged and she moved over and I think was entitled to non work visa. I'd contact the relavant authorities to check it out. They are married now so no issues, other than occasional hassle at customs, but that's another story.

She's obviously working at present any chance they'd extend her contract ?
Otherwise her best bet is probably trying to get some work in a Japan related area of work, although I know these are hard to come by.

daiixi

What is your girlfriend's career? I think she should approach her place of employment as to whether they are willing to sponsor her. I work as a secretary and have been sponsored by my employer.

There are all sorts of loopholes and exceptions to the rule which the Irish government are willing to make when it comes to sponsorship these days so chances are (depending on her career and employer) she'll be able to stay for another year or more.

elvis2002

>>If a company wants to hire her they can apply for a work visa but It seems if there is a person who could do the job that doesn't need a visa they HAVE to offer it to them first.>>

Thats not true. It depends on the field the job is in. There are a number of categories that have been defined such as information and computing technologies professionals/technicians , Architect, Construction Engineers. The list is availabe at http://oasis.gov.ie/employment/working_in_ireland/work_visas_authorise.html
People from these categories can be given a job no problem and having a visa has nothing to do with it AFAI.
If your not in this list then I think the company has to prove that they need you. My gf is chinese and she's in the computing field, just graduated and the company is sorting the visa out for her.

I could be wrong but Im pretty sure there is no such thing as a fiance visa.
A list of visa's is in this document http://www.justice.ie/80256E01003A21A5/vWeb/flJUSQ678E4G-en/$File/VisaAppDocs.pdf

They might renew her work visa for her. Dont give up hope on that.

On the marriage route ---> You have to give 3 months written notification before you can get married so her visa might expire before that. You havent said. I think she's entitle to stay here then but still need to apply for visa to work.

Going to japan is a massive step. One Im not sure you could take without knowing the full consequences. You might never get a job over there.

Ruu_Old

Aye I would think they might extend her work visa, as long as you can show that shes not going to be a burden on the state, thats all they are really worried about when it comes to these things. Example; having a bank account, credit cards, etc. Best of luck

Dont be at yourself

I'm currently living in Japan, and I know that many foreigners over here just live here on a 90 day visitor visa, fly to Korea and back again when that's up and so get a new visitor visa. I dunno if that could be applied in Ireland though.

As for relocating to Japan? It's a big step, and can be a very bizarre place at times. But there is no shortage of jobs for native english speakers, epecially if you have a TEFL (teaching english as a foreign language) cert, or even more so, if you have a degree. If you have a degree, in any field, it might be worth checking out the Jet programme - they set you up with a teaching/civil service job, an apartment etc.

LegacyUser

thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

Her contract with her current employer is finishing soon and they won't renew.
Most of her job applications recently have gotten as far as the enquiry into her status and then she's told that the company won't issue a visa.
It seems it can be done but with enough japanese speakers in the country that don't need a visa, companies don't want to bother.

Her job isn't really in the fields mentioned in the list above.
I've met a guy that runs a localisation company that applied for a work visa on behalf of an employee ( they obviously needed a native japanese speaker )
That visa was turned down 0.o
Don't suppose starting my own company and hiring her would work?

I don't have a degree or a tefl cert and I know japan would be a huge challenge, my girlf doesn't want to go back to really long hours and long commutes. She likes the lifestyle here I guess.

Thanks again, I'll prob update with whatever happens.

tj-music.com

Call Jacob - he is the co-ordinator of the Intercultural Centre in Inchicore. He used to run a group called the "Rainbow neighbourhood project" which helps people with paperwork and he knows a lot of people and I guess he can help.

This is the number: 086 - 3995843

All the best

k974

i go out with an aussi girl she came to ireland on a 12 moth working holiday visa when that expired, she just stayed on, your allowed 3 moths on a holiday visa and renew it by leaving the country, she never left at all and kept the same job she had no problems at all. if it ever became a problem about staying illegally whose to say she wasnt in the north yesterday therby leaving the country and renetering within the conditions of a holiday visa, we never had a problem anyway altough never flew out/in ireland we're now in oz and i have a defacto visa so i dunno if you can get one of them for ireland

elvis2002

k974 wrote:

if it ever became a problem about staying illegally whose to say she wasnt in the north yesterday therby leaving the country

Your not allowed to go to North unless you have a visa also. An Irish visa is only valid for Ireland. If you travel to the north by law your supposed to get another visa from the uk or whoever. Obviously nobody cares about this since you can drive there but if you had planned to play that card that you she was in the North and so in a different country that would have failed tbh.

LegacyUser

went to immigration today and in order to get a residency visa I would have to sponsor her. I have to provide 3 months worth of bank statements showing that that I could support her financially until we get married. She also has to have medical insurance for the same period.
She will not be allowed to work or study while sponsored.

Which sucks.

Not directly related, but the person we met was incredibly rude, laughing at what her colleague was saying while we spoke, completely ignoring us.
I think everything we said had to repeated at least once. They gave us no indication of how much I should be earning...
I doubt I earn enough anyway.
Disappointing and unpleasant really.

We heard about this kind of visa form others who weren't asked to provide any of this documentation when thay applied, thems the breaks I spose.

k974

australian get a 3 month joliday visa on arrival for ireland no need to apply, any time we've come back there has been no need to apply therefore if she left to go to the north (uk also issues holiday visas on arrival) she has left the state before the 3 months are up and reentered there's no limit on the amount of times you can do this if you cna prove you can finacially support yourself.

you cna also extend your tourist visa while you are here, and my girlfriend was working paying tax etc with no problems over 12 months over her original visa

mountainyman

There is definitely a 90 day issued at the border visa for us when we go to Japan. You can go to Korea and come back and you get another 90 days. No fuss no muss. The GNIB are equally opportunity ar$eh0les.
MM

Ruu_Old

mountainyman wrote:

There is definitely a 90 day issued at the border visa for us when we go to Japan. You can go to Korea and come back and you get another 90 days. No fuss no muss. The GNIB are equally opportunity ar$eh0les.
MM

Be careful of that though. Before my wife had a visa, they were questioning her alot about the number of stays she had over for and being very rude in general. One time they told her that we had to report to the local gardai immigration officer withing a few weeks I think (we had already scheduled to meet the immigration officer long before that anyway)

noanarchistfan

Whether this woman (on a visa) has been questioned by the Garda Immigration officer or not, its far stricter in America if you are on a visa. I know people who were taken into custody on suspicion that they overstayed their visa by just 1 day! In Ireland, you can literally overstay your visa for a year and the Garda Immigration Officers still won't realise. They need more resources to deal with this.

Dave!

Are you just searching all the forums for threads about immigrants and asylum seekers? Bit of a wierdo, eh...

Gordon

Ehh, back on topic please.

Ruu_Old

noanarchistfan wrote:

Whether this woman (on a visa) has been questioned by the Garda Immigration officer or not, its far stricter in America if you are on a visa. I know people who were taken into custody on suspicion that they overstayed their visa by just 1 day! In Ireland, you can literally overstay your visa for a year and the Garda Immigration Officers still won't realise. They need more resources to deal with this.

I wouldnt advise that to be honest, who knows what could happen. She could be found out and never let in again, too risky.

The_Conductor

If you are genuinely planning on getting married, and she can prove residency in either Ireland or the UK for a fixed period of time (I am not sure how long) it is possible to petition the Department of Justice initially for a residency permit and down the road (I think after 7 years- they have made it a lot more difficult since 2002) for naturalisation. It may have reached the stage where irrespective of whether you love each other or not, you have to sit down and talk to each other and decide how you wish to proceed.

daiixi

k974 wrote:

australian get a 3 month joliday visa on arrival for ireland no need to apply, any time we've come back there has been no need to apply therefore if she left to go to the north (uk also issues holiday visas on arrival) she has left the state before the 3 months are up and reentered there's no limit on the amount of times you can do this if you cna prove you can finacially support yourself.

you cna also extend your tourist visa while you are here, and my girlfriend was working paying tax etc with no problems over 12 months over her original visa

Once a Irish working holiday visa or a working visa has expired it is illegal to work in Ireland. While your girlfriend may have gotten away with it, she was working illegally and if caught would most likely have been deported and not allowed back in the country. Her place of employment also would have faced legal proceedings and fines.

OP: If your girlfriend is unable to be sponsored and you're not able to support her (and as you said you're not ready to marry) then it's not looking looking good. Would you both consider travelling to another country together?

DaveMCG's*Mate

DaveMcG wrote:

Are you just searching all the forums for threads about immigrants and asylum seekers? Bit of a wierdo, eh...

We love being nosey!

noanarchistfan

Come on now Dave! You are the same person all the time!
The evidence is there 'mate'!!

dbnavan

This is kind of a similier suituation to my and my wife, she came over from america on a working 3 month visa to spend the summer with me, we were going to get married the following summer but when the summer ended having spent the whole time living together she couldnt leave as we didnt want to part, I did everything in my power including ring bertie!!! No joke I was that desperate, the only solution was to bring the wedding forward, but to do that she would have to be here for 3 months without working, as you must give 3 months notice. So I had to support us both for 3 months, before we could marry.

Some might view it a marriage of convience, but let me tell you organising a marraige in 3 months, on a show string budget, only being able to have half the people you want there, is anything but convienient, its what we did for love and to be together.

Now 2 1/2 years later I wouldnt change it for the world.

DaveMCG's*Mate

I see you weren't a fan of our countrys system, wonder what your mate thinks?

noanarchistfan

DaveMCG's*Mate wrote:

I see you weren't a fan of our countrys system, wonder what your mate thinks?

I'm sure many will acknowledge that our asylum system was praised by the UN. The UNHCR has praised it for transparency and fairness.

Here are just a few facts:

Ireland's recognition rate for refugee status at first instance compares favourably to other European countries as follows:

Denmark 4.9%; Ireland 6.2%; Spain 2.6%; Norway 3.6%; Germany 3.3%; UK 3%.

The staff of our asylum agencies is trained by the UNHCR on an ongoing
basis and their determination procedures are fully in compliance with UNHCR
standards.

Victor

noanarchistfan banned for off-topicness

LegacyUser

Victor wrote:

noanarchistfan banned for off-topicness

Is this your way of imposing one side of the story?

Well done moderator.

My money's on that you are the very person who is defending asylum seekers coming to this country.

Admit it!

Victor

Take it to the feedback board.