GNIB Charges €100 fee

sovtek

It seems that the GNIB now charges all non-EU nationals a €100 fee to register with the GNIB.
For those of you who aren't aware...whenever you remain in Ireland you have to register and receive a GNIB card and keep with you at all times. This is mandatory for non-EU national remaining in Ireland except (i think ) holiday visas.
If you are on a work permit it would then be an annual fee.
So now that you are in the country to now have to pay for a high fee for something they recquire you to do.
I think this is highly unfair and seems to me that it wouldn't hold up against EU law.

zen63

As of the end of May - non EU nationals must register first with the Dept of Justice before they can get the card from the GNIB.

This process takes 6+ months. This means that non EU spouses of EU citizens (including Irish citizens) are not allowed to work, drive, hold bank accounts, vote etc etc until the Justice Dept decides its time to treat them like humans.

Before this recent change by the Dept of Justice, this process took 3 weeks and was free.

Hobbes

zen63 wrote:

This means that non EU spouses of EU citizens (including Irish citizens) are not allowed to work, drive, hold bank accounts, vote etc etc until the Justice Dept decides its time to treat them like humans.

You got a link on that? The reason I ask is that some of the stuff you listed is not related to the GNIB.

Kimbot

zen63 wrote:

As of the end of May - non EU nationals must register first with the Dept of Justice before they can get the card from the GNIB.

This process takes 6+ months. This means that non EU spouses of EU citizens (including Irish citizens) are not allowed to work, drive, hold bank accounts, vote etc etc until the Justice Dept decides its time to treat them like humans.

Before this recent change by the Dept of Justice, this process took 3 weeks and was free.

Registering takes 6 months from the dept of justice??? Where are you getting your info from?

sovtek

zen63 wrote:

As of the end of May - non EU nationals must register first with the Dept of Justice before they can get the card from the GNIB.

This process takes 6+ months. This means that non EU spouses of EU citizens (including Irish citizens) are not allowed to work, drive, hold bank accounts, vote etc etc until the Justice Dept decides its time to treat them like humans.

Before this recent change by the Dept of Justice, this process took 3 weeks and was free.

I'm not sure about all that. I've always gotten my GNIB the day I went there and showed them my work permit/proof of marriage to EU national.
The Immigrant Council told me that it could take months to get a GNIB Stamp 4 for EU dependants after you both show up at the GNIB but I got mine that day.
You can have a bank account if you show proof of address. You can't drive until you get an EU or Irish (or from an approved country) license anyway.

Diaspora

UK charges €403

Hobbes

zen63 wrote:

As of the end of May - non EU nationals must register first with the Dept of Justice before they can get the card from the GNIB.

I had a look around. EVERYONE who is non-eu has to register with the dept of Justice before coming to Ireland. This is how you get your visa, however most countries go to the embassey in question to do this.

As for the 100 euros on the GNIB card...

New Fee of €100 for Immigration and Residence Certificate ("GNIB Card")
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has recently announced the introduction of a fee for the issuing of new immigration and residence certificates to non-EU/EEA nationals. These new regulations will come into effect on 27th May 2006. Among those exempt from the fee are persons recognised as Refugees, persons under 18 years of age, spouses of Irish citizens, and dependants of EU nationals who hold a valid residence card issued under Regulation 7 of the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2006 (See above in Section 2. re. new regulations). Payment can be made by a specific bank giro or credit/debit card at one of 5 Garda stations in the country, including the GNIB in Dublin.

zen63

My knowledge on this comes from personal experience, my wife is not an EU citizen, although I am.

The embassy in her home country granted her a single entry visa to come to Ireland with me after our marriage.

I have now discovered, that although she is here legitimatly, they will not issue he a residence card becuase the Dept of Justice take 6 months to porcess these. Without this card, you cannot obtain a PPS/RSI number which is required to get a job, drivers license, etc etc.

Its also worth noting that this defacto blocks your rights to travel, as if she leaves Ireland she cannot come back, until the Dept of Justice have issued this card.

This is all new since the 28th May - so its possible that the people in the dept of Justice could be wrong

Hobbes

zen63 wrote:

My knowledge on this comes from personal experience, my wife is not an EU citizen, although I am.

Are you Irish though? You say EU citizen.

If your Irish and your wife isn't, there is normally no issue at all. Once your married getting the GNIB card is not a problem.

Without this card, you cannot obtain a PPS/RSI number which is required to get a job, drivers license, etc etc.

Once you have a visa to stay in the country you can get a PPS number. If you were Irish and got married here you would of gotten at least a year visa.

Its also worth noting that this defacto blocks your rights to travel, as if she leaves Ireland she cannot come back, until the Dept of Justice have issued this card.

The missus travelled to England and forgot her GNIB card. She had a visa in her passport and they let her in.

The only reason I can think you are getting hassle is that you are not Irish to begin with or your missus comes from a country that Ireland doesn't have an embassy in.

zuma

Hobbes wrote:

Are you Irish though? You say EU citizen.

If your Irish and your wife isn't, there is normally no issue at all. Once your married getting the GNIB card is not a problem.



Once you have a visa to stay in the country you can get a PPS number. If you were Irish and got married here you would of gotten at least a year visa.



The missus travelled to England and forgot her GNIB card. She had a visa in her passport and they let her in.

The only reason I can think you are getting hassle is that you are not Irish to begin with or your missus comes from a country that Ireland doesn't have an embassy in.

What difference would being Irish or not make as long as your an EU Citizen?

Hobbes

zuma wrote:

What difference would being Irish or not make as long as your an EU Citizen?

Well for starters it might take a little while to check your details. They do a background check on you as well as your Spouse who is a non-EU.

zen63

Im British, but have lived in Ireland since 13, I have a company here, and employ a number of people. Since its an EU treaty right, where you come from in the EU should be irrelevant as all EU citizens are given the same rights for their spouses.

The Visa's which are given to non EU spouses are single entry visa's valid for three months unless extended by the GNIB. You are however entitled to remain while the Dept of J gets its job done.

The problem with getting the PPS number is that you need to give both passports to the Dept of J while they process what is called an EU1 form (might be an EU2) - this is the form that allows you to get your residence card.

I must stress this is all new - as my younger brother also married a non EU wife last year, and the GNIB handled it directly for free, within 3 weeks.

Hobbes why would the Irish govenment do a background check on an EU citizen?

DublinWriter

sovtek wrote:

It seems that the GNIB now charges all non-EU nationals a €100 fee to register with the GNIB.
...
I think this is highly unfair and seems to me that it wouldn't hold up against EU law.

Have a look at the above sovtek. You're not an EU national so you're not afforded same the protection/rights that EU citizens have unless you become a citizen of an EU member state.

Case dismissed.

As one poster said, the UK charges 400 pounds sterling for their application process, so I guess in these days of 'Rip Off Ireland' it's refreshing to hear that someone is getting value for money!

When GNIB vet you, they do so through the GCRO (Garda Central Records Office) in Thurles. This involves many-man hours of both Civil Service and Garda time, the cost of which up until now was carried by Irish taxpayers.

Considering how the Russian Police corruptly tap tourists in Moscow for the least little thing, €100 Euro to be cleared to work in Ireland is cheap, and a very good investment indeed.

Victor

sovtek wrote:

I've always gotten my GNIB the day I went there and showed them my work permit/proof of marriage to EU national.

No offence and call me a cynic, but are you white and English speaking?

Hobbes

zen63 wrote:

The problem with getting the PPS number is that you need to give both passports to the Dept of J while they process what is called an EU1 form (might be an EU2) - this is the form that allows you to get your residence card.

Again that is because your probably British and not Irish. The missus got her PPS number without having to do anything like what you said.

Once you have the visa to stay you can apply for a PPS number. They can give you restrictive numbers (eg. Can't work) but you can open a bank account.

Hobbes why would the Irish govenment do a background check on an EU citizen?

Probably because they don't live under the assumption that just because your an EU that you would never get up to criminal activities.

sovtek

Victor wrote:

No offence and call me a cynic, but are you white and English speaking?

...and American to boot.

sovtek

DublinWriter wrote:

Have a look at the above sovtek. You're not an EU national so you're not afforded same the protection/rights that EU citizens have unless you become a citizen of an EU member state.

Case dismissed.

Not so quick...immigration law is a part of EU law.

As one poster said, the UK charges 400 pounds sterling for their application process, so I guess in these days of 'Rip Off Ireland' it's refreshing to hear that someone is getting value for money!

And every annual work permit costs €500 to bare by the sponsoring employer.
This new fee is born by the non-eu national unless your company is so generous as to pay for it and it's mandatory that you register.

When GNIB vet you, they do so through the GCRO (Garda Central Records Office) in Thurles. This involves many-man hours of both Civil Service and Garda time, the cost of which up until now was carried by Irish taxpayers.

...and what kind of taxpayer am I?

When you go to the GNIB you talk to a man in a little glass booth with a fancy Dell flat screen connected to, I assume, a fancy Dell PC. He/she punches in your GNIB number and a few miliseconds later your whole history with immigration pops up in front of them. They then decide right then and there if they are going to give you a GNIB card and what stamp (1-4) they are going to give you. They then press "Print" and it comes out a fancy little card printer behind them.
I have to do this every year and now every year its' going to cost me €100 if I want to live and work in Ireland, which after the better part of 6 years is my home.

Considering how the Russian Police corruptly tap tourists in Moscow for the least little thing, €100 Euro to be cleared to work in Ireland is cheap, and a very good investment indeed.

So "we" aren't as bad as "they" are?
Oh and Russia isnt' a member of the EU

Hobbes

If your here 6 years you should be able to start claiming citzenship soon? might save you the 100 quid.

sovtek

Hobbes wrote:

If your here 6 years you should be able to start claiming citzenship soon? might save you the 100 quid.

I'm about to start that process, although it takes two years and cost €700 at the end.
The fact that I have had work permits in addition to being married to EU national for a few of those years seems to put me in a grey area with immigration.

sovtek

I've registered for the year. If you don't pay by credit card you have to get a bank giro, pay it at a bank and then wait 7 working days to go pick up your GNIB card.
Their excuse for the €100 fee is "extra card security measures". Now it seems to me that all the run around to process the bank giro would take more manpower/hours than any security measures on a card.
They still print them there while you wait if you've paid with credit card.
It seems to me this is just a system put in place to discourage people coming to live in Ireland.
In addition it will discourage work programs in other countries for Irish citizens as well as people coming here on work programs.

Kimbot

Well €100 euro to get registered and receive your card is cheap... think about the man hours gone into one perticular persons case!!
I worked in Immigration and a case could take 1 month to 6 months to go from start to finish but it all depends on the compliance of the individual!! The more you provide the less you wait!!
There is never a set time for processing a claim and a background check is done on all citizens that are given the right to remain in the country to make sure there are no outstanding warrents/criminal activities that go against them!!

sovtek

jonny24ie wrote:

Well €100 euro to get registered and receive your card is cheap... think about the man hours gone into one perticular persons case!!
I worked in Immigration and a case could take 1 month to 6 months to go from start to finish but it all depends on the compliance of the individual!! The more you provide the less you wait!!

When you register there is no vetting. They have your history with immigration in front of them, I assume kept in a database somewhere.
Registering for GNIB takes a few minutes. It basically a card that states your status in Ireland as a non-eu national.
And no €100 is a lot more than free, so it isn't cheap and it's something we are required to do. This is not the same thing as charging for a visa (ie. work permit...etc etc).
I would assume if you worked for immigration you would know the difference between registration and a visa application.

There is never a set time for processing a claim and a background check is done on all citizens that are given the right to remain in the country to make sure there are no outstanding warrents/criminal activities that go against them!!

This is not processing a "claim". This 7 day procedure is to process payment and then your card is printed and you pick it up.