visa and work permit advice for ireland

Emerald Lass

Not sure where is the best place to post this so mods move as necessary.

I was wondering if anyone out there knows of a company who can assist you/advise you with visa applications/work permits for Ireland and the like?

my partner is non-EU national, and we live in his home country (well I split my time between the two places).

We want to get married in Ireland so I need to know about visa applications as to what one to apply for and how to go about it. We have only applied for visas for business related visits before.

Also, eventhough the economic climate in Ireland is crap at the mo, for family reasons I would really like to come home for 6 mths-1 year, and again I don't know what the situation is with applying for a visa for my fiance (who will be my hubby by then). He is not keen to come to Ireland and has always been put off moving to Ireland permanently by the visa applications etc, but if I could get some solid advice I may be able to convince him. (fingers crossed)

I know its a different situation for each person, so its hard to advise, but I was hoping someone might be able to give a name of a company who assist with visa applications to Ireland - with the number of foreign nationals coming to Ireland in past years I am sure there must be some out there!

any help greatly appreciated!

BuffyBot

Not really suited to this forum, to be honest. However, I'm not sure exactly what forum it would belong in.

I'll move to Living Abroad, with the reasoning that someone there may have experience of bringing partners back to Ireland, and what whole application process etc.

Emerald Lass

thanks for that - I was unsure where to post! it kind of falls between the lines of a few areas, without being one or other of anything!

watna

Well, I guess Living Abroad is the best place as your OH is from abroad?

Quick question? What do you want a visa for? Is it so he can get in the coutry to get married or is it so he can work here once you are married (I'm going to have to so this with my OH in a few years when we decide to move back from NZ - I can get residency here without us being married as we're considered de facto partners but in Ireland we have to be married - it's seriously backwards! I'm hoping for a massive turnaround in the next few years but I don't think it's likely)

There was a thread recently on how your spouse can register once you are married. I think it's only a few threads down in this forum. If I recall it was quite simple to do if you are actually married.

As for visa companies I'm not aware of any but from personal experience and anecdotes and feedback in the Aus/NZ forum they seem like a waste of time and money. I know they might know of what visa's he can apply for but I would use one as a last resort after your own research fails.

I'm with you on being with a partner not from Ireland and deciding where to settle down etc. Luckily I met mine in Dublin and he's not averse to us settling down there eventually so I don't think he'll need much persuading

Emerald Lass

hi watna,
to be honest its all a bit up in the air at the monent. Our plan all along has been to marry in Turkey and remain in Turkey. I am quite happy here and its less complicated visa wise - I just apply for residency, pay the fee et voila. My husband has his own business so he can support us both here. Simpler than proving our relationship, and lower cost of living, cleaner air, safer streets for future kids.....we thought we had it all planned out. but the best laid plans eh?

but in recent months things have taken a twist. my dad is elderly, and his health is deteriorating, and it's tough being away from family in those situations. my mum is already passed on so my dad lives alone, and to be honest I feel guilty about being away and in the last 2 months it has really started to bother me, and now I find out he needs another heart op . I also have a property rented out, which last year was no problem but this year with the way rents are falling etc it is giving me nothing but headaches and worry. So all in all we have been rethinking our initial plans.

my partner is reluctant to move to ireland, mainly because he is worried he will not get a work permit. He is currently his own boss with a good business and I know it would kill him to be 'unemployed' and relying on my wages to support us both.

There are two factors in play - marrying in Ireland and possibly living there. on the first one I really want my dad to be present at my wedding, so my first priority is to get my fiance to Ireland so we can do that. After that who knows - I think once married we will then apply for my fiance to stay and work - if he gets it or not then that will affect our decision greatly. if they say no then it is either live apart for a while or both return to Turkey (and feel guilty for being away from my dad).

its all such a headache, and has kind of landed on us unexpectedly - we have been very complacent up to now about the whole visa thing as we had always assumed we would stay in Turkey.

I have heard several reports that once married and we can prove the marriage then technically there is no reason for them to refuse my partner to stay in Ireland - but a work permit is not guaranteed. I have also heard that if you both apply in Ireland at the GNIB that it is much more straight forward and quick - some people getting their stamp 4 on the spot. I have also heard that if you apply from another country via the INIS that it is less straight forward, less certain you will get permission for your spouse to come to Ireland and it can take up to 9 mths!

So I suppose right now my thoughts are - get a visa just for my partner to come to Ireland, (again what one to request is the stickler!) then when we get there, get married. Seeing as we are in Ireland with the paperwork, see if the GNIB will stamp his passport - if yes then that makes the decision that we stay for at least 6 mths, if no then we return to Turkey and put our thinking caps back on.

At this stage I don't even know if you actualy can get married in Ireland if you entered on a business or visit visa! Or what paperwork he needs (I'm assuming that is it similar to what I require for Turkey, but Ireland being Ireland that may not be the case!)

As you can see from the length of my post and my rambling I'm a bit stressed out and confused by the whole thing! and for some reason I feel a panic setting in, as I just want to start feeling like I am making some progress and getting some definitive info, but that's not happend yet!

P.s like you we have been living together 'de facto' for almost two years, but as far as making him eligible as my spouse that stands for nothing - backward is right!

watna

I understand the stress - you have my sympathies!

From what I've heard if you are married than your husband can register with immigration and it's pretty straghtforward. As for entering the country I'm not sure. It might help to have a wedding licence/something booked as proof that you need a visa. I don't have any experience of this but I'd be very suprised if you are legally married that he will not be allowed to live and work with his wife. Again, I haven't had to do this (yet) but I do have experience of reading what immigration services say and freaking out. This has happened twice - on both occasions I was wrong and my panicing made me see things as worse than they were.

To be honest, I'm not sure a visa company will help. You need to get a contact in immigration in Ireland and ask these questions. I'm not sure what exactly the agency (INIS I presume) or contact details are but I think you'll need to speak to someone who can give you real answers. I only have experience with the NZ immigration service (/shakes fist at them) so I know they have a helpline where they tell you what visas you need (I had a freakpout recently because my visa runs out in 5 months and there's no sign of my residency coming through - they told me what other visa I could get to stay).

Have you called them at all yet to ask these questions? It might mean ages on the phone but I know from my experience that it's great to have someone tell you what you are entitled to apply for/how you can stay etc. Think the details are here http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/WP07000003.

Best of luck with it! Luckily NZ is on the visa waiver thing so my OH can get in the country to get married (on a funny note - I was just skyping my aunt and she told me I ahve to get married in NZ so she has an excuse to visit! )

Emerald Lass

thanks for the moral support! I know what you are saying about once married getting permission to stay (even if its without a work permit) should e straight forward. My worry is should we tell them that we want him to come to Ireland ofr the purpose of getting married? with the way the economic situation is now I doubt they want to encourage any extra bodies into the country. They may think that if they give him permission to come and get married, then from there its just a hop skip and a jump before he asks to stay permanently. For this reason alone they may refuse in order to limit his chances of being eligible to stay in Ireland.

I have found a couple of companies who give advice on immigration and have asked them their advice and for a list of their fees. As for contacting INIS??? I'd hav a better chance of getting a direct number for God! the help line is only open two hours mon, wd and fri and you never get to speak to anyone! I have found www.immigrantcouncil.ie to be quite helpful so far - they haven't had answers for me yet but have at least acknowledged my email and said they would get back to me by next week with info.

if we do get married in Dublin a lot of my mates are going to be fed up that they don't get an excuse to come for a holiday in the sun!

daiixi

To be fair to the INIS they do answer the phone (it may take you three calls/hang ups) and are friendly (apart from the general receptionist) although they don't always know the answer to your question. Saying that we've had them call us back with a response within 24 hours the last time they didn't have the answer to hand.

Best of luck!

Thoie

A friend of mine married a non-EU citizen a couple of years ago, and I know one of the things she went looking for at the time was pictures of the two of them together, dating back over x period of time, as these were a help in proving they were a couple, so start asking your friends now for any photos with the two of you in them at social occasions like birthdays etc.

As pathetic as it might seem, maybe a few pics of the pair of you at home from time to time with newspapers, or something showing the date might help as well (though I wouldn't produce those initially as they might look a bit weird )

I'll see if she remembers what other kind of things they're looking for. Bills in both your names (maybe bank account details and stuff) would be useful to show you've been together a long time.

Proof that his business is still current, that he hasn't sold it on and that it's profitable would be a help as well - I presume Turkey has something similar to the CRO showing that tax returns have been made, and showing the Profit and Loss sheet for the year - that might help too. I'd start compiling a folder of all this kind of stuff, and then just produce whatever's asked for.

Try not to get too stressed (easier said than done) - from my friend's experience I know it all seems like an awful lot of paperwork, but once you tackle it methodically it will all work out.

Emerald Lass

Thoie - thanks for the advice. We have oodles of photos of us together, not that many at family functions as my family are in Ireand and his family live in another area, but we do have lots of photos and some with other family (christmas, bayram etc). As you say evidence may be requested - I'm not too worried about that as we have loads of photos, his business paperwork, bank accounts in joint names, he gets his bills sent to my address (not in joint names but it shows he lives with me), I was listed as his sponsor on his past business visas etc, and all this dates over 3 years, so I think we will be covered if asked to provide proof that the relationship is genuine.

from the business visa applications I know how important it is to get organised and have everything and more that they could ask for. The list on the INIS page and what they say needs to be included is not definitive - the officer dealing with your application may request additional info and you have to give whatever he asks for.

Daixxi wrote:

To be fair to the INIS they do answer the phone (it may take you three calls/hang ups)

well either you have been either VERY lucky or I am very UNlucky - in the many times I have tried to contact the INIS for past applications I have never actually got to speak to anyone. I have tried ringing a minute before the lines open, in the vain attempt to be first in line when the open, but still didn't work! I have been directed to their voicemail, left messages and never gotten a call back. I have heard of others with similar complaints. In the end, on our last application a friend of mine gave me a direct line for a person in the INIS and she was kind enough to give me information and advice. Until I got her number I had never actually spoken to someone via the INIS helpline and I must have called it in excess of 100 times!