Requirement: living for 3 of the previous 5 years in the E.U.

holystungun9

Ok, I am probably the only person stuck in this situation but maybe someone may know about this.

I have been living in South America for the last three years and my plan was to return in 2011 and go straight into uni as a mature student.

Looking at the fees sections of some unis is this clause that states you must have been living in the Ireland or the EU for three of the previous five years before starting your course. If you do not meet this requirement this means that you are treated as a non EU student and have to pay what is generally triple the fees.

So instead of maybe 5000 per year it would be 15,000. So for a four year degree it would be 60,000 fees alone. This is clearly out of the question, i am willing to pay the regular fees although it would be a struggle.

I then looked at the U.K. unis and I would have to do an Access to Ed course before I could undertake any course as a mature student. This course has the same thing though. I would have to have been living in the E.U. for three of the last five years.

I don't know how this is checked, maybe employment/unemployment records and/or a look at your passport.

Does anyone have any experience in this matter. I am not looking to cheat my way round this but I suppose if they don't bend the rules at all it means I will have to hang round the E.U. for the next three years maybe unemployed just so I can return to education.

Thanks for any info regards this (doesn't look it will be the triumphant return home that I was hoping for!:o

paperclip2

holystungun9 wrote: »

Looking at the fees sections of some unis is this clause that states you must have been living in the Ireland or the EU for three of the previous five years before starting your course. If you do not meet this requirement this means that you are treated as a non EU student and have to pay what is generally triple the fees.

OP I checked with the Financial support section of DES and they reckon you would 'only' pay the EU fees but that ultimately its up to the college concerned.
Financial Assistance /Student Support DES: 057 9325317.

Agent_99

They ask for P21's (balance Statement) from revenue, Bank statements showing regular transactions for the 3/5 year. p45 p60 etc

I have had to prove this even though I returned to Ireland 13 years ago and have two school going children. Still waiting on approval for my grant and my course fees are €7,700 per year

holystungun9

thanks for the replies, I spoke with my boss yesterday and said that I am leaving for Ireland at Christmas. From there I will just have to call around to the each university and see where I stand. There is no other way for me now but to come back and knock on doors. I am thirty and a mechanic but want to return to retrain. This is really what I want. If it is an issue and I can't get a suitable course I can sustain myself for a while and might just have to flee the country again. I hope not though. Thanks again guys, and of course any other info is welcome.

xinchao

I was in South East Asia for four years then came back in 2007. Applied for University in 2007 and was accepted to UL but i decided that I couldn't be bothered to do it because I got a decent job soon after coming back. I was delighted with myself! Thought I was a jammy git for landing a decent job and things look really good. then the good auld recession came and the following May I was unemployed. Went on the dole and still looked for work, soon after that things went from ok to desperate. Dell in Limerick closed down and everyone this side of the Shannon was in dire straits. Decided to go back to University. Stayed on the dole for the year and a bit and in the mean time applied to UL. I did all they asked, got called for the interview and then approved.
All was going fantastically well. Then I had to fill out some forms for UL and on one of them it asked me had I been living in Ireland 3 years out of the last 5 years. I ticked the NO box and submitted it, then got a registration letter and a empty bank draft that I had to fill out but it said I was liable for €5,600 fees per year. F*** me...
So I rang up UL and told them that I was an Irish citizen blah blah and they said basically tough luck! So I rang the dole office and they said apply for a grant. So I did and the woman in the grant office told me "Why on God's earth did you tell them you were living abroad?"
And I said because it was the honest thing to do. To that she replied, it's your own fault. you shouldn't have told them anything... hahaha...I couldn't believe what i was hearing...To make a very very long and painful story short. I had to jump through hoops to get the Grant and the BTEA allowance, it took me almost a year to get both but eventually I got them and now I am in 2nd year at UL.
To the OP that's coming back to Ireland, go on the dole for a year (there isn't much of a chance getting work anyway, you must be the only person in the country coming back! everyone else is leaving!) you can't get the grant and the BTEA as well. So you might as well go with the system. You fight it or try and do the honest thing and they will screw you and make your life a misery. Everyone else knows the system and if you don't then they think you have something to hide or you are lying about something.
And before someone gets ratty with me about being a sponger etc etc etc, this is unfortunately the ONLY was you can go back to education in Ireland as a mature student. You won't get a bank loan that's for sure and you will not get work part time unless you know somebody.
So my advice to you is:

1. come back and sign on but make sure you get a place to live that's not with your parents (I did and that was a major mistake)
2. If you do that then at least you can have some standard of living and the paperwork will be much easier for you to apply for things in the future.
3. If and when you apply for the BTEA then you can only get the BTEA but they will also pay for your fees regardless of you being away.
4. You have a choice either grant €3420 or BTEA which is 196 a week plus whatever allowances they give you for rent etc. I live at home so I'm getting 196 a week (and feel very lucky to be getting it)...
5. I think they have lowered the time you have to be on the dole to 9 months before you can get the BTEA so you better come back in the next few months.

Hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck mate.

Hope you are happy to come home (i think you are crazy to do it!) but that's just my opinion. Hope all that helps.

cajun

Hey guys, if I'm not mistaken, you have to be in the EU for 3 of the last 5 years to qualify for social welfare, too. So the OP would want to consider this before coming home. This would mean no dole for the year and no BTEA next year either.

xinchao, you said "1. come back and sign on but make sure you get a place to live that's not with your parents (I did and that was a major mistake)"
I'm currently in this situation. I've signed on, am living with my parents and want to go to University in 2011 receiving BTEA. May I ask what the Major Mistake was? I don't want to get stung for something next year.

holystungun9

Yeah I think that I am ef'ed on the dole thing too. I am looking at the citizens info website right now but someone else had mentioned this to me before about not being eligible for dole. Even if I stay here in the short term I will still have to face into this eventually, I will have to get back to the E.U.

xinchao

My situation was that I was living in Asia from 2003-2007, I came back in June of 2007, then got work until the following may when i got laid off. That maybe entitled me to the dole because I was working.
the big mistake was that if you live at home they will means test you! For example for my grant they considered my a dependent even though I was 32 at the time when I applied so they means tested my parents and it was just hassle as they were self-employed. So it meant that my fees for University would of had to be paid if i didn't get the grant at that time.
Things have changed now in that the government will cover your fees also. I'm not currently aware of what you are talking about being three years in the country. That didn't apply to me in 2008/2009. Unless things have radically changed since then.
Lads you're better off talking directly to the Social welfare office in your local area and get the low down first hand. Every major office should have a BTEA officer that should know something about it. If not ring your local citizens advice center, they are very very good at solving issues and if they don't know they will find out for you.
You are better off living away from your parents if possible. It means that you are fully independent and they will not look towards your family home or your parents to more information. If you live away from home then the BTEA will help cover your rent etc...Similar to the dole itself.

MickShamrock

xinchao wrote: »

3. If and when you apply for the BTEA then you can only get the BTEA but they will also pay for your fees

This is false.

Annasopra

MickShamrock wrote: »

This is false.

It's not quite false - You can get the BTEA and also get registration fees paid by the maintenance grant

aridion

Interesting thread this. I am in a similiar situation. I was In South East Asia from 2005 - 2009. Now I want to go back to college. I guess that I am in the same boat.