Illegal Alien

markst33

Looking for some advice on this. My brother is going out with a girl who came into the country as a tourist but has since overstayed her visa.

It looks to be getting serious with the 2 of them so I was wondering if anyone knew what her options are here.

Cheers.

Tow

markst33 wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone knew what her options are here.

Marry him... She could also look for a work visa, if she meets the various requirements etc.

FreudianSlippers

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/WP07000278

jasonpat

Tow wrote: »

Marry him... She could also look for a work visa, if she meets the various requirements etc.

Its a fine advice and very funny too, i think this could get very serious for your mother or over tappled her visa.

later12

What's the mother got to do with it

OP if marriage is something they are already seriously considering, they go to the Registrar's Office and set a date for the wedding. The registrar is not interested in Visa validity or GNIB stamps or anything of that nature. S/He will just require both passports, birth certificates, and possibly a document from the non Irish national's home country/ embassy stating that the candidate for marriage is not already married in her home country.

They will then be given a document stating that they are to marry (in a minimu of three months), which they could take to the GNIB and be granted a Visa extension - in my experience, this applies even if the non Irish national is resident without a valid Visa, or if the Visa is about to expire. The GNIB tend to be very flexible in this regard.

They tend to give an extension of the last Visa she was on, but it can depend on the GNIB official on the day.

I'm not suggesting that a marriage of convenience should take place, but if it is something they are already geared towards, it might be worth speeding up the process a little.

Also, as she is free to enter Ireland on a tourist visa, she should be aware that she is free to leave the country and she will not be recorded as having overstayed; there will be no record of this on her passport, which is something that can be a relief to a lot of people worried developing about an adverse immigration history. So instead of marrying, she could always just leave and then come back (even with the stated intention of marrying) some time down the line.

Tow

jasonpat wrote: »

Its a fine advice and very funny too, i think this could get very serious for your mother or over tappled her visa.

While you response does not make much sense. My answer to the OP's question is the basic truth. I am married to a 'Non National' and know many others who are the same. I would see proving a 'De Facto Relationship' without a marriage certificate to backup it up as very difficult to prove to the GNIB. With a marriage certificate from another country they will want it verified/reissued by that countries central government. (i.e. months of paper work and trips around the world) Even with an Irish certificate they will want the spouse to be present in the GNIB every time the visa is renewed, and I have seen a shouting match in the GNIB when they decided that a couple with a Irish certificate had a sham marriage and they were not going to renew the 'husbands' visa.

later12

Tow wrote: »

I would see proving a 'De Facto Relationship' without a marriage certificate to backup it up as very difficult to prove to the GNIB.

I would second that. It's a lot harder to prove a de facto relationship than it is to get married in Ireland.

When you have a marriage certificate, the GNIB tend to need a stronger case to turn down a Stamp 4 Visa, there would have to be something seriously wrong with the merits of the case before them. So the burden of proof is shifted onto them somewhat.

Sorry if anyone thinks that's a little cold and functional when dealing with the topic of marriage, but you really have to think that way when dealing with the GNIB, because they certainly will.

MagicSean

Tow wrote: »

I would see proving a 'De Facto Relationship' without a marriage certificate to backup it up as very difficult to prove to the GNIB.

Get a mortgage together. They last longer and are harder to get out of.

Tow

MagicSean wrote: »

Get a mortgage together. They last longer and are harder to get out of.

You can't get a morgage unless you have at least a Stamp 4 Visa.

markst33

She has overstayed her tourist visa by over a year and counting so if she was to present herself to the authorities even with a "certificate of intent to marry" whats to stop them seeing it as a marraige of convenience and kicking her out.

Also its not true to say that she could leave and come back in later. She would have to apply for another tourist visa to reenter the country and she will show up on the system as someone who has overstayed and therefore will be denied the visa.

I am married to a non national myself and have some experience of the whole visa thing especially when bringing my Colombian wifes family in for a visit, and they have always adhered to the visa requirements yet the amount of bureacracy and bull***t we have encountered is soul destroying.

What I am looking for is if anyone knows the system, what options does she have. Is marraige the only route here ?

later12

markst33 wrote: »

Also its not true to say that she could leave and come back in later. She would have to apply for another tourist visa to reenter the country and she will show up on the system as someone who has overstayed and therefore will be denied the visa.

How? Unlike normal practice in other jurisdictions, visitors' exits are not recorded on their passports at Irish ports or airports. Unless she has been in contact with the Gardai, GNIB or the INIS during the period of her overstay, these bodies wouldn't actually knows she's still here, nor would immigration be aware that she previously overstayed upon her subsequent return.

Is marriage the only option? No, but registering to marry would hypothetically be one such option. However, a year of an overstay is rather long and I'm not sure if immigration authorities would overlook it in the same way that they tend to overlook more modest overstay periods.