People from US/Canada getting Irish passports for free Irish University

qaf

A comment that has been green thumbed hundreds of times on a story on thejournal.ie today about returning Irish citizens being charged non-EU fees for university.

It is like an old wives' tale by now, but it goes something like;

"I knew a guy that got all his kids Irish passports and sent them all over to Ireland for free university"

I have heard this over and over throughout the years but have yet to meet anybody that has actually done it.

I know when I returned to Ireland when I was 18 from the US (parents still had house/bills in name/height of boom) they said I needed to be a resident for 2 years to qualify for anything. That was basically the end of the discussion.

Also it fails to meet the smell test when you imagine how much it would cost for accommodation, food, living expenses, etc, when you consider the exchange rate/cost of living difference between the US and Ireland.

You can go to a community college in the US for anywhere from a few thousand up. Above that there is state colleges that cost 20-30k for a bachelors. Along with hundreds of private institutions that don't cost the same as the Ivy League institutions that get held up as examples of the high cost of college in the US.

Plus you have the government providing financial aid, whether it is grants for poor/working class, subsidized loans for middle class, and unsubsidized loans for those with financial means. Add to that the numerous scholarships.

The only person I have ever met from the US that went to an Irish university was one girl that spent a semester, I think in Galway, and all she did was complain about how much it cost her. She also had an Irish passport.

the keen edge

qaf wrote: »

The only person I have ever met from the US that went to an Irish university was one girl that spent a semester I think in Galway and all she did was complain about how much it cost her. She also had an Irish passport.

Was her name Kaitlin by any chance? She sucked me off out the back of Halo one Thursday night.

You're right, she was a whiny auld bitch.

Ray Palmer

Yeah people like to make up stories. Asylum seekers get free cars too.

I had somebody explain to me how people doing my job were parasites and did nothing but steal money from the country. Mean while he did cash in hand jobs and didn't pay taxes. :eek:

Grayson

I read an article about this by an american who was saying it's a great idea. The basic gist was that it can cost anything up to 100k to send a student to college in america. So why not send them to ireland. Even with the higher fees for non EU nationals it's still cheaper than the states and they get qualifications that are just as good.

Fred Swanson

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Wacker The Attacker

Sure why not?

qaf

Grayson wrote: »

I read an article about this by an american who was saying it's a great idea. The basic gist was that it can cost anything up to 100k to send a student to college in america. So why not send them to ireland. Even with the higher fees for non EU nationals it's still cheaper than the states and they get qualifications that are just as good.

Not sure what type of school UCD would be considered but took a quick look at their fee page for non-EU students and it is between 15-20k EU (some degrees going up as high as 39k EU) per year. Add in air fares, accommodations, food, and the difference in the exchange rate, and I don't see how you save money from a typical American state college that probably costs less than 10k USD per year if you commute (live off-campus) or less than 20k USD if live on campus and eat & live for free, etc.

No Pants

Free university? What does that even mean?

Fred Swanson

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qaf

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Maybe it is changed now but it took me showing my passport and an electricity bill (that was in my aunt's name, so not even same last name) to get a PPS number.

Fred Swanson

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No Pants

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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But we don't get that. People in Ireland get 3rd level education with registration fees. Non-EU nationals have to hand over a huge chunk of cash. And this is before housing, sustenance, etc.

I smell horse****.

qaf

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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I was just recalling my personal experience, not disagreeing with your overall point.

Mightymouse vs Dangermouse

Im guessing they are talking about the back to education allowance that you get if you are on the social X amount of time for. Instead of getting dole, you get the BTE allowance . So yes, its actually possible to get paid to do a degree in Ireland, if you play your cards right. Its pathetic in a way, i mean paid to do a degree!! While if you work , you pay full whack. so get your Irish passport, work for 12 - 24 months, get fired, sign on, pick your course and hey presto, you get paid to go to college. Honestly, the more corrupt you are in this country, the bigger fcukn hero your made out to be! I know afew people who have already got their degrees and they still moaned all the way through about how poor they were, i felt like strangling them as it cost me an arm and leg putting myself through college when i was 18 -21. Worked every sat/sun, all hols xmas, easter etc. the more i think about it, Jesus!!! im pissed off now, THANks!!!

I knew an Australian girl that got an Irish passport to get a 'free' education - she didn't qualify and still had a chip on her shoulder several years later about the Irish state not paying for her third level education.

She paid for a degree as an EU citizen in the UK I think.

No Pants

So have we debunked this one yet? The original commenter on The Journal got shredded too.

Fred Swanson

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minidazzler

I know literally dozens of Americans who came to Ireland to study. It's not free, they pay Tuition at home and that pays for their tuition here.

Nailz

Don't you have to be living in Ireland for 3 out of the previous 5 years to get in for free?

No Pants

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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This one.

Fred Swanson

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Amirani

Nailz wrote: »

Don't you have to be living in Ireland for 3 out of the previous 5 years to get in for free?

Exactly. Even if you were born in Ireland, lived here for 13 years and the fecked off to live in the US til you were 18, you wouldn't be entitled to free university in Ireland.

MonaPizza

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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I wasn't asked for a PPS number when I went to college in Ireland. In fact I didn't get a PPS until 20 years later.

Fred Swanson

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No Pants

MonaPizza wrote: »

I wasn't asked for a PPS number when I went to college in Ireland. In fact I didn't get a PPS until 20 years later.

I can't remember. We're showing our age.

minidazzler

minidazzler wrote: »

I know literally dozens of Americans who came to Ireland to study. It's not free, they pay Tuition at home and that pays for their tuition here.

They come over on exchange and complete their course at home rather than studying for an Irish qualification.

Overheal

I still have my PPS card. Never got a passport, but did get a free go at IT Carlow. I was however resident by that point for 6 years. Not sure exactly when they issued the PPS that was handled by my dad's irish gf/pseudo-stepmum. Actually going to live in Carlow though the AGS made you keep up on a nuisance level of paperwork to prove your eligibility to maintain a student visa.

keithclancy

Irish System doesn't really track anything anyway, you could just turn up and say nothing about being away and your grand.

There is no formal de-registration process when you leave.

qaf

qaf wrote: »

It is like an old wives' tale by now, but it goes something like;

The phrase you're after is Urban Myth. It's up there with asylum seekers working as taxi drivers (they aren't allowed work) and abandoning buggies at bus stops because they're too hard to fold up and can get another one off the HSE.

Spook_ie

Candie wrote: »

The phrase you're after is Urban Myth. It's up there with asylum seekers working as taxi drivers (they aren't allowed work) and abandoning buggies at bus stops because they're too hard to fold up and can get another one off the HSE.

They aren't allowed to work legally, doesn't mean they don't work

smellmepower

One of my mates got free or generously discounted fees going to Uni in Edinburgh a few years back.