Returning to Ireland after 30 yrs living abroad!

niallx

I have a young family and am returning home as I want my children( Irish Cizizens)educated in Ireland and would like to be close to my relatives. My wife is Cypriot (EU citizen) I have not worked for a number of years but have a small pension. My wife can work if she can find a job. I have UK Disability Penson(PIP) and Incapacity Benefits.
Would I qualify for habitual residence?
What benefits would/ could I receive?
My wife will job search as soon as she returns, would she be entitled to claim anything whilst waiting to find a job?
Would we qualify for Rent allowance?

Would anyone like to recommend a good area to bring up a family? with some job prospects and decent schools?
Any advice would be really appreciated as we are trying to plan or move back.

Thank you so much for your help!

haveringchick

If you or your wife are entitled to any benefits from UK then you must arrange for them to be moved with you here if moved they can be
That's no 1
DSP will not hear you here until you have claimed your entitlements from your country of origin in your case UK
It doesn't make any difference what citizenship your or your family hold you will be subject to HRC which you can read about on www.citizensinformation.ie
You will be applying for disability allowance and your wife Jobseeker's Allowance both of which are subject to both HRC and means test
Your joint income is looked at as well as savings
Means test and HRC are lengthy and very stressful
Housing is in short supply. Rents are steep, the cost of living here is much higher then UK unless your coming from Home Counties or greater London
Good luck

Balagan

Some informative links:


http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_to_ireland/introduction_to_the_irish_system/moving_to_ireland_and_your_social_security_entitlements.html

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/irish_social_welfare_system/social_assistance_payments/residency_requirements_for_social_assistance_in_ireland.html

Some information regarding habitual residence which you will have to prove before receiving any social assistance payments:

6.4 - Applicant's main centre of interest

An applicant's main centre of interest must be in the Republic of Ireland.

As stated previously, examination of the other 4 factors together will assist in determining the applicant's main centre of interest, and thereby their place of habitual residence.

A person's main centre of interest would normally be in the country in which s/he has lived all his/her life and has his/her home and family. This may be maintained even where a person lives and works for a period of time in another country.

On the other hand, a person who previously lived in another country or countries may now have moved to Ireland on long-term basis and established a main centre of interest here. For example, returned emigrants or retired missionaries who have chosen to resettle in Ireland should be considered to have their main centre of interest here. ( See also under Section 6.2 above.)

In determining where an applicant's main centre of interest lies, the following should be taken into consideration:

location of home
location of close family (spouse/civil partner/children etc.) – note that an automatic disallowance should not be applied where a person's spouse/civil partner or children remains in another country. Therefore, a person may be found to be habitually resident even though his/her spouse/civil partner or children have remained in another country – due and careful consideration must be given to all of the other factors
nature of employment
does membership of clubs, etc. indicate that s/he is integrating into society here?
location of financial/bank accounts and other assets
certification of ownership/non-ownership of property in country of origin.
If the centre of interest appears to be in Ireland but the applicant has retained a home elsewhere, consider what the intention is concerning the property.
http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Habitual-Residence-Condition--Guidelines-for-Deciding-Offic.aspx

La Haine

Hey Niall X,

Just wondering - when you asked the same questions back in 2009, did you get any official answers or help?

niallx

No, not really and a lot has changed since then, Thank you for asking and Thanks very much to Balagan and Haveringchick so far for their help