Retire To Ireland

HomeToIreland

Do you know someone who is considering retiring to Ireland?

Last year, the Ministry for Justice changed the qualifications for non-EEA nationals to live in Ireland as "persons of independent means". Instead of being entitled to permanent residency and a path to citizenship, such persons, including many Irish American retirees, are now given only a Stamp 0 passport which is "a low-level immigration status which in not intended to be reckonable for long-term residence or citizenship". Also, such persons need to show income of at least €50,000 per person or €100,000 per couple. They must also set aside at least €200,000 in a cash reserve for unforeseen circumstances. Whether they own a home or have any other financial assets is not considered.

Research shows that a great many Irish Americans want to purchase homes in Ireland especially in rural counties whose economies continue to show some weakness. Recent articles indicate that Brexit may further hurt these areas. Creating a more reasonable path to permanent residency for Irish Americans would encourage more investment in Ireland, especially for retirees who prefer the quiet Irish countryside to the more crowded cities.

There is a petition on change.org entitled "Help The Global Irish Retire To Ireland" which is being circulated to request the Ministry to reconsider these rules. Please sign and forward to interested people or groups.

coylemj

HomeToIreland wrote: »

Do you know someone who is considering retiring to Ireland?

You?

HomeToIreland wrote: »

Research shows that a great many Irish Americans want to purchase homes in Ireland especially in rural counties whose economies continue to show some weakness.

Could you post a link to this 'research'?

HomeToIreland wrote: »

Creating a more reasonable path to permanent residency for Irish Americans would encourage more investment in Ireland, especially for retirees who prefer the quiet Irish countryside to the more crowded cities.

It would also cause house-price inflation in rural areas, thereby making it even harder for the children of locals to buy houses near their parents.

By 'a more reasonable path' what you really mean is that the rules should be changed so that older people with less means should be allowed to immigrate here, putting yet more pressure on our health system as they age.

HomeToIreland wrote: »

There is a petition on change.org entitled "Help The Global Irish Retire To Ireland" which is being circulated to request the Ministry to reconsider these rules. Please sign and forward to interested people or groups.

It might be a bit more open and transparent on your part to declare your personal interest in this 'cause'. Or are you a disinterested observer doing this for the greater good of humanity?

HomeToIreland

I don't think I can post the ink so please search for an Irish Central article entitled "one-in-three-irish-americans-want-to-buy-property-in-ireland". Irish Central hired an Irish company called Amarach to perform the research.

Yes, as my board.ie ID implies, I am considering retiring to Ireland. Why else would I do this much research? I am also considering moving to Portugal or France. I prefer Ireland because of my ancestry but Portugal in particular makes it a lot easier for foreigners to live there permanently.

As for older people with less means, do you really think 50,000 per person and 100,000 per couple are reasonable requirements?

As for heath care, please know that retirees are required to purchase their own private health insurance and agree in writing to never accept Irish welfare.

Worries of house price inflation is a poor reason to deny putting more money in the hands of local people who would be able to sell their property at higher prices. The same rural children you mention apparently do not want to live in the countryside and are moving in droves to the cities. Who will repopulate and invest in these rural areas? There are few jobs, no infrastructure, nothing much to offer the youth of Ireland. But retirees actually prefer the countryside especially if it is where their ancestors originate from.

You have asked me for evidence. Can you show me any evidence of any irish Americans that have moved to Ireland, bringing income and cash, then eventually became bankrupt and a ward of the Irish State? Isn't this a solution in need of a problem?

coylemj

Letter on this topic from an official in the Irish Dept. of Justice the to the Irish Times Saturday August 7th in response to this letter from a few days previous .......

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/us-retirees-to-ireland-paying-the-price-1.2742793

Sir, – I refer to the issue of income levels for US retirees to Ireland, raised by a correspondent to The Irish Times (Letters, August 3rd).

Over the past number of years there has been a steady stream of applications from retired persons seeking to come and live in Ireland. In order to bring greater clarity and consistency to the area and to take account of some of the economic issues involved, guidance was published on the website of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service in March 2015.

This guidance includes financial requirements with the aim of ensuring that applicants intending to retire to Ireland have sufficient funds to meet all reasonably foreseeable expenses without recourse to publicly-funded services. This includes their being able to provide their own accommodation and cover any medical costs, either via private insurance or personal funds. The thresholds in respect of income, etc, take into account potential future healthcare needs including residential nursing care. Requirements of this nature are the norm in many other EU member states, Australia, the US, Canada and the UK.

The guidance does not affect people who were approved for what is in effect long-term retirement migration prior to that. In the light of the experience gained to date, a review of the retirement policy is currently underway. A public consultation will be launched in the coming weeks. – Yours, etc,

NIALL COLGAN

Department of Justice and Equality, Dublin 2.

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/cost-for-us-citizens-retiring-to-ireland-1.2746530

TeaBagMania

As someone looking to retire to Ireland id very interested in this as the 50K per annum seems very excessive for a retired person living on a pension.

I would understand the 50K per annum OR 200K savings but not both