Non-EU spouse - how to attain Residency Visa

DH90

Hi there all,

To explain the situation first... My girlfriend and I met in Ireland, she will soon have to head back to Colombia and we were looking at ways to help keep her in the country with me (marriage of course) but it's not possible due to time constraints etc.

Our plan is to have me go over to Colombia in the near future to marry her over there, and hopefully not long after to apply for a "Join Family" Visa. However, I read the following paragraph in the 'Family Reunification Policy' document that states:

"Where Sponsor is Irish Citizen
17.2 An Irish citizen, in order to sponsor an immediate family member, must not have been totally or predominantly reliant on benefits from the Irish
State for a continuous period in excess of 2 years immediately prior to the application and must over the three year period prior to application have earned a cumulative gross income over and above any State
benefits of not less than €40k."

There is an issue there whereby I have only been in employment since September 2017 on an annual salary of just under €23k a year. Prior to that, I had been on State Benefits since August 2015 (& the Job Bridge programme for 9 of those months).

So what I'm gathering from that is that I must wait until I have made €40k from my current job until she will be permitted to live with me? Can someone please confirm this?

If this is the case, then can I ask if the following option is feasible.....

The 'Family Reunification Policy' is a bit confusing for me to read, but if I'm right by this, on the application there are 2 different people seperate to my girlfriend that help with this application, known as the sponsor & the family member. Is this true? And by this logic, could it be said that I could be regarded as the family member & the sponsor could be regarded as one of my parents who would assume responsibility for my girlfriend when she comes over? Both my parents have separately earned the 40k mentioned in the past 3 year period and meet the criteria, and obviously also would be regarded as the in-laws of my girlfriend.

Initially, the plan is for us both to live under my parent's household together until such time as we are financially capable of making it on our own together.

Any advice would be most helpful as this is currently soul crushing for both of us. The idea of being apart for a lot of next year is hard enough, but if I have to wait up until 2 years for her permanently to be with me, then I don't know how I'll cope (sorry for the sobby piece there).

mdebets

I can't help you with your specific idea of living under your parent's roof, but there is always the solution to move to another EU country first. The easiest one would be the Northern Ireland, there your wife has the right to join you without any conditions (as long as it is pre Brexit), but any other EU country would do as well, but Northern Ireland would give you the opportunity, to start working in Ireland.

You can look here online

Which family members can join me in the UK?
Any family members can join you if they are also *European Economic Area* (EEA) nationals and they do not need to obtain a *visa* or *entry clearance*.

You can also be joined by family members even if they are not *EEA*nationals:
A family member for these purposes includes:
your spouse or civil partner
children and grandchildren aged under 21 or who are dependent on you
your parents, grandparents, great grandparents or other relatives if you can
show they are dependent on you.

If your family members are non-*EEA* nationals they will need to apply to a British Embassy/High Commission for a family permit (unless they are only coming for a short time). A family permit can be obtained from British embassies or consulates without paying a fee.

The website of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office lists the British embassies abroad with
telephone and fax numbers and email addresses. The website address is www.fco.gov.uk.

After half a year you can then move back to Ireland and the EU rules still apply to you and your wife and she can move with you to Ireland (google the Singh case for more information).

DH90

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, my current job is something I've strived for for a while and I'm on a year's probation as it is. I can't risk leaving that job for this as it would affect the rest of my future. Of course I love the girl and want to be with her, but I also have to be able to be financially secure to provide for us too.

But what I've gathered from further reading is that my theory of a sponsor & family member being separate from my girlfriend is false. The family member is the girlfriend and I would be the sponsor. However, the sponsor is regarded as someone who is immediate family. What I want to know is, what constitutes as "immediate family" under Irish law? Is a parent-in-law regarded as being immediate family? If I was certain that they were, then it would appear to be viable to get the ball rolling on this sooner.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Speedwell

Surinder Singh does not apply for a move if the Irish sponsor spouse has dual citizenship in the country the couple move to (for example, I am an American, and my Northern Irish dual citizen husband cannot claim SS to move me to the UK after having lived in Ireland). SS applies only if the couple move to a country of which neither is a citizen and only if the sponsor works in that country.