Anyone Else on a Working Holiday?

farahb18

Hi everyone,

I'm a dual citizen of Canada and South Africa, and lived in Ireland for two years on a Working Holiday Authorisation, on my Canadian passport. I had a Stamp 1. I completely understood that I could not renew the Working Holiday after it expired, but my company was happy to sponsor me for a Critical Skills permit.

This got rejected because apparently people on a Working Holiday are disqualified from applying for any other form of work permit (as of September 2018). I consulted with three solicitors and eventually decided to leave the country on the day of expiry and apply for my Critical Skill the next day (this was last week) as my company will be holding my job for me.

I got in touch with GNIB at the airport when I was leaving, as my solicitor said I needed to get some form of passport stamp to prove that I had left the country. GNIB informed me over the phone that people on a Working Holiday were NEVER allowed back into the country under any circumstances, not even for the purposes of a holiday. They told me I was effectively banned from the country for life.

Surely that can't be right? There are so many different bits of information floating around that I have no idea what's correct.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? i.e: been on a Working Holiday and gotten another kind of permission to stay (critical skills, general, de facto partner etc)

Caranica

What you were told by GNIB is totally wrong. I know someone who did exactly what you did, left the country, applied for employment permit and got it and is now back.

As far as I know there are plans to change the system so you can apply for a permit while on a whv but I've no idea of the timeline for that.

source

Might be worth making contact with the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service they may be able to give you better advice than GNIB did.

http://www.inis.gov.ie/

Mr. Incognito

GNIB at the airport are not usually the brightest of folks.

It attracts a certain type of people. Clampers. Ticket wardens. Bouncers. You know the type.

Just apply through your solicitor and they will deal with the actual law.

farahb18

Thanks all, makes me feel a bit better!

I have re-applied the day after I left, citing what my solicitor told me and attaching my boarding pass as proof that I left.

I was stuck in a loop going between GNIB, INIS and DBEI for about two weeks, all three claiming that it was one of the other departments' problem, so that was super fun!

It just seems very counter-productive to send me out of the country to go through the four month application process again - when I could have stayed in my job, paid my taxes, paid my rent and contributed to the economy in every way in that time instead.

You are not permitted to apply for a critical skills permit while in the country on a working holiday visa. You can go back to Canada or SA and have your prospective employer apply for your critical skills permit while you are outside of the state.

No need to engage a solicitor at all. Just have your employer resubmit your application and it shiuld be granted within a few weeks.

farahb18

Thanks barrier86. Have done the re-application now using my South African address, updated contract from work etc. I didn't note that I was a dual citizen but if they bother to check my passports are linked so they should pick it up.

Waiting time is 11 weeks and 1 day at the moment and my job is holding until 24th July so I should have an answer a month in advance. Then the wait to get the permit through the South African postal system. But that's a whole other story.

Fingers crossed.

bobbysands81

farahb18 wrote: »

Thanks barrier86. Have done the re-application now using my South African address, updated contract from work etc. I didn't note that I was a dual citizen but if they bother to check my passports are linked so they should pick it up.

Waiting time is 11 weeks and 1 day at the moment and my job is holding until 24th July so I should have an answer a month in advance. Then the wait to get the permit through the South African postal system. But that's a whole other story.

Fingers crossed.

You don’t need to stay out of the country for the time the permit is being processed, you need to be out of the country at the time of application (once you have cancelled your WHA or it has run out).

The policy didn’t change in September, it’s always been the same and you would have signed an agreement stating you would leave the country at the end of your WHA.

farahb18

bobbysands81 wrote: »

You don’t need to stay out of the country for the time the permit is being processed, you need to be out of the country at the time of application (once you have cancelled your WHA or it has run out).

The policy didn’t change in September, it’s always been the same and you would have signed an agreement stating you would leave the country at the end of your WHA.

Hi, bobbysands81, thanks for the reply. My solicitor confirmed the most recent change was made in September 2018. It seems like it has gone back and forth a few times in the past years. I definitely didn't sign the agreement that stated I couldn't apply for a new work permit from within the country - I have several friends who moved onto their general or critical skills directly from their WHA with no issues, before the most recent ammendment was done.