Working Visa for a US citizen

wannabecraig

I've been in a relationship with a US citizen for over a year now, just travelling back and forth (Know her 5 years so have spent lots of time with her). She is now looking
to move to Ireland, firstly for 3 months, visiting visa, then more permanently. I was wondering is anybody can tell me what are the options. She's has a very good job in the
US and would be able to get a good job here if she had a working visa.

Options seem to be
1. Marriage
2. Student visa (work 20 hours a week)
3. Sponsorship (She's in retail and I don't think sponsorship works for this industry)

I'm not happy to get married, not right away anyway, as I just don't want to do it for the sake of a visa. I don't need her to be making a lot of money,
am pretty sorted in that regard. She does want a full time job, sooner rather than later and I don't want it all to depend on if we eventually get married or not, don't want that extra pressure.

She's leaving her job and giving up her apartment for the 3 month period, so once we'd past that point there are going to be decision made about long term.
Any ideas or option on how she can get a full-time working visa?

Caranica

There's no such thing as a working visa here. Visas entitle you to enter and then it's a certain stamp or a work permit to work. Retail is on the ineligible list for work permits here so your options are very limited. You've identified almost all the ways it might be possible except the graduate 1 year visa.

dennyk

What exactly is her job in the US? Most retail jobs would be on the Ineligible Categories of Employment list, meaning that it is not possible to obtain an employment permit for them regardless of any other circumstances, so a work permit may not be on the table at all.

Is she currently in a full-time course at uni or has she graduated within the past 12 months? If so, she may be eligible for the working holiday programme, which would allow her to live and work here (even in retail or other permit-ineligible jobs) for 12 months.

Outside of that, the only option for her to live here long-term would be a study permission or for you to get married and have her apply for a spouse permission. Keep in mind that non-EU tuition rates are quite high here, so the study option would be quite expensive; they're not as high as some US degree courses, but still well into the five figure range per year. She won't be paying her way through uni here with a 20-hour-a-week job, so she'd need some money set aside to cover her tuition (and would have to show proof of said funds when applying for her permission).

A spousal permission would be the most reliable way to allow her to live here long-term, but if marriage is not in the cards for you right now, then that's not an option either. A similar permission is available for unmarried de-facto partners, but you would have had to be truly cohabitating for at least two years, not just visiting each other from time to time.

wannabecraig wrote: »

She's leaving her job and giving up her apartment for the 3 month period, so once we'd past that point there are going to be decision made about long term.

This is a really bad idea, given what you've said. Aside from marriage or enrolling in a qualifying full-time university course, there is no viable long-term option for her to legally remain in Ireland. She'll have to leave after 90 days and will have nothing to go back to in the US. Also, if she's coming to Ireland to be with her SO and has no job, no lease or mortgage, and no other significant ties to the US, there's a good chance she'll be turned away by the immigration officials at the airport, as those are red flags that indicate she is an overstay risk (and is also at risk of becoming a burden on the state if she doesn't have the funds to support herself without working illegally).

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Hi, I went through this process with my Irish husband, many years ago but I believe the options as you listed are still all the same.

The only other one is to apply for permission for her to remain as your partner. She would however be completely financially dependent on you and would only have permission to remain in the country while the application is pending. When we did this many years ago, the backlog of processing was up to 2 years long, and I've heard it's even longer now. It's a very difficult place to be in where she would have no rights and independence of her own and that is very tough for some to be in that position-it definitely was for me. Soul destroying to an independent woman, I'd go so far to say. The burden of proof is high and you have to submit all sorts of proof of your relationship going some years, not sure how many. His mother and my family both wrote letters of support for us too. But we didn't meet all the requirements so we weren't sure if it would be successful. And then it's the LONG waiting game.

Look, it's a gamble. If what you have is a deep love, a fabulous relationship, and a view to the future, marriage will be your only realistic option. We married 7 months later after I moved to Ireland, but we were together long distance for a year and a half prior. It was very tough going. Once we married we went to the GNIB with our marriage cert and I got a stamp 4 visa very very quickly. Same day? Can't remember now, but anyway it was almost immediately. We are now happily married 12 years. If she's the one, you don't have the luxury of cold feet It's not that you'd be marrying for the sake of a visa, it's marrying for love and all the right reasons and doing what it takes to not lose the love of your life (if that's what you have). We married in my home state and then had an Irish wedding celebration the following year. Good luck to you both!

wannabecraig

All, thanks for replies. She's over now about 6 weeks and all going well.

We have decided that it's best to go to college for a year and at least have the ability to work 20 hours a week while studying.
It's not necessary as we both have decent but we're ovb not ready to get married!

The new question is, if she signs up for college she has to leave the country to get the new study visa/stamp, does she have to
go back to the states? We were planning on going to Holland for a week mid June (hopefully) and them coming back through Irish customs
and presenting the letter of acceptance for college to customs. Would this work? Or would she have to come over from the states for this?

TIA