Visa options for Iranian

Onion87

Just looking for a bit of advice here from anyone who's been through anything similar.

My boyfriend (mid-30s) is Iranian and living in Iran (he's currently in Turkey but due to go back next week, world war three notwithstanding…). He has a degree in civil engineering but no substantial experience in this field and low grades. He has worked as a mountain/tour guide in Iran for 10+ years but has no formal degree in this area, but I think he's done some courses (first aid etc). I'm living here in Ireland, pretty settled, good job, living in a family-owned home on my own. We would like to start our future together here. He wants to leave Iran and come to Ireland, to work. He would work in any sector, and is fairly handy and has some knowledge of carpentry and other trades. He is planning to start a certified carpentry course when he goes home. We had a look at the critical skills list and I don't think he fits into any category. We looked into sponsorship by companies but I was told that usually a company wants you to be working for them for a while before they'll sponsor you, which makes sense.

We have never had a chance to live together and have only been together less than a year, so it's too soon to get married, and we don't qualify for the de-facto visa. Other countries have a fiance visa but Ireland doesn't. Ideally, he would apply for a tourist visa to come here for 3 months and live with me and then at that stage, we would consider getting married. However, I would imagine that the likelihood of him being given a tourist visa is slim to none, given the state of things in Iran, as they would assume he will try and stay. But maybe it's worth a shot? He has already tried to apply to Italian universities (as they fund courses and provide a stipend for successful applicants) but has been turned down. He can't afford to pay huge international fees for courses in Ireland or other EU countries. Coming here as a refugee is not really a viable option, given the state of things, and he would prefer to come here with a visa.

What (if any) are his options? (Get married? 😂)

Pauliedragon

Speak to a solicitor OP. A quick Google and you'll find plenty. He's from a very delicate part of the world I wouldn't take advice from an anonymous forum.

Donald Trump

Get married is a straightforward from the paperwork perspective but perhaps not the one to be recommended for other reasons.

Assuming you are Irish, and nothing else, getting married would not automatically allow you to bring him here.

If you are non-Irish EU citizen, you would however be allowed to bring him here. Conversely, if you got married and moved to any other EU country, you would be entitled to bring/have him there with you. That is based on EU rights but you must be exercising movement to qualify for them. Sometimes people will do this for a period of time (say 6 months but ask a specialist) and then "re-exercise" their movement to come back to Ireland. Then they can bring their third country spouse with them.

In terms of study, many European countries have fully funded education options. If he has a degree in Engineering from a regarded Iranian University then that would likely be a strong positive. The gap since he studied might take a little away from that but all he could do is try.

Caranica

As well as the critical skills list, look at the ineligible jobs list to see if any apply to him.

I work with two Iranians but both have level 10 qualifications, are towards the top of their field internationally and came from roles in other EU countries.

Look at universities in other EU countries too. It's not just Italian universities that fund places

Onion87

Hi all, thanks for the replies. Yes, I will get onto a solicitor, and someone suggested Doras in Limerick to me aswell. I won't take anything as gospel from boards but I reckoned it was a good place to start and someone would signpost me further from here.

V Interesting about the marriage thing not being a silver bullet, didn't know that. Thanks!

The issue with a fully funded university place in another EU country is that he wouldn't have the funds to live and study there. It's difficult to earn good money in Iran now with the plummeting value of the rial. He has only applied for universities in Italy that provide students with a monthly stipend.

As regards ineligible jobs - how would that work? Are they not called 'ineligible' because they are not eligible? Or am I missing something there?

Thanks all!!

Caranica

Yes, but what I meant about the ineligible jobs list is to make sure his potential jobs aren't on that list.

Onion87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122024252#Comment_122024252

Oh I get you now. Thanks a lot.

OrangeBadger

You have known him less than a year and have never lived together....have you actually met him in person?

Tefral

I see you mentioned Limerick. Maybe he could contact Conack Construction. They are always looking for site staff so his civil engineering degree could be used? Its on the critical list.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving-country/working-in-ireland/employment-permits/green-card-permits/

Onion87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025504#Comment_122025504

Yes, I have, multiple times.

Thanks for your extremely useful advice!

Onion87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122025534#Comment_122025534

I'm not actually living in Limerick, I just mentioned contacting Doras in Limerick (who are super helpful btw) but that's definitely worth looking into, so thank you. 🙂

Tefral

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122033598#Comment_122033598

I think you need to push the civil engineer part more than the carpentry. I work in the industry and they cronically need engineers. Carpenters are badly needed too but he will need to do an apprenticiship and they can be hard to get if you dont know the company.