Ireland De-Facto Visa

sophie4187 · 23-11-2011 12:07pm

By the way - I assume I have to get a new PPS number, right? I had one for my Working Holiday.....

ballooba · 23-11-2011 12:11pm

Nah, a PPSN is for life, not just for Christmas.

It's like your SSN (US) or TFN (Aus).

sophie4187 · 23-11-2011 12:12pm

Haha

Well, I had just heard that if your Working Holiday expired and you were able to get another visa, you'd have to get a new one! Thanks!

ballooba · 23-11-2011 12:19pm

I'd be surprised if that's the case, but I've been surprised before. See Q15 here:
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Topics/PPSN/Pages/faq.aspx

It's not specific regarding what constitutes 'a material change in your circumstances or status.a material change to your circumstances'.

There's a phone number there anyway.

sophie4187 · 23-11-2011 1:36pm

FalconXV wrote: »

Well done. Lucky timing take it to the immi gard asap. Thankfully my gard has a chip and pin machine so i can get my GNIB card straight away. When I got my working holiday visa stamped I had to take a money order form down to the bank to pay the 150 euro and it took a week for the money to clear the bank before I could get my stamp and card. Probably too late to apply for Christmas seasonal work

Seemingly it's harder to get a member of authority in the garda station to stamp my passport then it is for my partner to take an hour off! I've called all garda stations close and everyone is out until Friday, or Monday, or Tuesday - you get the picture. Don't know what to do.....

FalconXV · 24-11-2011 2:58am

Immi gards have a habit of breaking their schedule which is a pain. There might be a rule that once you are registered at one Garda station you have to go to the same one. My partner wasn't really needed when I got the stamp the gard already knew who we were.

sophie4187 wrote: »

Haha Well, I had just heard that if your Working Holiday expired and you were able to get another visa, you'd have to get a new one! Thanks!

I am working on the same old one, pretty sure it's to do with your pension as well when you retire (just don't lose it). The only reason why I believe they would give you a new one is if you have been working on a temporary number that they give you if you get a job without a PPS number. No idea what's the story with medical cards not that I need one anyway.

sophie4187 · 24-11-2011 3:37pm

FalconXV wrote: »

Immi gards have a habit of breaking their schedule which is a pain. There might be a rule that once you are registered at one Garda station you have to go to the same one. My partner wasn't really needed when I got the stamp the gard already knew who we were.

I am working on the same old one, pretty sure it's to do with your pension as well when you retire (just don't lose it). The only reason why I believe they would give you a new one is if you have been working on a temporary number that they give you if you get a job without a PPS number. No idea what's the story with medical cards not that I need one anyway.

Ya, don't need a new one - heard back today. As for my Stamp 4 - Immigration Officer won't be in until next Thursday! Brill. Rang INIS this morning and let them know - said it was fine...as well as my local garda office.

sophie4187 · 28-11-2011 10:15am

Quick question - we are planning a trip to London in April and then will be going back home to the US for the summer.... do I need to apply for a re-entry visa or anything special?

ballooba · 28-11-2011 11:35am

sophie4187 wrote: »

Quick question - we are planning a trip to London in April and then will be going back home to the US for the summer.... do I need to apply for a re-entry visa or anything special?

If you've got a valid Stamp 4 you don't need anything as far as I am aware.

Monife · 28-11-2011 12:31pm

sophie4187 wrote: »

Quick question - we are planning a trip to London in April and then will be going back home to the US for the summer.... do I need to apply for a re-entry visa or anything special?

It depends on your nationality. If you are a US citizen, as far as I am aware, they do not need entry visa's to Ireland.

sophie4187 · 28-11-2011 2:42pm

ballooba wrote: »

If you've got a valid Stamp 4 you don't need anything as far as I am aware.

That's perfect, cheers. I will ask my immigration officer on Thursday when I go in for my Stamp 4 just to be sure!

FalconXV · 29-11-2011 2:01am

sophie4187 wrote: »

Quick question - we are planning a trip to London in April and then will be going back home to the US for the summer.... do I need to apply for a re-entry visa or anything special?

No stamp 4 also gives you multi entry for 12 months. Just make sure you show your GNIB card at the immi desk. The stamp in your passport is enough to let you get through immigration.

sophie4187 · 02-12-2011 11:13am

FalconXV wrote: »

Immi gards have a habit of breaking their schedule which is a pain. There might be a rule that once you are registered at one Garda station you have to go to the same one. My partner wasn't really needed when I got the stamp the gard already knew who we were.

Good Lord, you weren't kidding. They told me he'd be in yesterday, 10-4. Called to come in and he wasn't there. Was told he'd be in today - called this morning and they say they don't think he'll be in. They think next Thursday. I told them I am in need of my Stamp 4 and they said since I've been trying and trying, that it won't affect me.......grrrrrrrr

ballooba · 02-12-2011 11:18am

What region are you in? That sounds like a bit of a balls, which doesn't surprise me.

sophie4187 · 02-12-2011 11:43am

Clare - Ennistymon

I'm certainly not used to this!

ballooba · 02-12-2011 12:05pm

Even if they think it's reasonable for the only immigration cop to be continually unavailable, you'd think it would be reasonable to allow you register at Ennis or even Galway.

FalconXV · 03-12-2011 10:46am

Nothing unusual there I had that problem with my immi gard for a while. They do deportations on a whim which are unscheduled and some are also detectives. My one is doing more hours. Ring them up next time and tell them that you need the stamp 4 to apply for work

FalconXV · 03-12-2011 10:48am

I think you have to register at the same garda station as your previous stamp. They really should go back to putting stickers in passports like the UK and Aus do

sophie4187 · 16-12-2011 10:52am

finally got my stamp ..... now for the long wait for my gnib card

FalconXV · 16-12-2011 11:03am

Did you pay using your card or by money order at the bank? I got my card when I got the stamp as they have a chip and pin machine in the GNIB office

sophie4187 · 16-12-2011 8:45pm

ya, no chip and pin in the middle of nowhere

have to get money giro from bank.....

FalconXV · 20-12-2011 12:01am

You might get it through just before Christmas. Applying for work will be tough in January

jellybeans · 14-03-2012 11:06am

Hi guys we applied way back in December and are still waiting, do you think this is normal? I sent in a follow up letter asking what the situation was and I received a letter stating that they had received my letter but nothing else? Im a little worried that it has been put somewhere and is now rotting lost and not being looked at

is this wait time usual? when should we expect some news...it's such a pain you can no longer call and speak to someone about your application.

ballooba · 14-03-2012 11:07am

Talk to your local public representative and keep on pressure on them.

FalconXV · 16-03-2012 12:56pm

jellybeans wrote: »

Hi guys we applied way back in December and are still waiting, do you think this is normal? I sent in a follow up letter asking what the situation was and I received a letter stating that they had received my letter but nothing else? Im a little worried that it has been put somewhere and is now rotting lost and not being looked at is this wait time usual? when should we expect some news...it's such a pain you can no longer call and speak to someone about your application.

That's a long while and is appalling, but not unusual. Some people have to wait 6 months for the decision (huge pressure on finances) as suggested go to your TD. Straight to your TD (they usually have clinics where constituents can raise issues with Gov't departments) and avoid Citizens Information. TD's also have a separate email address they send to in the Department, so make sure they do follow up on it.

ballooba · 16-03-2012 12:58pm

Preferably your FG or failing that Labour public representative.

FalconXV · 16-03-2012 1:16pm

ballooba wrote: »

Preferably your FG or failing that Labour public representative.

Well yeah there aren't many TDs left from the FAIL party, thankfully. It helps if your TD is in the cabinet

jellybeans · 17-03-2012 10:14pm

thanks guys for your response, Ive never actually emailed a TD for anything...I wouldnt even know what t say? can you ask them to find out whats going on or what?

FalconXV · 18-03-2012 12:57am

Arrange to meet them or their representative in person and make sure they send an email to the TD's inbox at the GNIB.

tatli_lokma · 10-04-2012 3:02pm

I recently decided to email Alan Shatter (****tier??? more appropriate) and ask him to comment on the fact that despite his promises that waiting times would be cut to 6 months by Spring 2012, the INIS are still advising of an average 23-26 mths for a decision.

To say his response was less than satisfactory is an understatement - actually no wait, what am I saying? he didn't even have the manners to give a response. Not even a stock standard one. Instead he forwarded my email to INIS (if I wanted to email them I would have :rolleyes:)

Here are the emails - thought you folks might be interested.

From me to Mr Shatter

Dear Mr Shatter,

back in July of last year, I was delighted to read that you were committed to ensuring that the application processing times for Citizenship be reduced to 6 mths. It was promised that by Spring 2012 the backlog would be cleared and those presenting an application would know within 6 mths if they have been successful. However, here we now are in summer 2012 and as of today I have been advised that it will take aprox 23-26 mths for a decision on my husbands application to be made.

We have not yet submitted the application as it is not until next month that we will meet the criteria of being married for 3 years. In the past, we did not have to pay the fee to apply. When fees for spouse of Irish national were introduced I was not too happy at the thoughts of paying out over €1000 for hy husband to become an Irish national, however if we would get a decision within 6mths, it was a fair compromise. However, now we are still facing an inordinate amount of time for a decision and for this we must pay highly for the privilege.

I am very frustrated at this process. I value the citizenship of this country highly, and would not like to see its value diminished in anyway. Because of this I am quite happy for us to be required to prove beyond a doubt that we are a genuine couple and we meet all the requirements. I would welcome any investigation into this. I do not wish for the process to become a mere form filling exercise. Nonetheless, I feel that 23 mths is a ridiculous amount of time to wait.

As of yet, my husband has only been granted year to year residency - fair enough, it means that records of his residency can be more closely monitored. I have no real issue with this, but as a result, should we wish to travel within the EU as a family we need to apply for a Schengen visa, and this will only be valid if he is accompanied by me. When he applied for a Schengen to travel without me he was refused, we subsequently reapplied on the basis that I would travel with him and it was granted. If his Irish residency were granted as Spouse of EU he could travel within Europe provided he is in the company of his EU citizen spouse, without the need for a Schengen application. However because his visa for Ireland as issued as Spouse of an Irish National he cannot do this and must apply for a Schengen visa for all visits to Europe. The fact that as an Irish national I am also an EU national is not recognised - this seems very bizarre to me.

Although I am an EU citizen I cannot exercise my rights to have my spouse travel with me because his Irish visa says Spouse of Irish national! I have been advised by INIS that they cannot change the details on his GNIB card as the visa he was granted is Irish Spouse not EU. I believe this system needs to be re-evaluated. Perhaps Spouse of Irish National could compromise and be issued as Spouse of Irish (EU) national or something so that people holding these visas could be granted the same rights as spouses of other EU countries. Because of the classification of his GNIB card and visa I, as an Irish citizen, am not being granted the same rights as other EU citizens in that I cannot travel freely with my spouse.

I would welcome your comments on the issues I have outlined above, and look forward to your reply.

kind regards,
Little Ted

Mr Shatter then simply forwarded my mail on to citizenship without a response:

From : Alan Shatter Alan.Shatter@oireachtas.ie

To: info@justice.ie
cc:
Date : 28/03/2012
Subject: Fw: Update on Citizenship processing times

Alan Shatter TD
Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence
94, St. Stephen's Green
Dublin 2
Tel: 01 618 3911
Forwarded by Alan Shatter/Oireachtas on 28/03/2012 08:26

Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:10:44 +0100
From: citizenshipinfo@justice.ie
To: littleted@teddyworld.com
Subject: Fw: Fw: Update on Citizenship processing times

Dear Little Ted,

I wish to refer to your email. Your comments are noted.

Applications for naturalisation are processed with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation. As the processing requirements and time taken to complete necessary checks vary from case to case, it is not possible to provide a specific date for determination of an individual application. Good progress continues to be made in reducing the time taken to process the generality of applications. It is the Minister's intention that in the future, having reduced the backlog, that standard applicants will receive a decision on their application within six months.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.

Yours sincerely

_____________________

Lucilla Ingoldsby

Citizenship Division

At this point, after receiving this mail, I got all uppity and on my high horse and replied to Mr Shatter as follows:

From: littleted@teddyworld.com
To: alan.shatter@oireachtas.ie
Subject: FW: Update on Citizenship processing times
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:48:10 +0100

Dear Mr Shatter,

I have received the following email from the Citizenship Division and I must say I am terribly disappointed that rather than provide a response yourself you chose to forward it to another department for a stock standard response to be sent. I am aware that there is a backlong, I am aware that processing involves ensuring statutory contitions are met. I feel this is all clear from my initial email to you. All the information in the email from citizenship division is freely and easily available on the internet - I did not need to email you to obtain this standard response email.

My desire was to get a response from you in regards to my queries. I am interested in your explanation/comments as to why the backlog has not been cleared as promised. I am interested in your explanation/comments as to why the promised deadline of Spring 2012 has been passed without any further comment or update on this. I am interested to know when the backlog will be cleared and from what point on the processing time will be 6 mths as promised in July 2011.

Furthermore no comment was made in regards to my issue of differing rights within Europe for Spouse of Irish National v.s Spouse of EU National. As an Irish citizen I am therefore an EU Citizen, and yet I am being denied my rights as an EU citizen to travel when accompanied by my husband because of the classification the INIS have placed upon his visa. Why am I not afforded the same rights as a fellow European living in Ireland?

Let me clarify, I am delighted that my husband has been granted residency and I very much value the fact that Ireland has chosen to allow him to work and live here with me. I have no issue with providing any information, being subjected to any enquiry or investigation on this matter, in fact I welcome such things so that genuine cases can be distinguished from invalid claims to residency and citizenship. However, I do still query why an Irish person living in Ireland with her Non-EU husband is granted lesser rights to travel than an EU citizen living in Ireland with a Non-EU partner. And I do still query why promises made last July have not been upheld.

In no way am I looking for special assistance or favours in relation to my husband and my case. I am simply interested to hear from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence on the outlined matters.

Again, I reiterate, I welcome your comments on these issues.

Yours sincerely,
Little Ted

to date no response has been received from Mr Shatter or his office. As expected, Mr Shatter, despite all his promises, has proved to be just as ineffectual as his predecessors, and furthermore he has proved to me that he is ignorant given that he doesn't even take the time to respond in any valid way to a genuine query, and simply forwards it on. I mean, even if he had replied saying that he was referring the query to Citizenship, but not even a one line email? rude and unprofessional.
:mad:

Ireland De-Facto Visa

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