Ireland De-Facto Visa

vij · 01-06-2013 1:41pm

Hi little actualy they sent me a letter 2 weeks ago to provide medical Insurance and payslip,6 months bank statement for my partner and i and more proof the commencement of our relationship minimum 2 years all been post to them and i got an acknowledgement letter on wednesday but they did nit mention work nothing am just wondering i will check with them on Tuesday i will go to burgh quay

tatli_lokma · 01-06-2013 2:11pm

vij wrote: »

Hi little actualy they sent me a letter 2 weeks ago to provide medical Insurance and payslip,6 months bank statement for my partner and i and more proof the commencement of our relationship minimum 2 years all been post to them and i got an acknowledgement letter on wednesday but they did nit mention work nothing am just wondering i will check with them on Tuesday i will go to burgh quay

so it sounds like you didn't provide a lot of the basic information required in the first place - this is why your application is taking so long.

as for working, your visa is expired. When it expired you should have renewed it regardless of you now applying for defacto. Have you ever gone to burgh quay to tell them that you have an application pending? They will not necessarily know this unless you advise them. What you need to do is tell them you have an application pending and they will either extend your student visa - and you can continue to work, or they will not extend it but they put an order of non-deportation on your record- you can't work but you can stay in the country while the defacto is being processed. You should not be working on an expired visa - they will not look kindly on this if they discover it. In addition if your employer gets audited by the department of enterprise they will be in big trouble because in effect you are working illegally.

Get to burgh quay first thing Tuesday and try to sort it - but be prepared that you may be told you cannot continue to work. It is also part of the requirements of the defacto that you can support yourself even if you are not working so it is really important that you get this sorted ASAP.

Good luck

vij · 06-06-2013 1:54pm

Hi there am glad I got a letter today to inform me that I been granted a stamp 4 so am going to burgh quay to get my gnib done this Afternun....:)

Ronnygenius · 15-06-2013 11:17am

Hi all
Got a letter today from INIS asking me to send them my private insurance cover .... I have purchased an insurance with the VHI and hope to get the document by next week and send them back to INIS

The_Bot · 19-07-2013 11:37am

Hi all, quick question I hope someone will be good enough to help me with.

My girlfriend and I (I'm Irish she is American) made our defacto application in mid June. She currently has a 1 year post graduate permission to stay with 40 hours a week working. This expires at on 31 October which leaves us with about 4.5 months to get approval before her permission to stay & work will expire.

I am confident that we will get approval for defacto status (living together for 2 years next month, more than a year in relationship before, have bills in our names for months etc and have sent them a full lever arch folder on relationship history, finances, passports, medical insurance, photos etc all sectioned out so easy to follow).

However, I have heard that the defacto applications can take up to six months to get approved at the moment. If we end up on the tail end of that her current permission to stay/work will expire before we hear back from INIS. If this happens, does anyone know if INIS would be willing to give her a temporary extension (e.g. 3 months) to her permission to stay and work while we wait to hear back? Obviously she wants to stay and not lose her job while the application is working its way through the system.

Thanks

OldNotWIse · 19-07-2013 11:38am

The_Bot wrote: »

Hi all, quick question I hope someone will be good enough to help me with.

My girlfriend and I (I'm Irish she is American) made our defacto application in mid June. She currently has a 1 year post graduate permission to stay with 40 hours a week working. This expires at on 31 October which leaves us with about 4.5 months to get approval before her permission to stay & work will expire.

I am confident that we will get approval for defacto status (living together for 2 years next month, more than a year in relationship before, have bills in our names for months etc and have sent them a full lever arch folder on relationship history, finances, passports, medical insurance, photos etc all sectioned out so easy to follow).

However, I have heard that the defacto applications can take up to six months to get approved at the moment. If we end up on the tail end of that her current permission to stay/work will expire before we hear back from INIS. If this happens, does anyone know if INIS would be willing to give her a temporary extension (e.g. 3 months) to her permission to stay and work while we wait to hear back? Obviously she wants to stay and not lose her job while the application is working its way through the system.

Thanks

She'll get temporary permission to stay, but I dont know about working.

We applied in January and we are still waiting

They must drink an awful lot of coffee at INIS

tatli_lokma · 19-07-2013 11:48am

OldNotWise is correct - they usually give a temporary permission to stay whilst your application is being processed. Sometimes you are lucky and they will extend her current visa type, meaning she can continue to work, however it is at their discretion and they could also just give a 'non-deportation' order which is basically she has no visa, but if she flags in the system as being an overstayer, they won't take any action as it is noted on her file that an application is pending. Usually during the extension or non-deportation period she can't leave the state. They don't usually like to do people out of a job, so in your case I think it would be fairly likely you will get an extension.

If you have not had a reply by the start of October, email them, explain that she has a job and wishes to continue working whilst here, but her visa expires at the end of the month. If she is working they *tend* be be a bit more flexible about the extensions and sometimes they will even speed things up a bit. It happened for us with my husbands spousal visa - he had an offer of a job but we were still waiting on a decision to his visa. So we emailed them, explained that he has a job offer, provided proof of the offer, and that he is very keen to start earning and become a contributing member of Irish society etc etc. Got an email back that they would do their best to expedite the application and a week later they issued the visa. So it is worth a try.

If by mid-October you still have had no decision just head into Burgh Quay or to your Immigration Garda and explain you have an application pending, show your paperwork, reference number etc and request an extension. Hopefully they will give it, but at worst they will give a non-deportation order.

The_Bot · 19-07-2013 12:22pm

tatli_lokma wrote: »

OldNotWise is correct - they usually give a temporary permission to stay whilst your application is being processed. Sometimes you are lucky and they will extend her current visa type, meaning she can continue to work, however it is at their discretion and they could also just give a 'non-deportation' order which is basically she has no visa, but if she flags in the system as being an overstayer, they won't take any action as it is noted on her file that an application is pending. Usually during the extension or non-deportation period she can't leave the state. They don't usually like to do people out of a job, so in your case I think it would be fairly likely you will get an extension.

If you have not had a reply by the start of October, email them, explain that she has a job and wishes to continue working whilst here, but her visa expires at the end of the month. If she is working they *tend* be be a bit more flexible about the extensions and sometimes they will even speed things up a bit. It happened for us with my husbands spousal visa - he had an offer of a job but we were still waiting on a decision to his visa. So we emailed them, explained that he has a job offer, provided proof of the offer, and that he is very keen to start earning and become a contributing member of Irish society etc etc. Got an email back that they would do their best to expedite the application and a week later they issued the visa. So it is worth a try.

If by mid-October you still have had no decision just head into Burgh Quay or to your Immigration Garda and explain you have an application pending, show your paperwork, reference number etc and request an extension. Hopefully they will give it, but at worst they will give a non-deportation order.

Thanks for the helpful info folks. We did clearly highlight on our cover letter that her current permission to stay/work expires on 31 October and that she is working (the file contains a copy of her employment contract and a number of recent payslips) and this could therefore be an issue.

Hopefully they will give her a stay & work extension if it comes to it. I think we will write in seperately over the next few days, set out our concerns and get INIS's views on it at present.

tatli_lokma · 19-07-2013 12:27pm

I wouldn't write to them just yet. It's only July, you only put in your application in June and the current visa doesn't expire until the end of Oct. If you write now, you will either get the standard 'we are processing your application and will be in touch' standard PFO letter or they will ignore you.

Just wait and give it a chance first. Mid to late September is time enough to go chasing them.

The_Bot · 19-07-2013 12:35pm

tatli_lokma wrote: »

I wouldn't write to them just yet. It's only July, you only put in your application in June and the current visa doesn't expire until the end of Oct. If you write now, you will either get the standard 'we are processing your application and will be in touch' standard PFO letter or they will ignore you.

Just wait and give it a chance first. Mid to late September is time enough to go chasing them.

Ok thanks that makes sense.

Bull_Boy · 31-07-2013 11:36am

Hi everyone. Me (a non-Irish national) and my girlfriend (Irish) of 4 years have recently applied for de facto status. We sent in supporting documentation on 3 occasions, supplying every piece of evidence they requested. We stated outright that we are not living together (I am on a student visa, so can only work part time; she is starting a Masters soon and still lives at home). Yesterday we got a letter saying we were rejected for de-facto status because a) we did not provide proof that we co-habit, and b) we do not have financial means to support each other.

These reasons both seem very shaky to me. From what I understand, co-habitation is not a requirement for de-facto status. Secondly, I have been supporting myself for 5 years already. Granted, my quality of life is not the best, an I live in a small, dinky room and have to share a bathroom and kitchen. I am not a burden on the state, we are both law-abiding and have always been forthcoming with all our documentation.

Does anyone have any advice as to how we can go about appealing this decision? There appears to be various people working on our case (based on the letters we received), and I am worried something got lost somewhere. They sent back only about 3 of our supporting documents, out of about 50 we sent in.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again everyone!

Patrin · 31-07-2013 8:18pm

Hi,

Been with my girlfriend for 8 years now, she is american and I'm Irish. After 1.5 years she came to Ireland for college for 3 years and went back home since I was not working right after graduating in 2010. Now I am financially stable and saved a fair amount we are hoping to reunite. I've made half a dozen transalantic journeys since she left and her a similar amount here. Anyone know if not living together the last 3 years will hinder application?

She will be back in Ireland mid-sept. to start the process and we have an apartment now. Photos and withnesses letters should be a problem but I am worried at the lack of bills, etc legally type of evidence we dont have much of given our age.

Tara Xiao · 31-07-2013 11:24pm

Guofu wrote: »

Just rang the vaunted INIS helpline this morning to ask about getting a defacto visa for my Taiwanese girlfriend (I'm an Irish citizen) only to be told that it would only be considered after we'd been living together IN IRELAND for 2 years. Either the guy didn't know what he was talking about (I hope) or things have just got a lot more difficult. We've been in a relationship for 4 years and lived together in Australia and Taiwan for around 2 years all told.

hi Guofu, have you guys got your visa? how long does it take? I'm planning to get my visa sorted out soon. Thanks in advance!

debz61288 · 06-08-2013 9:53pm

Myself (Irish) and my partner (Australian) applied for the defacto this year and got approved without any hassle. We did provide a mountain of evidence so it was hard for them to refuse however being told you need to live together for 2 years is incorrect. Myself and my partner had been together for the required 2 year period however we have only been living together since February 2012. The requirement is that you must just be in a relationship for 2 years, not that you need to be living together.

If you don't have much documentation such as a lease, bills etc, just get as much information as you possibly can. I gave them print screens of my Facebook page showing check in's, status, photos etc linked to us both and clearing showing dates. If you have any invitations with both your names on it put them in too. I also took a photocopy of each page of our passport showing immigration stamps from countries we had visited together to show we were travelling together. Might also help to get the Irish parents to make a declaration stating your genuine relationship with signatures and a copy of their passport.

Tara Xiao · 06-08-2013 10:55pm

debz61288 wrote: »

Myself (Irish) and my partner (Australian) applied for the defacto this year and got approved without any hassle. We did provide a mountain of evidence so it was hard for them to refuse however being told you need to live together for 2 years is incorrect. Myself and my partner had been together for the required 2 year period however we have only been living together since February 2012. The requirement is that you must just be in a relationship for 2 years, not that you need to be living together.

If you don't have much documentation such as a lease, bills etc, just get as much information as you possibly can. I gave them print screens of my Facebook page showing check in's, status, photos etc linked to us both and clearing showing dates. If you have any invitations with both your names on it put them in too. I also took a photocopy of each page of our passport showing immigration stamps from countries we had visited together to show we were travelling together. Might also help to get the Irish parents to make a declaration stating your genuine relationship with signatures and a copy of their passport.

:)Thanks very much for the post! I am going to apply for the de facto visa very soon (I'm Chinese and my boyfriend is Irish). I have a job offer at hand but the company said they couldn't sign the contract until I get my visa sorted. Would you kindly tell me when did you apply for yours and how long did it take? Thanks again!

debz61288 · 07-08-2013 9:01am

Processing time was 5 months but if your on to them maybe just ask what the latest processing time is, they will be able to tell you what dates they are currently looking at to give you an idea of how long it will take. But make your application really good that its hard for them to refuse, give absolutely everything you can to prove your relationship.
I am sure plenty of people have a nightmare experience applying for these visas but ours couldnt have gone any smoother.
Best of luck with it

OldNotWIse · 15-08-2013 10:26am

8 months waiting for decision?? Visa due to expire soon. Helpline that supposedly opens for 2 hours once a week now closed because they are so busy? wtf

adublinguy · 15-08-2013 10:40am

OldNotWIse wrote: »

8 months waiting for decision?? Visa due to expire soon. Helpline that supposedly opens for 2 hours once a week now closed because they are so busy? wtf

if you have already applied and received the confirmation letter the visa can expire no problem, only issue is that the applicant will not be able to leave the country.

you can always go down to INIS and get the visa extended, we did that. they extended it for 3 months.

OldNotWIse · 15-08-2013 10:55am

adublinguy wrote: »

if you have already applied and received the confirmation letter the visa can expire no problem, only issue is that the applicant will not be able to leave the country.

you can always go down to INIS and get the visa extended, we did that. they extended it for 3 months.

Sh1t. We have holidays booked

Its so rubbish feeling like she's being treated like a second class citizen. Can't work. Constantly worrying about where we will be in a few weeks/months. Hard to make future plans etc. God knows the path of true love is hard enough lol

So we can just drop down and get the three month ext? Must do that

ps thanks

adublinguy · 15-08-2013 10:58am

some advice, if you are going down, go down before it even opens

they stop giving out tickets at like 9.30 am sometimes..ridiculous.

as for the defacto phone number, waste of time, only opens for two hours each thursday and trying to get through is a waste of time.

adublinguy · 15-08-2013 11:00am

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Sh1t. We have holidays booked

Its so rubbish feeling like she's being treated like a second class citizen. Can't work. Constantly worrying about where we will be in a few weeks/months. Hard to make future plans etc. God knows the path of true love is hard enough lol

So we can just drop down and get the three month ext? Must do that

ps thanks

also no guarantee they will extend it, but worth trying, when we went down the girl we spoke to acted like she had never heard of extensions...she went off to speak to a supervisor and came back ten mins later and extended it

it does mean that you will be charged for a new cards as well tho (300 euros) as you OH will need it to gain re-entry to the country. if you werent going on hols a simple stamp in the passport would suffice.

OldNotWIse · 15-08-2013 11:03am

adublinguy wrote: »

some advice, if you are going down, go down before it even opens

they stop giving out tickets at like 9.30 am sometimes..ridiculous.

as for the defacto phone number, waste of time, only opens for two hours each thursday and trying to get through is a waste of time.

and its closed now anyway!

OldNotWIse · 15-08-2013 11:04am

adublinguy wrote: »

also no guarantee they will extend it, but worth trying, when we went down the girl we spoke to acted like she had never heard of extensions...she went off to speak to a supervisor and came back ten mins later and extended it

it does mean that you will be charged for a new cards as well tho (300 euros) as you OH will need it to gain re-entry to the country. if you werent going on hols a simple stamp in the passport would suffice.

she's paid that a number of times now

If we come back a few days before expiry can she be detained on re-entry? I would have thought proof of a pending app would be sufficient.

Do they normally take this long? I've a bottle of imitation champagne sitting sadly looking at me for the past 6 months

adublinguy · 15-08-2013 11:05am

yeah if you really need some action taken you really need to go down to the office anyway...you wont get much information over the phone

OldNotWIse · 15-08-2013 11:07am

adublinguy wrote: »

yeah if you really need some action taken you really need to go down to the office anyway...you wont get much information over the phone

I dont know. When we applied, we went over with the box of documents and they refused it. Said it had to be posted. Back over to GPO to post it across the road

adublinguy · 15-08-2013 11:11am

well i was more referring to follow ups,extensions etc.. not the actual application

tatli_lokma · 15-08-2013 11:38am

adublinguy wrote: »

also no guarantee they will extend it, but worth trying, when we went down the girl we spoke to acted like she had never heard of extensions...she went off to speak to a supervisor and came back ten mins later and extended it

it does mean that you will be charged for a new cards as well tho (300 euros) as you OH will need it to gain re-entry to the country. if you werent going on hols a simple stamp in the passport would suffice.

They don't have to extend it, its at their discretion. What they will sometimes do is issue a non-deportation order against her file, which basically means that although her visa has expired, because there is an application pending she will not be deported. But as already said, you should not leave the country during this period as you probably won't get back in.

If there is still time on her visa and she has a re-entry visa (if she needs one) then in theory she could leave the state as long as she was back before the visa expires. However I think the problem you will have is with airlines rather than the immigration as they might not allow her to travel with so little time on her visa. They get fined if someone is refused at the boarder, so often they won't take the chance. Best to check with the airline first.

adublinguy · 15-08-2013 11:42am

OldNotWIse wrote: »

she's paid that a number of times now

If we come back a few days before expiry can she be detained on re-entry? I would have thought proof of a pending app would be sufficient.

Do they normally take this long? I've a bottle of imitation champagne sitting sadly looking at me for the past 6 months

our application took 6 months to the day. Best thing to do is pay a visit to the office and ask all these questions you need answering, best to do this the right way the first time.

OldNotWIse · 15-08-2013 2:49pm

adublinguy wrote: »

our application took 6 months to the day. Best thing to do is pay a visit to the office and ask all these questions you need answering, best to do this the right way the first time.

She's at a point now where she is saying she just doesn't care anymore. I know she does, but she has just basically said let them do whatever they want, that she is tired worrying about it. I dont blame her. 8 months is a long time to wait for an answer.

If I go to INIS mself tomorrow without her will they entertain me? I suppose it's a joint app, being defacto.

tatli_lokma · 15-08-2013 4:10pm

I don't think they will be too happy to see you without her. I think technically she is the one applying for the visa, and you are her sponsor. So pretty sure they will want to speak with her. But worth a try - you might get a nice officer who will be willing to help.

It sucks having to wait so long. But at least she is here and had her own visa to begin with. We applied for a spousal visa and were 6 months waiting, and hubby had only an expired visa and notice of non-deportation. We didn't even get to go on honeymoon cos of it cos he couldn't leave the country. But it will be worth it in the end. I do sometimes wonder if they take so long to process some applications just to discourage some people - if you were not really serious about it you would probably just give up, and I think that is what they are hoping for half the time.

OldNotWIse · 15-08-2013 4:14pm

tatli_lokma wrote: »

I don't think they will be too happy to see you without her. I think technically she is the one applying for the visa, and you are her sponsor. So pretty sure they will want to speak with her. But worth a try - you might get a nice officer who will be willing to help.

It sucks having to wait so long. But at least she is here and had her own visa to begin with. We applied for a spousal visa and were 6 months waiting, and hubby had only an expired visa and notice of non-deportation. We didn't even get to go on honeymoon cos of it cos he couldn't leave the country. But it will be worth it in the end. I do sometimes wonder if they take so long to process some applications just to discourage some people - if you were not really serious about it you would probably just give up, and I think that is what they are hoping for half the time.

Wouldnt surprise me. I honestly don't know how it could take so long

She's super qualified and can't work. They're more than happy to take money from her for exorbitant "non eu" college fees etc.

adublinguy · 15-08-2013 4:19pm

OldNotWIse wrote: »

She's at a point now where she is saying she just doesn't care anymore. I know she does, but she has just basically said let them do whatever they want, that she is tired worrying about it. I dont blame her. 8 months is a long time to wait for an answer.

If I go to INIS mself tomorrow without her will they entertain me? I suppose it's a joint app, being defacto.

i went down before without my partner and they spoke to me...but best to bring her with you. 8 months is certainly a long time. I would definitely pop down, you never know...the staff are pretty helpful on the whole.

OldNotWIse · 16-08-2013 4:19pm

Went down today. Got the impression the guy at the desk was more interested in getting rid of me than actually helping me. He started off by saying I couldn't get information at the office, and that I should call the helpline. I told him that I tried that and the line is in fact closed. He then said I would have to write to them, which I had anticipated and so had a letter to drop off. He wouldnt give any indication of any kind of average waiting time - even when I pointed out that we had been waiting 8 months and knew of people who had decisions after two...nothing. So p1ssed at this stage tbh

My OH says she's booking a one way ticket home so...fuucking thanks INIS paper pushers, you've just cost me my relationship.

ay.Jul · 06-09-2013 7:25pm

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Went down today. Got the impression the guy at the desk was more interested in getting rid of me than actually helping me. He started off by saying I couldn't get information at the office, and that I should call the helpline. I told him that I tried that and the line is in fact closed. He then said I would have to write to them, which I had anticipated and so had a letter to drop off. He wouldnt give any indication of any kind of average waiting time - even when I pointed out that we had been waiting 8 months and knew of people who had decisions after two...nothing. So p1ssed at this stage tbh My OH says she's booking a one way ticket home so...fuucking thanks INIS paper pushers, you've just cost me my relationship.

Hey did you sorte out your problem? I was reading the post and I saw your problem. I'm pretty scared as I will apply at the end of this month for de Facto. My BF is Italian and of course I don't have an EU passport and my visa is good until midle of November. We've been living together for 2 years and in a relationship for more than 2 and half year. Any tips???

Thank you for your time.

perfectblue · 06-09-2013 10:55pm

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Went down today. Got the impression the guy at the desk was more interested in getting rid of me than actually helping me. He started off by saying I couldn't get information at the office, and that I should call the helpline. I told him that I tried that and the line is in fact closed. He then said I would have to write to them, which I had anticipated and so had a letter to drop off. He wouldnt give any indication of any kind of average waiting time - even when I pointed out that we had been waiting 8 months and knew of people who had decisions after two...nothing. So p1ssed at this stage tbh My OH says she's booking a one way ticket home so...fuucking thanks INIS paper pushers, you've just cost me my relationship.

ugh, this is terrible! I wonder why you are having such issues? Have you sent in updates of your info (bank statements, etc)?

perfectblue · 06-09-2013 10:56pm

PS- I've heard from people who got assistance from local TDs and the like... maybe try that route too?

travstrong · 10-09-2013 4:43pm

Hi all,
Just a quick question regarding De Facto applications.
I gather from reading threads like this one and others that private health insurance is mandatory for de facto applications, although this is not explicitly mentioned anywhere on the INIS website.
Does anybody know whether the mandatory insurance thats supplied with language school registration for non-EEA students is sufficient for this purpose, or does it have to be at the level of a comprehensive cover plan with an Irish provider such as VHI or Aviva etc. Just checking as my OH already has coverage as a student.

perfectblue · 10-09-2013 4:46pm

travstrong wrote: »

Hi all,
Just a quick question regarding De Facto applications.
I gather from reading threads like this one and others that private health insurance is mandatory for de facto applications, although this is not explicitly mentioned anywhere on the INIS website.
Does anybody know whether the mandatory insurance thats supplied with language school registration for non-EEA students is sufficient for this purpose, or does it have to be at the level of a comprehensive cover plan with an Irish provider such as VHI or Aviva etc. Just checking as my OH already has coverage as a student.

I have international "expat" coverage (ie, good around the world for catastrophic coverage but also most general preventative care and most prescriptions) from a carrier in the US and that seemed fine enough. I think they just want to know that you have some way of paying your hospital bills.

travstrong · 11-09-2013 10:13am

Cheers, anecdotally somebody who works in my OH's school and who recently went through the process told her that the basic group insurance from schools is not accepted. Might be worth taking out some more comprehensive coverage I guess.

OldNotWIse · 11-09-2013 10:18am

ay.Jul wrote: »

Hey did you sorte out your problem? I was reading the post and I saw your problem. I'm pretty scared as I will apply at the end of this month for de Facto. My BF is Italian and of course I don't have an EU passport and my visa is good until midle of November. We've been living together for 2 years and in a relationship for more than 2 and half year. Any tips???

Thank you for your time.

Nope, still waiting

What paper pushers....

I hope you get yours sorted, all I can say is make sure you give them everything the first time because with ours, they waited four months to "realise" we hadnt submitted something and it's now four months since we submitted it...I dont know it the six month clock goes back to zero or somethign every time you submit more info :mad:

tatli_lokma · 11-09-2013 1:13pm

travstrong wrote: »

Hi all,
Just a quick question regarding De Facto applications.
I gather from reading threads like this one and others that private health insurance is mandatory for de facto applications, although this is not explicitly mentioned anywhere on the INIS website.

It doesn't have to be mentioned - they cover themselves by saying
"[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]The above is not an exhaustive list, and you may be asked for additional documentation in support of your application"[/FONT]

The main thing they are concerned about is that you can support yourselves as a couple in cases of emergency, including health emergencies, without needing to access social welfare assistance. The silly thing about that, is that if you are already here on a valid visa which allows you to work to some extent, you are paying for PRSI which means you have a right to access public hospital treatment anyway. Likewise if your country is one of those with a reciprocal health agreement with Ireland you are entitled to emergency health cover.

But from my experience, it is much better if you have either private health insurance or at least travel insurance which covers you for living abroad for at least a year. It seems to reassure them.

travstrong · 11-09-2013 8:31pm

True, I guess they can't mention everything. Was just checking out to see if anyone had concrete info about the type of insurance that was acceptable before going out and buying another one. I guess its the sort of thing that they would flag at some point anyway if the cover wasn't adequate, but obviously we're keen to avoid any setbacks in processing time.
The school insurance says that it covers up to 2,5 million of outpatient and inpatient costs, medical repatriation, ambulance charges etc and is valid for one year. Seems like it should be ok.

OldNotWIse · 13-09-2013 10:14am

After nine months of nothingness from INIS, my partner has made the decision to return home. I can't go with her - my life is here - college, work, family, friends and yet, I can't implore her to stay in a country where she has no identity, no right to support herself, where she must essentially live under the radar, like a rat. Nobody should have to live that way. I feel like my insides are being torn apart. It's hard to keep it all together. Thanks INIS, thank you so much. You've made Ireland a bigger sh1thole. Oh and while we're on the matter, thanks god too! You leave me with nothing, and still expect me to make something - and I say fuuck you

Sorry.

tatli_lokma · 18-09-2013 11:56am

We love our postman today! finally after 8 months we received confirmation that my husband has been approved to be naturalised! Now all we need to do is send off the money, and some other original documents and then he will be advised of his citizenship ceremony date and time. I think there is one scheduled for 21st October, so hopefully it will all be finalised by then.

Are the ceremonies every month does anyone know? I know there are a few per day usually - does anyone know what times and how long each ceremony takes?

OldNotWIse · 26-09-2013 4:18pm

Sorry to bump. Does anyone know if there is any point in say turning up at INIS first thing tomorrow morning and trying to speak to someone to at least see what stage of the application process things are at? Desperate now. OH has missed two job opportunities and is close to returning home. I simply dont know what to do anymore. Its been 10 months since we applied. The helpline doesnt work (in order to speed up apps - my árse!), you send letters and receive computer generated responses that show your letter wasnt even read. How does one get through to these people?

tatli_lokma · 26-09-2013 7:29pm

Turning up will do no good. They wouldn't speak to your fiancée, so they certainly won't speak to you as you are not the one applying

When we were applying for hubby's visa, he too had to turn down offers of work because he had no visa yet. So we wrote to INIS and included copies of the job offers as proof and basically said that he was being prevented from being a tax paying and contributing member of Irish society because he was being prevented from working. Two weeks later we had the visa.

rachelp · 26-09-2013 10:21pm

Hi all,
This thread has been very useful but I'm just interested how people are getting on still and have things changed!!! My boyfriend of 4 years wants to apply for the de facto visa as I'm Irish.. We met here in Ireland, he came here for 4 years of college and graduated last year, and we spent 8 months in China together. At the moment he is back in the USA and trying to figure the best way to apply for the visa. He is considering applying for 12 month working visa and trying to transfer it to the de facto. Has anyone any recommendations on this or how should he enter the country before applying for it? We have plenty of evidence that we have been in a relationship for 4 years as we lived together from the very beginning and I spent a summer in the USA with him also, but if anyone has any hints or tips to make the process any easier it will be greatly appreciated!!! Also, how long does it normally take to be granted? Thanks

DZ21 · 27-09-2013 2:18pm

Hi All. My boyfriend and I have found this thread to be very helpful during our application process so I thought I would contribute our experiences thus far.
I am American and my boyfriend is Irish. We met while I was on a 1 year working holiday visa and lived together for almost the whole year. After, I returned home for the year after until we were eligible to apply for the visa. I had a job working for the airlines for the year so we were able to visit each other every few weeks during our time apart.
In July, I quit my job and flew over here to apply for the visa. We submitted a very large binder including everything that others had recommended such as:
- proof of living together
- about 100 photographs with labels of who,where, and when each photo was taken
- screenshots of skype (We sent a few we had taken during video chats with the date in the bottom corner of the screen), email in-boxes, facebook (I used the relationship page to show dates when we first met etc.)
- cards and invitations to weddings
- 8 letters from friends and family
- proof of medical insurance
- proof of finances including money transfers to one another and bank accounts
- My CV/Resume
- My boyfriend's proof of employment as well as a letter from his boss attesting to our relationship and my bf's stake in the company
- photocopies of every page of our passports
- airline and hotel reservations
- letters from each of us attesting to our past and future plans together
- and anything else we could think of. I think in all it was over 100 pages.

As with everyone else, we got a letter within 2 days stating that our application had been received.
It's been 2 months and we haven't heard anything yet. It's seems like some people are lucky and it happens rather quickly but in general, I think were in it for the long haul.
My advice is if you are planning to have someone move here to apply for the visa, anticipate being a sole provider for quite sometime. We stayed with my boyfriends family for a while to make sure we could afford living on our own with only one of us working. His mother included in her letter for us that she was happy to have us stay in her home while we waited for the application to process.
Also, be sure to include enough evidence with dates. Photographs are great but you can't prove when they were taken. So make sure to submit enough evidence with dates from beginning to now.
The applicant for the visa must be in the country when applying and from what I gather, can really only leave during the first initial 3 months. But once the tourist visa has expired, you won't be allowed to re-enter so I would not make any plans for holidays.
I will be sure to post an update if and when we here something to give an idea of how long our application takes. So far, we have not been asked to provide any additional information.
Thanks to everyone who has posted on here! It's been a huge help to us! God knows we won't be getting help from anyone else!

alianoelle · 27-09-2013 2:32pm

DZ21 wrote: »

As with everyone else, we got a letter within 2 days stating that our application had been received.

We submitted 5 weeks ago via registered post and still have not had a response, I wonder if anyone else has experienced a delay in receiving their confirmation?

alianoelle · 30-09-2013 2:28pm

I've been checking every couple of weeks, and I just noticed that INIS have updated their content on de facto visas and there are some new requirements (e.g. Police clearance from home country, and the requirement that you must be physically living together for the previous 2 years, not just in a durable relationship.)

Not sure how this will impact existing applications...We've been living together for 6 years prior, but we didn't include a police clearance in our application, and it's a lot harder to get once you're no longer in the country. I went to my embassy today and they gave me the forms. I'll need to pay Garda to take my fingerprints, then send the fingerprints with a bank draft in my home currency and wait ~22 weeks for the police back home to grant me clearance.

On the upside, INIS now list the processing time as "up to 6 months" rather than up to a year, so fingers crossed.

Ireland De-Facto Visa

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