Hi Kevin! Yes, a mortgage will be tricky within the first year, but a car loan should not be. Most community credit unions look very favourably on small loan seekers. Establish a rapport with one asap upon arrival. US credit history can help. I remember printing out details of my own, and using it for a variety of financial transactions. It's not going to be as cut and dry as a piece of financial history, but most Irish institutions are familiar with it, and it can be useful. Lastly, getting a loan from a non-bank Type organization isn't as commonplace as it is in the US. Banks and credit unions are the norm for money lending. I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes. Liam

Earlier today I had the pleasure of speaking with an Irish citizen living in Ireland who is marrying a non-EEA citizen later this year. They have given notice of their intention to marry to the relevant authorities in Ireland, and will follow the process involved with that in the coming months i.e. entry of the non-EEA citizen to Ireland, interview prior to marriage, etc. The official policy on this Type of immigration route states that after marriage the non-EEA citizen must leave the country, and then apply for a 'Join Family' visa, which takes anywhere up to approx 6 months to process. Once that's approved, the non-EEA citizen can enter Ireland, and go about applying for permission to remain (most likely in the form of Stamp 4). I'm starting this topic for us to share whatever we can about this process. If you've been through it, please add your perspective to the thread, so that others can benefit from your experience. If you too are going down this route, please let us know, or at least subscribe to the topic for updates as their posted. Thanks!

Hello all, Me and my boyfriend (Stefan) of 8 years are Canadian citizens with three children aged 6, 4 and 2. Because of Stefan's father being a German national when he WAs born here in Canada, Stefan WAs entitled to have dual German/Canadian citizenship, as well as our three children. I have WAnted to move to Ireland for a very long time, and at this time, there seems to be a lot of construction (house framing jobs) available and he's had a couple of solid offers. All that being said, can he just arrive in Ireland and work like that? He's not Irish obv ...

Hey! Thank you so much! That WAs very useful. I didn't realize it before--but you're right. My GNIB card does state that I'm on a stamp one. (I never knew that.) And I'm happy to say we're proceeding with the marriage process. (and hopefully the Stamp 4 process after.) We've scheduled a marriage interview. So, after going through the process of scheduling an interview--I'd like to amend what I said in my first paragraph. I WAs under the impression that when you make a marriage appointment, you have to WAit 3 months for the appointment. But, I see now you ha ...

That'd be cool, Ashley. Just click the 'Add Topic' button on this page, whenever you're ready. It doesn't save drafts, so if you Type more than a few paragraphs, it can be best to do it offline, and then paste it in 🙂 Best of luck with the application. I hope it goes super-smooth.

Hi Kevin, welcome to the site. From my experience I don't think you'll find a recommendation for a standout shipper. Sadly, most people seem to have some sort of discontent. Maybe it's just the nature of this Type of service. Price, delays, lost items, etc. We've heard it all. I personally don't recommend anyone company, but do urge people to get many (5 or 6) quotes, and scrutinize each one. Make sure they are like-for-like (door to door, or whatever you're doing), and make sure you question every fee, and lack of fees (the ones that pop up later!). Please feel free to add new topics as things come up. Liam

Hi Elaine, I remember looking into this too at the time, and remember not thinking USPS were an option for a reason that escapes me now. There are plenty of 'commercial' options though, so be sure to shop around. Many of them will actual forward your physical mail, while others offer a scan-to-email Type service. You'll find combo's too, which you might need for important docs, but mostly you'll just need them to scan your mail I'm guessing. I do recommend one such service on the 'Resources' page. Check it out if you're interested. Their ~$15/month option should suit most needs.

Hi Liam, my husband and I are US citizens and would love to purchase a vacation/holiday home in Ireland which would be a dream come true. One of the criteria we have to make this work is that we would like to have 2 units on the lot. We would rent one out, then use the other for our personal use when we vacation there 2-3 times a year. We would most likely have about 50% down payment and wondering what Type of hoops & loops we'd have to hurdle to make our dream come true. I'm so glad I found your site and hoping to learn some good advice, tips and insights! Thank you! Karen

I do no think operating a B&B is an approved business Type for immigration purposes but I could be wrong. Perhaps if you were able to prove jobs were created or saved. There have been a number of changes to Ireland's immigration policy especially for non-EEA people and entrepreneurs. Check out this link for possibly the latest information: And keep in mind that this information may be outdated. Good luck.

... We would be leasing our current property in the states while running the BnB in Ireland for at the very least a good 10 years. From what I've read so far I don't see any restrictions about buying property as a foreigner but I can't find info about using the property itself as a business and living there while doing so. We are not of Irish decent, have no current family in Ireland. So why Ireland? For me it's been a childhood dream to visit and live in Ireland. I became infatuated with ireland through literature, music, poetry, film and my short stint of ...