Saw the article on there (IC). I read some of the comments too. As to be expected, there is a mixture of support, for and against a change being made too allow people to retire. Whatever happens, they should at least make a change to so people know what to expect. It should be clear whether or not people can retire to Ireland, and under what conditions. This business of giving someone permission to remain for 12 months, and then they must re-apply is crazy. How could anyone ever be expected to lay Down roots?

... What if you don't live anywhere close to a State capital? Will a notarized copy work? 3. My guess is that the second interviewer will require more evidence of co-habitation, intent to marry etc. Please let us know what they ask for, but I'm sure it's different from case to case. 2 interviews though! How do they expect people from outside Ireland to do that? 4. Does the MRF have an expiration date? e.g. it is good for Up to x number of months in which you have to then get married. I totally understand why, but it's kind of funny that they now put so much ef ...

I am really sorry you are having to deal with that. From our experience, the people that were the most negative about our move were the ones that were ill-informed, or as Liam mentioned the ones that never even left their own state. When we first told our families that we WAnted to move to Ireland, no one really said anything because they didnt think it would happen. My sister, who has never been outside of the US, couldn't understand why we would ever WAnt to leave America. Her response to the news that we were actually moving WAs "well you are going to pi ...

... Spoke to a foreign estate planner to get some tax advice regarding US citizen married to non-citizen living abroad. His first response WAs to WAit till citizenship before doing the move because that is one of the most complex IRS issues. To summarize: IRS only gives the non-US citizen living abroad a martial inherence estate tax exemption of $60k on US assets with rest being taxed at 40%. If we were both citizens it's unlimited exemption. He explained WAys around it with types of estate trust, yearly gifting, investment accounts structuring ect ect but plan ...

I have not been through the Chunnel but my understanding is border controls are done in Calais by UK border control. UK is not part of the Schengen Agreement, nor is Ireland. It is possible that they could maintain a common movement area. The biggest question comes Down to what the UK can negotiate and whether or not Brussels will sign off on them or try to punish the UK.

The link that David provided covers what you need to do from a legal perspective. To offer some personal experience, I have re-entered the US after an extended period of time, without hassle. But, I think it is Down to the diligence of the immigration officer in deciding whether or not to quiz you further. If you plan to live in Ireland, I'm guessing that sooner or later, you'll lose the entitlement to keep the GC.

I think we will always be seen as Americans, no matter where we are. For us it just comes Down to not WAnting to necessarily live in an expat community, if that makes sense. We really WAnt to integrate and become part of the irish community. A lot of expats that we have encountered and talked to (some being my own co-workers) continued to compare the differences between Ireland and America in their daily lives. We dont WAnt to continue to live in the past of what we had in America but what we can make here in Ireland. Sorry that sounded really lame, but i ...

I think we will always be seen as Americans, no matter where we are. For us it just comes Down to not WAnting to necessarily live in an expat community, if that makes sense. We really WAnt to integrate and become part of the irish community. A lot of expats that we have encountered and talked to (some being my own co-workers) continued to compare the differences between Ireland and America in their daily lives. We dont WAnt to continue to live in the past of what we had in America but what we can make here in Ireland. Sorry that sounded really lame, but i ...

I think it really boils Down to immediate peer groups, too. My husband's uni peers are all single, childless middle aged men (only phd student visas permit one to bring family along, so one wouldn't normally encounter any other uni level student with partner/family along anyway... we are a unique situation). Perfectly lovely people, but when in Australia where he earned his MBA, his peers were men and women with young families like our's, and therefore we spent more time together as a group. I could see his colleagues cringing around the kids when we hosted them last Friday haha! It's just different stages of life. Another example to clarify - the expat group regularly hosts cocktail events and silent auctions and what not. And the uni group frequently invites us to pub crawls. There isn't a shortage of gatherings to attend... just a shortage of family-compatible events. My children, on the other hand, have a VERY active social calendar! Every weekend is consumed with birthday parties and play dates. There hasn't been an issue there at all. (And maybe the Irish here can clear this Up for me - the birthday parties are SUCH a huge deal! They seem to really go big here... is that the Irish norm? They attend a German school, so haven't been entirely sure.) They have adjusted beautifully for the most part, their peers have been very, very welcoming, as have their peers' parents. All that being said, I'm sure if I dug a little deeper and involved my children in the local GAA sports or other extracurricular group events (presently they only attend piano lessons), we'd find ourselves amongst other families. And we do have a local community centre that offers play groups and classes for toddlers. I'm just not *there* yet, but moving in that direction soon. We shall see....

... or small as others around. Some of the villages are very tiny and inclusive so as an outsider may be difficult to make close friends. However, it all comes Down to becoming involved in the local community. If you are social and WAnt to get involved you should have no problem making friends. The house we are renting is a holiday home on a golf course, so there is a mix of permanent residents and hotel guests. The Upside is that there is a playground on the grounds as well as tennis courts, swimming pools, and other rec facilities which our kids already love ...