Hello folks,
Thanks in advance for any word of advice.
I'm American (so non visa required) and my spouse is Irish. We met and got married in the US a few years ago and have been living here ever since. We're planning to move to Ireland in the next couple of months and would like to plan ahead. According to the INIS website, the foreign national and their Irish national spouse would attend at the local Garda National Immigration Bureau Registration office with 4 items:
-Their original marriage certificate
-Their original passports
- Evidence of joint address
My questions are:
1. Are there any other necessary items the website failed to mention? Birth cert maybe?
2. What would constitute an acceptable evidence of joint address,
especially if the couple is sub-leasing or staying with a family member?
3. Would the couple need to return to the Garda office for an interview or
any other procedure after the initial registration date and before the
application can be approved?
4. How long does it normally take this sort of application (US citizen
married to an Irish national) to process?
5. If the application is approved, how long is the permit valid for
I've been trying to contact the INIS and Garda offices all over Ireland for answers, but to no avail. The INIS will not deal with "general immigration queries" and the Garda office lines are always busy.
Thanks again in advance to all you wonderful folks,
Joey.
Hi Joey. Sorry, no good info, but my husband had success emailing the local Garda immigration station here in Galway. Are you going to be in a smaller town like this? They were very quick emailing us back, more than once. INIS however, no response.
Hi Rebecca, thanks for the reply. I actually tried calling the Galway office. I couldn't find any email for them. Could you please give me the email address you successfully used to contact them?
Did you recently immigrate to Ireland with a non EEA spouse?
I’ll ask my husband who he emailed. We are non eea's and still are waiting for permission to stay. Very stressful, but we have a weird situation.
Here’s what my husband said, “I just followed a link on their website. But, the address that responded to me was Gaillimh.Immigration@garda.ie.”
Rebecca, thanks so much, dear.
@jschwartz Hi Joey, these 2 past forum topics should give you a lot of info on what's needed, and what people have done in the past. There's discussion on much of what you asked in those, including how long the visa is good for etc. I'd recommend reading them right through if you haven't already.
Regarding #2, an insurance policy (auto, health) in both your names would work, as would a joint bank statement. It wouldn't hurt to take over ownership of one of the home's utility bills too if that's possible.
Wishing you the best, and as I encourage everyone, please come back and update this thread as you find information. Anything you can share is greatly appreciated.
Liam
Hi Liam, thanks so much. I have actually gone over the first thread at length and found it very useful and interesting. My concern however was that the information may not be up to date. Most of the posts were from 2016 and I was wondering if the process has changed or become stricter since then. Do you happen to know?
A lot of folks reported getting their Stamp 4 on the day they went to the Garda (in the case of spouses of Irish nationals), and it seemed a little too good to believe since the INIS website states the process can take 12 months. I was looking for further confirmation that it is still the case.
I have emailed the Garda and if they get back to me I will make sure to let you know what they said.
Joey, from everyone I've spoken to, nothing has changed. But each case is handled on it's own merits, and everything you'll find here is based on personal circumstances, and not necessarily on rules/regulations.
The Galway Garda was kind enough to answer me! I was asking specifically about the case of the couple staying with a family member (so no lease). Here's what they said:
An official bank statement with your name and address on it is accepted by this office as proof of address. You may also produce a letter from the owner of the house outlining you live there, the approximate duration of stay and his/her name and contact details.
Once the Stamp 4 is in a passport a person may seek employment. Employers are obliged to request production of the Irish Residence Permit but most understand that there is a 3-week processing time for a person to receive the card.
If you register at a Garda Immigration Office, you must collect the Irish Residence Permit from the office in which you registered 3 weeks after registration.
Liam, is the Stamp 4 valid for 1 year or 3? I've read mixed reports on this site.