First of all we are so glad we found this forum it's great and has eased our minds tremendously just reading through it already cannot thank you all enough! We have a few questions (so sorry if they seem like a million) that we wanted to ask anyone who has been through the experience and could maybe help us out?
I am American and my husband is Irish we are here at the moment and plan on moving there within the next coming months together! What our concerns and worries are if anyone could possibly tell us how strict they are when it comes to proof of finances and did they even ask for them I have heard sometimes they don't? I know we read the whole 40k rule but we are definitely a little bit under that because I have not been able to work as much this past year since my Mother was very ill and I was staying home to take care of her. So we're worried they may deny me just over that, and if we are staying with his family initially when we arrive what could we possibly show instead of a leasing agreement to provide proof of residence? What did they ask for exactly and after sending in your application after arriving do you they hold your passport or would we not even have to go through that process if I received the stamp? Also an Irish friend mentioned and a bit confused about the married for three years rule too. We were only married here back in August would that be alright? (So sorry again for the millions of questions) Any feedback and anyone telling us about their experience going through it themselves would be greatly appreciated everyone! Thank you so much!
Taylor x
Hey Taylor! Welcome to the site.
To answer some of your questions....
Finances - I'm not aware of anyone ever being refused on the basis of the 40K rule. They say the Irish citizen must "have earned a cumulative gross income over and above any State benefits of not less than €40k". I read that as 40k when you add up the income for those 3 years, do you? If so, they probably pay very little attention to it.
Proof of residence - recent info on this from a Galway Garda.
What 3 year rule are you referring to? There is one for De Facto relationships (not married), but that won't apply to you. Section 15.3 here (PDF), says "For marriage or civil partnership no minimum duration of the marriage will be required".
Please feel free to ask more questions as they come up, and also, please be sure to update us as you go through the process. Details of your experience will be greatly appreciated by others 🙂
Liam
Hello! (I'm Taylor, as well. =)
I'm currently going through the process of marrying an Irish citizen. It's going well so far. =) So, while going through that, I also want to start preparing for immigration, because I do plan to stay in Ireland with him.
I was curious--as I'm struggling to go through all these government pages on Stamp 4's--while you are waiting for your stamp 4, are you allowed to leave the country?
I was planning to start the stamp 4 process in June, but I'm the maid of honor for my sisters wedding in October. So, that would be a disaster.
Thank you for all the kindness and help here. It's been a massive help on this journey. Once I finish the marriage process, I'll share my experience. (Same for the stamp 4 process.)
-Taylor
Hi all,
Firstly it is nice to see so many people with a similar situation, I hope I can share my experience and get some advice.
I am an Irish citizen married to a Turkish national. We have been living in Malta for almost 2 years and both have a residence card for EUFam which allows us to live here for 5 years. The Maltese immigration system is very straightforward. Anyone who wants to exercise their EU movement rights should consider here. English is also an official language here which makes it easy to settle into. If anyone has any questions about Malta seperately you can pm me.
However, the advice I am looking for now is moving to Ireland. I want to move back home and we will apply for permission to remain under EU treaty rights due to the fact that I can be considered an EU citizen who instead of an Irish citizen (thanks to my Maltese residence card). I have read as much as I can and browsing through websites like this but sometimes I feel like I know what I need to do and then I read something different and I am confused.
We went to Ireland for a holiday recently and my husband showed his Maltese residence card and they asked nothing so that was a relief as before we were married they used to always ask a lot of questions. However, many people say that if you plan on moving to Ireland you should say this at the airport?
Secondly, many old posts here talk about going to the Garda station. Unfortunately, in Dublin it is no longer done this way. This authority has now been handed over to INIS and you must book an appointment online which is not easy as everytime I check it says no appointment available. What I am really confused about is what happens at the appointment. You bring your things and they give you a temporary stamp 4? I have read online people waiting up to 12 months for their permanent stamp 4. Also what is stamp 4 physically, I mean is it a stamp in your passport or is it a residence card like what we have in Malta?
Thanks in advance for any help 🙂
Hello all,
I must say this site has been very helpful & informative. Thank you all for your posts in the past, it's really helped on my path so far.
I am an Irish citizen, my wife is a US citizen, we plan on moving to Ireland soon. I was wondering if anybody had any tips for going to the local Garda station for the first time. As well as the ID's, proof of address, proof of income, is there anything else I should prepare? Has anyone brought a detailed history of the relationship? Date met, when, where, etc, date engaged, married etc?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Hello all,
I must say this site has been very helpful & informative. Thank you all for your posts in the past, it's really helped on my path so far.
I am an Irish citizen, my wife is a US citizen, we plan on moving to Ireland soon. I was wondering if anybody had any tips for going to the local Garda station for the first time. As well as the ID's, proof of address, proof of income, is there anything else I should prepare? Has anyone brought a detailed history of the relationship? Date met, when, where, etc, date engaged, married etc?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
In our experience, no need for details of the relationship but a marriage certificate would be useful.
Thank you Mairead, hadn't forgotten about that 🙂
Hello all,
My wife & I went to meet the immigration office at our local Garda station today. The person we met said my wife would be issued with a stamp 4, but only in 2-3 weeks when the ID card is ready. We were really hoping to have the passport stamped today as she has a job offer pending the stamp. Is there any way to hurry along the issue of the ID card? Or could we call the immigration officer and see if the passport could be stamped sooner rather than later?
Many thanks,
Wasn't her passport stamped when she entered the country? or has that stamp expired?
The cards do take about 2 weeks to be produced; I'm not sure that you could hurry it up.
Hi Mairead,
Yea, her passport was stamped when she entered the country, but even though the immigration office said she would receive the stamp 4, she did not stamp it today.