Like Kate said @Carrie if you are accompanied by your husband the immigration officers won't give you a problem just make your intentions known that you moving here. It makes it easier if your stamp in your passport says joining spouse at the Airport. I think the procedure is the same. In my case my wife is a dual citizen she is irish/british. At the Airport we used her irish passport and my South Africa passport told the immigration officers we moving here and my passport was stamped with 90 days and on the stamp it said joining spouse. We read too much online delayed to register because we waited for utility bills. I think the situation might be the same for you Carrie when we went to the immigration office to register. The first day we went there we asked if we had been given an appointment date then we said no. We were given an appointment date which was like 2 weeks away so we waited. Then our appointment date arrived we went there then the immigration officer asked us about about a letter then we said we dis not have it and we told him we got our stamp at the Airport we moving here. He asked for the passport and the stamp clearly showed joining spouse. He asked for my wife's passport,my passport,marriage certificate and tenancy agreement with both our names and that was it I was registered and wr asked if he needed the utility bills he said no the tenancy agreement is more than enough. I got registered then he said on the day of collection on my gnib card thats the day they will stamp my passport. They said it takes 2 weeks the whole process took less than 15 mins. After that it tool me exactly 10 days I got my stamp 4 which is valid for 3 years I can work and study or set up a business my passport was stamped on that day as well. The bad part is I think it does not guarantee me freedom of movement but for spouses of eu nationals which are not Irish they get freedom of movement stamp 4 eu fam. Carrie I suggest u get your lease agreement in order the next day or 2 you and your husband you go to your local garda station tell them you want to register get your appointment date without go without the utility bills. Just your signed stamped both names tenancy agreement and see what happens there is no crime or harm in trying. Cause we delayed to about a month to get get utility bills which at the day of registering they only wanted the tenancy agreement.
The process is different for spouses of EU nationals. Unfortunately, it does take longer than spouses of Irish citizens. Your local immigration officer cannot actually do anything until you mail in your EU1 application and you receive a letter stating to make your appointment. And you will need utility bills, you need everything listed on the EU1 application.
@Kate I just assumed its the same with spouses of Irish. If I may ask Kate did you get stamp 4 eu fam or just stamp 4 & how many years was it.
@ronnie29 the process was the same up until January 2016, then they changed it. My husband received a stamp 4 with the freedom of movement, but it is only valid for 1 year, and he has to get it renewed every year.
Thanks Kate, hope all goes well for you @Carrie keep us up to date and dont hesitate to ask your questions.
@katemreagan You are amazing! Thank you so much. I finally feel like I understand the complete process 😀 and even more...WOW!! that you did all this with kids and 6 months pregnant!!! I'm so happy things went fairly smooth for you compared to others. And I can't thank you enough for your time and helping all of us out. It's very kind of you.
And I'll do as you suggested and wait for the utility bills to provide everything exactly as the form requests.
I'm just ready to get this year over with and be with my better half.
I'll keep everyone posted.
@ronnie29 Thank you so much for the details! I just read your portion
My husband is not joining me at the airport. He is already in Ireland. I am flying over alone and meeting him. I did not read anywhere that he has to be with me upon my arrival from the US to Ireland. Is this necessary or just is better if they do? I'm actually flying there this Friday and return a week later. He was just here for a week three weeks ago. So I hope he doesn't have to fly back to the US just to join me to Ireland. We fly so much already. Thank you.
No not at all you dont need to fly with him its just that it was easier for a few people. When you land you are joining your spouse so no problem.
@cvannest like Ronnie said, it's not necessary to have your husband with you going through customs at the airport. But he will need to be with you when you meet your local immigration officer since he holds the EU citizenship. I have read about horror stories with immigration officers at the airports questioning people about the validity of their marriage, but honestly I think it rarely happens. We have gone through customs at both Shannon and Dublin and the immigration officers at both were so down to earth and were making jokes about our names and if we were the Blue Bloods family.
I forgot to ask, do you have your PPS number? You will need that before you apply for your GNIB card.
Hi Carrie, @cvannest
Seems like your getting some questions answered 🙂 Welcome to the site, and looking forward to hearing your updates as things progress.
You're in good hands with these guys helping. Even though I have moved back and forth between Ireland/US a number of times, I am an Irish citizen (wife is dual), so I can't give you the perspective that Kate and Ronnie can. Happy to help wherever possible though, so please ask questions and/or start new forum threads as needed.
Liam