Hi Liam! Thank you! And yes, I would be happy to share my experience with the Critical Skills Visa. Is there a particular part of the forum that would be best?

My company bundled all the necessary paperwork and the application together today and sent it off to the government, so now it's just a waiting game! 

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.

Hello.  My husband and I are planning to move to Ireland next year.  We are now in the US.  He is a British citizen, and I am American.  

My current question is about how to provide a landlord with a reference.  We are both retired, and we will have no reference from a past landlord because we will have sold our house.  We will have a significant amount in the bank, but I would hate to have to reveal our personal finances to a stranger.  Any advice?  

Hello Sprockets

Landlords generally do ask for references before they will rent out a place to you. Some may be open to exploring other options e.g. US credit history (score), mortgage payment history, multi-month deposit, bank account statement etc. I don't think it should be necessary to show them your entire financial information. 

My advice is ask them what they will consider in lieu of references, with an explanation of your situation.

Welcome to the site

Liam

Hello!

I am hoping to connect with people who have had an experience as a mixed-citizenship couple moving to Ireland. I am from the US and my husband is from Italy. We are hoping to relocate to Ireland next year and don’t really know where to start for visas, residency/work permits, etc. (other than inis.gov.ie which can be a bit dense). We are pretty good at navigating bureaucracy, we did all of his US immigration applications without hiring an attorney, but any advice would be appreciated!

Thank you in advance,
Molly

Hi Molly,

Another US/Italian couple recently relocated to Ireland, and posted frequently here about their experience. I'd recommend checking out Kate's posts, which you can find here. 

Regards,

Liam

Hi,

I'm Chris and my wife is Jeannie.  We live in Dallas and are going to move to Ireland when we retire.  Now we just need to retire!  (Hopefully soon.)

My two biggest questions are in the areas of real estate and health care.  

Liam (or anyone else) I noticed in an earlier reply that you said the model we use in the US with a realtor representing the buyer isn't common in Ireland.  Did I get that right?  So buyers tend to represent themselves?  With being able to search on the internet (I've found myhome.ie to be very good) I actually do think that the buyer's agent model is becoming kind of outdated.  People can mostly find the properties that they like without a realtor.  But when it comes time to make an offer, get the required inspections, government documentation, etc,... I can see a buyers agent being useful - particularly for a non-Irish citizen.  Perhaps there are lawyers that can play {some} of that role.  Can you elaborate on how all that works.

I'm also curious about the all in costs of the buying transaction.  Here in the US, as I alluded to above, there are lots of inspections (termites in Texas!), document fees ad infinitum.  I've seen a "stamp duty"(1%?) referenced on myhome.ie.  Is that similar to the property tax we pay here in the US.  In Texas I pay ˜2% of my home's appraised value - but I pay it annually!!!  I think I like the Irish model much better.  😉

Health care.  So I think I've read that we have to buy private insurance.  Yes?  But I looked around and some of the prices seemed remarkably good.  In the US for my wife and me and I think we would be paying $10-15k.year until medicare kicks in when we turn 65.  It looked like I could similar private insurance in Eire for maybe a tenth of the US cost.  Can that be right?  What am I missing?

Sorry for being so long-winded in my intro.  I'll go away and think of more questions.  But thanks in advance for any help on the housing and health fronts!

Chris 

Hi Kevin,

I was curious how much you paid for a 20' container?  

Hi Chris,

Its $4250 Door (Indianapolis) to Port (Dublin) self-loaded. (Insurance is extra)

Thanks!