Irish EU1 vs. UK EEA1 - The way it should be done...

[dsab85]

Hello together,

as some might know me and my wife were one of the affected couples of the Irish EU1 fiasco.

I had been living in Ireland for more then six years, and married my non-EUwife after a five year (proven) relationship in June 2006. We had applied for residency for my wife via the EU1 form at the end of July 2006, received the refusal at the end of March 2007 based on the fact that we hadn't lived together in another EU member state, and then appealed the decission. When in June 2007 it looked as if our application wasn't going anywhere we looked at moving to the UK, as it seemed much easier over there. In 11 months we had only received one letter from the Justice Department, which was the refusal. The appeal and other registered letters were not answered at all. A letter sent via the registered Mail to the old and new Justice Ministers were not answered at all. I also found the Irish Solvit quite useless tbh (at least in our case). So all in all a pretty bad experience. The whole situation meant that my wife was sitting at home, unable to leave the country and unable to work. I was especially disappointed as I had lived in Ireland for a long time, have a very good job and was in the process of buying a house in Dublin.

After some Investigation my company offered me to either transfer me to the UK or to support a move to the North by letting me work from home two days a week, and offering me flexible working hours.

So we decided to take the plunge and moved up north to Newry on the 10th of July 2006. We filed our EEA1 and EEA2 applications together on the 11th of July.

Within ten days we received a confirmation letter from the home office stating that they received the application and that my wife was allowed to work, and that the letter could be shown to any prospective employer. It even had a phone number which prospective employers could contact in case that they had any queries. One day later my wife applied for a national Insurance Number, and two days later my wife had a job.

In the middle of August we received a letter from the home office requesting some evidence that I would at least once a week commute back to Newry. As I had the tollbridge statements and gas station receipts that was no problem, and I responded within days. On the 3rd of September we received all our documents back incl. the passports. I had been Issued with a residence certificate and my wife had been issued with the 5 years residence permit.

All in all they managed to do in 2 months what Ireland was unable to do within 11 months. That's how it should be in all EU countries. All in all a very positive experience.

I can only recommend to make the move if you have the chance. It is def. worth it. Our quality of life is now much better, we have a second income, we can go wherever and whenever we want and my wife is finally happy again.

Just a heads up. Wanted to write that up for the last two weeks...

Cheers,
dsab

[yankeegirl]

I am really glad it's working out well for you. You guys definitely deserve it after the headache of having to deall with all that EU1 nonsense.

No, fingers crossed, hubby and I get ours back as quickly as you did lol. We sent off the EEA1/EEA2 applications on Sept. 1 and got the letter from the Home Office a week later, so hopefully we will get everything else back in the next month or so.

[avjones]

Glad to hear it's all worked out for you and your wife.

[microlab]

All in all a very positive experience.

Good to hear that.
All the best in the future.

[Ben]

..All in all they managed to do in 2 months what Ireland was unable to do within 11 months. That's how it should be in all EU countries..

dsab85 - my sentiments exactly. I could write an essay - nay, a book - about how much I despise the (dis)organisation of the Irish immigration system, but that's not for here. Glad you have a success story to share.

[After thought] I really hope DoJ monitor this forum. Nope, they probably don't, why would they care?

[Carlipao]

hello, is good to listen that you are all right after of all.

well im in the same position as you were some time before, im waiting 5 months for the immigration here in Dublin but i think that im lossing my time,and i so tired to wait!! you may know how i feel! two weeks before i recive a visa for living in UK (EEA family permit) so i want to move to Newry as well, i was llooking for a job and for a house but agencys ask me for a "national insurence numbre" and i don't have any idea how to get it. Could you please give my some advices how can i get it? where i have to go? do i need a lot of documents?. I really apreciate your answear!

thanks beforehand!!!


carlipao





Within ten days we received a confirmation letter from the home office stating that they received the application and that my wife was allowed to work, and that the letter could be shown to any prospective employer. It even had a phone number which prospective employers could contact in case that they had any queries. One day later my wife applied for a national Insurance Number, and two days later my wife had a job.

[seabhcan]

I'm happy to see the Home Office has improved remarkably since I had to deal with them in 2006. Then it took 5.5 months. They didn't return our passport until the end. They pretended to have lost the application at one point.

It was only the intervention of our local MP and an Irish MEP that forced them to open the envelope at all.

When they finally returned the documents, they had stapled my wife's current passport to her previous passports through the ID page, damaging the photograph. This has caused us lots of trouble in airports since as she is continuously accused of having damaged the passport herself.

Lovely people, the home office. But glad to see they've improved.

[Carlipao]

hello, is good to listen that you are all right after of all.

well im in the same position as you were some time before, im waiting 5 months for the immigration here in Dublin but i think that im lossing my time,and i so tired to wait!! you may know how i feel! two weeks before i recive a visa for living in UK (EEA family permit) so i want to move to Newry as well, i was llooking for a job and for a house but agencys ask me for a "national insurence numbre" and i don't have any idea how to get it. Could you please give my some advices how can i get it? where i have to go? do i need a lot of documents?. I really apreciate your answear!

thanks beforehand!!!


carlipao

[seabhcan]

hello, is good to listen that you are all right after of all.

well im in the same position as you were some time before, im waiting 5 months for the immigration here in Dublin but i think that im lossing my time,and i so tired to wait!! you may know how i feel! two weeks before i recive a visa for living in UK (EEA family permit) so i want to move to Newry as well, i was llooking for a job and for a house but agencys ask me for a "national insurence numbre" and i don't have any idea how to get it. Could you please give my some advices how can i get it? where i have to go? do i need a lot of documents?. I really apreciate your answear!

thanks beforehand!!!


carlipao

I got a NI number in England. Its probably similar in Northern Ireland, but likely not identical. Basically, you need lots of documents. Mainly proof of address, passport, any UK visas you might need.

You need to make an appointment for an interview, go to the interview, get asked a lot of stupid questions (I was asked about a family holiday to the UK I took when I was 8 years old. "Do you have any documents to prove this?" "No, does it matter?" Long pause... "No".) The interview lasted about half an hour. It took a week to book the interview and I had to wait a month for the interview time to come up.

A few weeks later I got a letter saying the number would be issued within 6 months. But is came about two weeks later.

As I say, its probably slightly different in Northern Ireland. The farther you are from London, the more competent and less over worked the staff of government offices are.

Here's a website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/nic/ynino.htm

[yankeegirl]

Carlipao,

I just received my NI number in the mail today. I applied for it in NI (Derry) a little over 3 weeks ago. I had to bring in my passport, proof of address and proof of looking for work. I had applied for a couple of part-time jobs and just brought in the "thanks but no thanks" letter. I was told when I called the jobcentre that I did not need a National Insurance number to start looking for work and could have applied once I got a job, but I chose not to since I could provide proof of looking for work.

If you want to make an appointment start by calling your local jobcentre.

[seabhcan]

I was told when I called the jobcentre that I did not need a National Insurance number to start looking for work

This is true. You can actually start work with out an NI number. The company will issue an temporary one and deduct maximum tax. You will get this tax back when you get the correct NI number.

But obviously, its a pain to go for the interview, and take time off, after you've started work. Far better to sort it out before.