I don't meet the €40,000 income criterion for D visa

[somtamthai]

I'm an Irish man married to a Thai woman who is seven years older than me. She's 33, I'm 26. I'd like to get her over to Ireland on a long-stay visa, and I've just gone through the lengthy policy document on Non-EEA national immigration for a long-stay D visa. It's looking bleak for me.

The financial criterion is that I need to show gross earnings of €40,000 over the last three years. But I am stuck because I have no way to prove I earned this much (and I'm not sure I even have earned enough). I worked a job from February 2014 to January 2015 in Ireland, which I earned roughly €30,000 from. I misplaced my P60 for that year but I could probably get it printed again. Given that I'll be applying in July for the D visa, I have a feeling only the last six months of that P60 will be taken into account, which reduces my earnings to €14,000.

I went to Australia for a working holiday in 2015 and earned about €10000 working on a farm for a few months, but I left that job in terribly acrimonious circumstances and it was all cash in hand, so I've no way of proving that. I've worked as a freelance writer since then and spent much of my time living in Thailand, therefore, I don't qualify as a resident for tax purposes in Ireland for 2016 so there's no P60s or anything for the writing work. I earned about €12k from writing since starting it, but again, the only proof of this is in my bank statements, which stretch beyond the six-month period required for applying for the D visa.

My questions are: is there any hope at all of getting my wife a D visa given I cannot show the €40,000 required earnings? is the €40,000 a watertight iron-clad restriction or with some accompanied well-worded explanation, might they show me some leeway with this, especially given I'm an Irish citizen? Thanks in advance for any help.

[Thairish]

Are you legally married in Thailand. I.e. Did you register the marraige at the Amphur and get a marriage certificate?

The 40k earnings over 3 years don't have to be earnings in Ireland, if you were working cash in hand i don't think this would bother inis too much as long as you can show the income i.e. bank statements

As you are applying for a D Visa the decision won't be made in Bangkok all documents are sent back to INIS in Dublin for a decision to be made.

Been through the same process in getting my Thai wife a D visa to live in Ireland with me luckily i didn't have any issues with the 40k requirement.

[somtamthai]

Are you legally married in Thailand. I.e. Did you register the marraige at the Amphur and get a marriage certificate?

The 40k earnings over 3 years don't have to be earnings in Ireland, if you were working cash in hand i don't think this would bother inis too much as long as you can show the income i.e. bank statements

As you are applying for a D Visa the decision won't be made in Bangkok all documents are sent back to INIS in Dublin for a decision to be made.

Been through the same process in getting my Thai wife a D visa to live in Ireland with me luckily i didn't have any issues with the 40k requirement.

Thanks for your reply. The marriage is legally registered at Amphur Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. The cash-in-hand work I can't show any proof of because I was young and stupid and I never lodged it into any account either Australian or Irish. I simply used it to get me through the following five or six months of travel and I used the remainder upon my return to Ireland.

The work from 2014 to 2015 I can show a P60 for, and it adds up to €30,000, but as I mentioned, I think immigration will disregard the first half of that year's income because it's beyond a three-year period. I have a degree from UCD in a lucrative field, and I could easily find work in that field, but I've taken the last couple of years to travel. I don't know how flexible immigration is in considering each case on its merits especially if accompanied by appropriate explanations.

I

[Thairish]

Ok understand. I think their main concern is that your wife won't become a burden on the irish state i.e. require housing/benefits etc.

Maybe if you had a firm offer of a job and undertakings of financial support from family back home it may help. I know there is discretion mentioned in the document just not sure how much this is exercised.

You could try asking the question to INIS at visamail@justice.ie

[oceancat]

would you not consider moving to northern ireland or the uk that way she will have no problem getting a visa to come live with you under eu law, then you could go down the surinder singh route to bring her back to ireland.

i'm in a relationship with a thai woman also but we are not married, i am in the process of applying for a c visa to bring her over for a holiday then will look into a long term visa hopefully, i was told by a few guys that its difficult to get a D visa unless she has been on a C visa previously.

[somtamthai]

would you not consider moving to northern ireland or the uk that way she will have no problem getting a visa to come live with you under eu law, then you could go down the surinder singh route to bring her back to ireland.

i'm in a relationship with a thai woman also but we are not married, i am in the process of applying for a c visa to bring her over for a holiday then will look into a long term visa hopefully, i was told by a few guys that its difficult to get a D visa unless she has been on a C visa previously.

I had my wife here on a visit C visa when she was just my girlfriend. It was no issue getting that visa because we are in a genuine relationship and a certain financial condition didn't have to be met apart from showing I could support her stay which I did via confirmation from my mother that we'd be staying at my parents house and confirmation I lived there in addition to invoices from freelance writing clients.

Having her come over on a C visa again isn't really practical for me; I'd like her to live with me and work here. We planned to open a restaurant in Ireland eventually after we both settle in full-time work in Ireland. Shame about the €40k thing because I think it will be a deal breaker. I have emailed INIS so hopefully they'll respond but who knows

[Zoot7]

I think you can get another person other than you to act as the sponsor.

So you find somebody who meets the 40k requirement who is willing to sponsor you. You get a written letter from them saying they'll support the couple (you both) while you both find work, along with that person's P60s, payslips and bank statements instead of your own. The idea of the sponsor is that your wife doesn't have resort to public funds, as long as she has financial support from somewhere she won't have to do that. I think the immigration office is okay as long as that is true.

I have read that this is a viable option but I'm open for correction.