UK and S.A. Partner +2 children wish to emigrate to Ireland

[Rollma]

Hi everyone

In a bit of a bind and could use some advice.
I'm a UK citizen Wishing to move to Ireland with my South African Partner and her two boys.
She is the sole guardian of the boys as she was widowed a few years back.
We Met in December 2015 and have been seeing each other ever since. I have been back and forth to South Africa 4 times and her to the uk 1 time. Since last year May I have stayed with her whenever I could get there. If you add up the time it would amount to about 6 months of constant cohabitation, Living with her and the boy's. But we have shared financial responsibilities from May onwards. Unfortunately we never really knew that we'd need proof of relationship in the future so we never really tried to gather any and from what I know you don't get many joint accounts in South Africa. Bank accounts you can add your partner but they are not the account holder. So we never really bothered, I basically used travel cards and credit card for purchases and to draw cash for Living expenses for us. But nothing really on paper. Except for having her address as my home address for an online account and a savings account I opened a few months ago.

We can get confirmation letters from Professional friends and colleagues and from the boys gp and psychologist that they see to help with the loss of their father. Stating that I have been in their life for the specified time.

The questions I have are :
(1)Will this be enough and do we meet the criteria for her and the boys to be allowed in.

(2) If we don't meet the criteria is the work visa a viable option and how difficult is this route to follow?
She is a Financial Manager, with a practical Accounting Diploma with years of experience and glowing references , but no degrees.

Thank you for all of your help it is much appreciated

[Tea_Rocket]

I'm not sure this is the right forum for this question. You might be better off asking it in the Ireland sub-forum.

ETA: I see that you already have. Unless you're planning on bringing your partner and her children over to the UK first and having them naturalise as UK citizens (a process that will mostly likely take years) before moving to Ireland, then I don't think there is much help people on this forum can provide.

[CR001]

Without rock solid evidence for a full 2 years, any application as a durable partner will fail.

This requirement is not there if you were married.

[Rollma]

Sorry for posting in the wrong place Tea_Rocket. Dont know if I can remove the post from there. Will see what Imcan do though.
Thank you for the advice.

Croo1: thank you for your answer, would it be possible to ask you whereabouts you got your information? Would really like to read up on it.
On Facebook I asked this question on a group: South Africans exercising Eu treaty rights and was told that they had just changed the time that you need to prove relationship to 1 year.

[Casa]

This is where the confusion has arisen:
A non-EEA national whose partner is an Irish national must provide proof of a durable relationship of at least 1 year. If the non-EEA national is granted permission to remain they are not required to have an employment permit
If you are a non-EEA national whose partner is an EU national you can apply for a residence card under EU Treaty Rights if you have proof of a durable relationship of at least 2 years. If you are granted permission to remain you will not need an employment permit.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/mo ... ionals.htm

Note the documented evidence required to prove a 'durable relationship' of 2 years includes the following:
Dated documentary evidence of living together continuously over a period of one year in a common place of residence such as official letters or bills sent to the same address and/or joint tenancy agreement and dated documentary evidence of the relationship.
Dated evidence of financial inter-dependence such as transfer receipts, joint accounts, joint purchases, joint assets or loans.
Financial statements covering the previous 6 months for both partners showing living expenses ie where the finances are coming from and where they are going to.
Evidence of contact between the Applicant and the Sponsor, such as letters, emails, phone contacts, screenshots of facebook and skype to cover the entire length of the relationship but at the very least covering two years.
Evidence of time spent together such as dated photographs for the Applicant and the Sponsor together with family and friends and air tickets showing travel together.
Police clearance from any country the Applicant has resided in over the last 5 years. The Police clearance should be no more than six months old at the date of application.

[mulderpf]

If you are saying that on and off, you only spent 6 months with her, I'm not entirely sure that's enough. However...

What about your mobile phone you used during your time in South Africa - you would have had to proof your address for that too (RICA), what documentation did you use there? Similarly, when you opened the savings account, how did you prove your address (FICA requirements)? The documentation should be there then...