us cit. w uk bio permit uk spouse can we move 2 Ireland

[lovemyhorse]

Hi all. This is a little complicated but I am us born and have been married to uk citizen for almost 20 years. Have 2 young us/uk kids. We have lived in the us since marriage and had decided to go back to the uk. We applied for my uk residence permit and after 16 months and almost $10,000 in fees, appeals and travel, I finally got my uk biometric card. Went with just my kids to open a uk bank account taking everything we were told we needed, and spent a very frustrating week being denied opening an account. Went to 8 different banks and tried to transfer the funds from the sale of our us house and I was turned down because I DIDNT HAVE 3 MONTHS WORTH OF UK BANK STATEMENTS!! After all the red tape and rude treatment, (husband was in the RAF, a prison guard for HMPS and a Met Policeman. He can't return to any of those jobs in the UK since he has been out of the country 5+ years.) We are fed up trying to get to the uk so we decided it would be less expensive and less crowded to move to Ireland. Does my uk biometric work permission allow for any easier transition to ireland or do we have to go through a lot more hassle to buy a house and reside in ireland? What is the process? What about nhs and any benefits, do he or I either qualify or no? I did pay my nhs surcharge btw. Help. Very confused.

[Wanderer]

Ireland (certainly Dublin) is expensive, especially property and owning a car. Their is the HSE, an NHS equivalent, but you still have to pay to see a GP here, 60 Euro a visit, meds are not subsidised as far as I can see apart from being capped at 144 Euro a month (whoop-di-doo).

You can enter Ireland as the family member of an EU citizen, and you can work but it does mean effectively starting the journey again, ie 5 years to PR/Citizenship.

What visa do you have now? Unlikely to have FLR for UK as your husband would need six months UK payslips or you'd need £62,500 which you may well have from house sale,...

I'm British and live in Ireland and love it here, but it is similar to UK in organisation etc with the addition of everything costing/being taxed more. For example if I want contactless on my bank card it's 19c per transaction!

[lovemyhorse]

I knew some things would be more expensive but the big thing that kills us is the fact that we really want some space. 2500sf+ house and at least an acre to roam on. We have searched high and low around Cornwall and wales (where my husband's family is) and we can't find any property that fits the bill. I do have ILR in the UK and we did have to prove we had a large sum in savings. We did that without the sale of our house. I have loved england my entire life and I have wanted to move there since spending a year in college in London in 1989. This time it felt like nobody in the uk wanted us there. No one in immigration, no one in banking and money transfer, no one to help trying to buy a property. I realise there is a pushback in immigration to the UK but we are very financially comfortable and have been married a long time. I was treated like dirt on the bottom of a shoe when I was in London 3 weeks ago. My kids are 8 and 11 and they were actually crying from it all. We are tired from the entire ordeal and just want to semi-retire to the countryside and have a gun free, trump free place to watch our kids grow. We are lost as to what to do next. We even thought about Scotland but neither of us can hardly understand a word they say.

[Alixlboy]

I live in Kildare, Ireland and I feel sorry for you.
I think Irish countryside might be a good option for you. House prices are lower as compared to Dublin. I am a full medical card holder, which entitles me to go to the doctor free of charge and buy any medicines as well ( you only have to pay 2.50 euro per item as the government charge ). Some people only have the GP card and they can only visit the doctor with that and have to pay for medicines from their own pocket. It really depends on your personal circumstances.
I personally feel that the UK is heading towards a disaster. Things were already so tough there and Brexit is another problem now.
You do have to wait for 5 years for PR/Passport, however, Irish immigration is lenient as compared to the UK immigration. Once you have proof of funds and/or letter from employer, opening an account should not be a problem here.
Best of Luck!