Help needed -Ireland employment visa

[maheshrvce]

Hi ,
I need some info regarding the green card visa to ireland. I have an employer who is willing to sponsor me a green card visa. I also have a UK HSMP visa for three years. I am looking for Permanent residency either in the europe or UK. The problem with UK is you have to stay for 5 years before applying for PR. The irish rules state that I can apply for permanent residency after 2 years on a Green card visa. If so how long would it take to get the PR status and subsequently citizenship. Can you please advise which one of these is a better option. The Irish one looks good but I am not sure of the hassles involved in applying for PR/citizenship. Can you pls give me some info on this.
Thank you

[Giri]

I think the bill is still under discussion ( Immigration & Residency Bill-2008). So the old rule still applies. It means you can apply residency after 5 years and still you have to wait another 1.5 - 2 years to get the final word. For the citizenship you have to wait minimum 3 years to know the outcome of the application. Nobody knows the what the outcome will be. So it is better to have a UK residency which is faster and the processing time is reasonable. many people are emigrating to UK, Australia, Newzealand, US due to slow immigration, slower growth etc. It is better to choose UK rather than Ireland

[bloody foreigner]

I agree that the UK is better because:
1, You already have HSMP.
2, Permanent Residency in Ireland (called Long Term Residence) is a bit unofficial in that it is just an "Administrative Scheme".
3, The immigration system in Ireland is rather chaotic and unclear.
4, You can apply for Naturalisation after 5 years, but it is totally at the Minister's discretion and in addition to the legal requirements he imposes other conditions which are not really published. The application process is currently taking 2.5 to 3 years.
5, Like the UK, Ireland opts out of several EU laws - until the ECJ overrules them!

My advice - go for UK - I wish I had!

[maheshrvce]

As per the provisions of the bill being discussed long term residence mean residence permit for 5 years which is not very attractive. But when I say indefinite leave to remain ILR in UK it means u can apply for a british passport but it takes 6 years of residence for this. I understand the immigration rules are chaotic in ireland but it is much simpler compared to UK which is based on points and if u dont qualify for these many points in any of these 6 years(where u will have to extend HSMP twice) then u cant extend.
The biggest question now is what is permanent residence via the green card route? If its long term residence then I am probably out.