Bringing non EU partner to Ireland from Philippines

[Fastmover]

Hello everyone,

Here’s my situation, and I’m wondering what is the best route to take for my partner to join me in Ireland?. I’ve been in a relationship with my girlfriend for two years I visit her twice. She is now pregnant with my baby and the baby is due in February. I plan to go there in September and get married and I’m trying to decide what’s the best route forward of getting her home here.

I would prefer if she had the baby in Ireland. So is the following possible?

If I go there in September and get married and she comes here on the C Visa how likely will I be able to successfully apply for her to stay in the country to join me as a spouse…. Could this application even be stretched until the baby is born, and then she will have the derived right because the baby is an Irish citizen.

I cannot apply for a long-term Visa from outside Ireland because I was on social welfare after loosing my job during covid… And I was on social welfare until earlier this year. I am also starting a business so proof of income is very limited at the moment

Are immigration strict in the part of previous earnings

Can somebody tell me what is a temporary stamp 4 and how do you get it

[Vadrar]

What’s your nationality? What’s your immigration status in Ireland?

[Fastmover]

What’s your nationality? What’s your immigration status in Ireland?

I am an Irish Citizen

[meself2]

What’s your nationality? What’s your immigration status in Ireland?

I am an Irish Citizen

Then she cannot get a temporary stamp 4. It is for partners of EU/EEA citizens for are not Irish.

[Fastmover]

What’s your nationality? What’s your immigration status in Ireland?

I am an Irish Citizen

Then she cannot get a temporary stamp 4. It is for partners of EU/EEA citizens for are not Irish.

Okay, so temporary stamp 4 visa is for non eu spouse of eu National using free movement I understand

[Vadrar]

The transition from C visa to D visa is explained below. Note they specifically refer to C as the incorrect visa to use in this instance. They are strict on the minimum requirements.

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situ ... al-scheme/

Where you do not have permission to be in the State
You may be eligible to apply to Spouse of Irish National Unit, Immigration Service Delivery (address below) directly if you:

Have no current permission to be in the State, or

Have entered on the incorrect visa (‘C’ visa), or

Have been refused registration at your local Immigration Office

To qualify for this consideration:

You must be at least 18 years of age at the time of making an application, and

You are married to, or in a civil partnership with, an Irish national, and

Your marriage/civil partnership was freely entered into by both parties, conducted in a lawful manner and recognised under Irish law, and

You are residing in the same household as the Irish national as a family unit, and

The Irish national and you intend to continuously reside together in the State, and

The Irish national earned €40,000 in the last 3 years over and above any State benefits, and

You are of good character and have not come to the adverse attention of An Garda Siochana (Irish Police), or have not become an undue burden on the State.

You must meet all of the above criteria in order to be granted permission to remain as the spouse/civil partner of an Irish national.


If she enters on C and is a parent of an Irish child, the process to apply for Stamp 4 as parent of Irish child is described below. Note she would need to apply for this route while already being in Ireland. The child must also be in Ireland, and have evidence of living here full time (registration with GP, vaccinations record etc etc). The requirements for this route do not have a minimum income requirement. Note you will have to make sure both your names are on the birth cert, and the nationality of the child will need to be confirmed before applyingn. Your child will be Irish no matter where they are born.

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situ ... ad%20below.

[Fastmover]

The transition from C visa to D visa is explained below. Note they specifically refer to C as the incorrect visa to use in this instance. They are strict on the minimum requirements.

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situ ... al-scheme/

Where you do not have permission to be in the State
You may be eligible to apply to Spouse of Irish National Unit, Immigration Service Delivery (address below) directly if you:

Have no current permission to be in the State, or

Have entered on the incorrect visa (‘C’ visa), or

Have been refused registration at your local Immigration Office

To qualify for this consideration:

You must be at least 18 years of age at the time of making an application, and

You are married to, or in a civil partnership with, an Irish national, and

Your marriage/civil partnership was freely entered into by both parties, conducted in a lawful manner and recognised under Irish law, and

You are residing in the same household as the Irish national as a family unit, and

The Irish national and you intend to continuously reside together in the State, and

The Irish national earned €40,000 in the last 3 years over and above any State benefits, and

You are of good character and have not come to the adverse attention of An Garda Siochana (Irish Police), or have not become an undue burden on the State.

You must meet all of the above criteria in order to be granted permission to remain as the spouse/civil partner of an Irish national.


If she enters on C and is a parent of an Irish child, the process to apply for Stamp 4 as parent of Irish child is described below. Note she would need to apply for this route while already being in Ireland. The child must also be in Ireland, and have evidence of living here full time (registration with GP, vaccinations record etc etc). The requirements for this route do not have a minimum income requirement. Note you will have to make sure both your names are on the birth cert, and the nationality of the child will need to be confirmed before applyingn. Your child will be Irish no matter where they are born.

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situ ... ad%20below.

Thanks for your reply. Yes I saw that as well that led me to think if we come in on the C visa and say it is the wrong Visa could we go down that route

I haven’t earned €40,000 of the last 3 years above state benefits. What I’m wondering is would she get a temporary stamp 4 Visa while the application is being processed and would that take long enough for her to have the baby in Ireland and then get the stamp 4 based on derived rights.

Has anybody been in a similar situation.

[Vadrar]

The transition from C visa to D visa is explained below. Note they specifically refer to C as the incorrect visa to use in this instance. They are strict on the minimum requirements.

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situ ... al-scheme/

Where you do not have permission to be in the State
You may be eligible to apply to Spouse of Irish National Unit, Immigration Service Delivery (address below) directly if you:

Have no current permission to be in the State, or

Have entered on the incorrect visa (‘C’ visa), or

Have been refused registration at your local Immigration Office

To qualify for this consideration:

You must be at least 18 years of age at the time of making an application, and

You are married to, or in a civil partnership with, an Irish national, and

Your marriage/civil partnership was freely entered into by both parties, conducted in a lawful manner and recognised under Irish law, and

You are residing in the same household as the Irish national as a family unit, and

The Irish national and you intend to continuously reside together in the State, and

The Irish national earned €40,000 in the last 3 years over and above any State benefits, and

You are of good character and have not come to the adverse attention of An Garda Siochana (Irish Police), or have not become an undue burden on the State.

You must meet all of the above criteria in order to be granted permission to remain as the spouse/civil partner of an Irish national.


If she enters on C and is a parent of an Irish child, the process to apply for Stamp 4 as parent of Irish child is described below. Note she would need to apply for this route while already being in Ireland. The child must also be in Ireland, and have evidence of living here full time (registration with GP, vaccinations record etc etc). The requirements for this route do not have a minimum income requirement. Note you will have to make sure both your names are on the birth cert, and the nationality of the child will need to be confirmed before applyingn. Your child will be Irish no matter where they are born.

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situ ... ad%20below.

Thanks for your reply. Yes I saw that as well that led me to think if we come in on the C visa and say it is the wrong Visa could we go down that route

I haven’t earned €40,000 of the last 3 years above state benefits. What I’m wondering is would she get a temporary stamp 4 Visa while the application is being processed and would that take long enough for her to have the baby in Ireland and then get the stamp 4 based on derived rights.

Has anybody been in a similar situation.

she doesn't have any access to any visa but a C if you can't meet all of the conditions of D. She won't get a temporary, or permanent 4 if you can't meet all the conditions listed above.

Even if you wanted to go C to mother of an Irish child, you'd have to time her arrival and birth of child within the allowances of C, including allowing time after birth for the child's nationality to be confirmed. Note I'm not sure she would be entitled to public health services as a tourist (C visa), even if the child's father is Irish - you'd need to check this, but this is my (unresearched) sense. So you'd want to check the cost of paying for a birth in Ireland or have global medical insurance which covers birth costs. (And if I was going to have to pay for a birth as a tourist, with your specifics, I'd consider doing it in Northern Ireland so child qualifies for Irish and British citizenship from birth.)

The C visa to mother of an Irish child is very tight time-wise, with lots of opportunity for things to go wrong, even aside from any questions about the cost of the birth. You've got 90 days for birth, paperwork to establish nationality of child, paperwork to establish child's residency in Ireland (GP registraton and visit at least, then written confirmation of this from GP), then paperwork to establish her links to Ireland (utility, GP -which she'll have to pay privately for), then apply for parent of Irish child.

What is more likely is that she has child in Philippines, you bring child to Ireland with birth cert listing your name + written permission from mother to bring child + proof of her identity; get child's Irish nationality confirmed and register the child with eg GP to establish its residency; she gets C, comes over and uses the 90 days to be added to your utility bills + gets registered at GP etc to establish proof of living with you and child, then applies as biological parent of Irish child with the same address as you and child. Even this way it is still tight timewise - because in reality this is a hack of the system and you aren't meant to be going this way. The D visa, meeting stamp 4 conditions, and applying for stamp 4 is really how they want and expect you to do it.

But basically:
you won't get spouse 4 (or D visa) without meeting the financial conditions, temporary or permanent
if she has baby on C visa her time is very tight to apply as parent of Irish child, and you may have to pay privately for the birth at least

[Fastmover]

The transition from C visa to D visa is explained below. Note they specifically refer to C as the incorrect visa to use in this instance. They are strict on the minimum requirements.

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situ ... al-scheme/

Where you do not have permission to be in the State
You may be eligible to apply to Spouse of Irish National Unit, Immigration Service Delivery (address below) directly if you:

Have no current permission to be in the State, or

Have entered on the incorrect visa (‘C’ visa), or

Have been refused registration at your local Immigration Office

To qualify for this consideration:

You must be at least 18 years of age at the time of making an application, and

You are married to, or in a civil partnership with, an Irish national, and

Your marriage/civil partnership was freely entered into by both parties, conducted in a lawful manner and recognised under Irish law, and

You are residing in the same household as the Irish national as a family unit, and

The Irish national and you intend to continuously reside together in the State, and

The Irish national earned €40,000 in the last 3 years over and above any State benefits, and

You are of good character and have not come to the adverse attention of An Garda Siochana (Irish Police), or have not become an undue burden on the State.

You must meet all of the above criteria in order to be granted permission to remain as the spouse/civil partner of an Irish national.


If she enters on C and is a parent of an Irish child, the process to apply for Stamp 4 as parent of Irish child is described below. Note she would need to apply for this route while already being in Ireland. The child must also be in Ireland, and have evidence of living here full time (registration with GP, vaccinations record etc etc). The requirements for this route do not have a minimum income requirement. Note you will have to make sure both your names are on the birth cert, and the nationality of the child will need to be confirmed before applyingn. Your child will be Irish no matter where they are born.

https://www.irishimmigration.ie/my-situ ... ad%20below.

Thanks for your reply. Yes I saw that as well that led me to think if we come in on the C visa and say it is the wrong Visa could we go down that route

I haven’t earned €40,000 of the last 3 years above state benefits. What I’m wondering is would she get a temporary stamp 4 Visa while the application is being processed and would that take long enough for her to have the baby in Ireland and then get the stamp 4 based on derived rights.

Has anybody been in a similar situation.

she doesn't have any access to any visa but a C if you can't meet all of the conditions of D. She won't get a temporary, or permanent 4 if you can't meet all the conditions listed above.

Even if you wanted to go C to mother of an Irish child, you'd have to time her arrival and birth of child within the allowances of C, including allowing time after birth for the child's nationality to be confirmed. Note I'm not sure she would be entitled to public health services as a tourist (C visa), even if the child's father is Irish - you'd need to check this, but this is my (unresearched) sense. So you'd want to check the cost of paying for a birth in Ireland or have global medical insurance which covers birth costs. (And if I was going to have to pay for a birth as a tourist, with your specifics, I'd consider doing it in Northern Ireland so child qualifies for Irish and British citizenship from birth.)

The C visa to mother of an Irish child is very tight time-wise, with lots of opportunity for things to go wrong, even aside from any questions about the cost of the birth. You've got 90 days for birth, paperwork to establish nationality of child, paperwork to establish child's residency in Ireland (GP registraton and visit at least, then written confirmation of this from GP), then paperwork to establish her links to Ireland (utility, GP -which she'll have to pay privately for), then apply for parent of Irish child.

What is more likely is that she has child in Philippines, you bring child to Ireland with birth cert listing your name + written permission from mother to bring child + proof of her identity; get child's Irish nationality confirmed and register the child with eg GP to establish its residency; she gets C, comes over and uses the 90 days to be added to your utility bills + gets registered at GP etc to establish proof of living with you and child, then applies as biological parent of Irish child with the same address as you and child. Even this way it is still tight timewise - because in reality this is a hack of the system and you aren't meant to be going this way. The D visa, meeting stamp 4 conditions, and applying for stamp 4 is really how they want and expect you to do it.

But basically:
you won't get spouse 4 (or D visa) without meeting the financial conditions, temporary or permanent
if she has baby on C visa her time is very tight to apply as parent of Irish child, and you may have to pay privately for the birth at least

Hello thanks for that

I thought about that with the child, but that will take some time because I can’t bring a newborn away from the mother because she’ll be planning to feed the baby… I had thought of maybe going to Spain and then getting residency there for her and using that to be an easier way to get the baby to Ireland

But all that’s gonna take so much time and effort I might as well just earn 40,000 in the next year?

Is there really no other way to shortcut this process? How can so many other people are arriving this country illegally, and I have to jump through so many hoops to bring my wife and child here?

[Vadrar]

Hello thanks for that

I thought about that with the child, but that will take some time because I can’t bring a newborn away from the mother because she’ll be planning to feed the baby… I had thought of maybe going to Spain and then getting residency there for her and using that to be an easier way to get the baby to Ireland

But all that’s gonna take so much time and effort I might as well just earn 40,000 in the next year?

You could go to Spain and set up residency - there are requirements there to meet too of course, though less challenging that under domestic Irish law.

Is there really no other way to shortcut this process? How can so many other people are arriving this country illegally, and I have to jump through so many hoops to bring my wife and child here?

Regarding the best and expected route - you've outlined the way to do it: earn the minimum income Ireland wants.

Out of interest, how many do you think there are illegally entering Ireland?

With regards to 'How can so many other people arriving in this country illegally':
a) there are far fewer than people seem to think. By far and away, the vast majority of immigrants are legal. Refugees are legal. Those complying with Stamp 4 conditions are legal. EU entrants are legal. British entrants are legal. Ukrainians entering on temporary protection are entering legally. If you are counting these amongst your estimate of 'illegal' you are being duped, at the most generous interpretation. If you object to these groups being allowed in Ireland, take it up with the Oireachtas, while perhaps remembering the countries that allowed Irish emigres in during their time of need in the 1800s and 1900s.
b) Incidentally - the options you are talking about are flirting with being illegal ('shortcut'), or at least seeking to push the system. So who are these people facilitating illegal immigration? Ummmmm, basically, you.

[Fastmover]

Hello thanks for that

I thought about that with the child, but that will take some time because I can’t bring a newborn away from the mother because she’ll be planning to feed the baby… I had thought of maybe going to Spain and then getting residency there for her and using that to be an easier way to get the baby to Ireland

But all that’s gonna take so much time and effort I might as well just earn 40,000 in the next year?

You could go to Spain and set up residency - there are requirements there to meet too of course, though less challenging that under domestic Irish law.

Is there really no other way to shortcut this process? How can so many other people are arriving this country illegally, and I have to jump through so many hoops to bring my wife and child here?

Regarding the best and expected route - you've outlined the way to do it: earn the minimum income Ireland wants.

Out of interest, how many do you think there are illegally entering Ireland?

With regards to 'How can so many other people arriving in this country illegally':
a) there are far fewer than people seem to think. By far and away, the vast majority of immigrants are legal. Refugees are legal. Those complying with Stamp 4 conditions are legal. EU entrants are legal. British entrants are legal. Ukrainians entering on temporary protection are entering legally. If you are counting these amongst your estimate of 'illegal' you are being duped, at the most generous interpretation. If you object to these groups being allowed in Ireland, take it up with the Oireachtas, while perhaps remembering the countries that allowed Irish emigres in during their time of need in the 1800s and 1900s.
b) Incidentally - the options you are talking about are flirting with being illegal ('shortcut'), or at least seeking to push the system. So who are these people facilitating illegal immigration? Ummmmm, basically, you.

Many thanks for your responses. It has been informative and giving me a new course of direction I can follow

I will ignore your judgemental comments at the end of your message, that somehow a man in love with a woman who wants to bring her and his child into the country are somehow equated to illegal immigration. But, that is a matter for me to take up with the Oireachtas. I’m not sure if you’re Irish, but if you are, then you have a very liberal and somewhat naive view of Irish immigration policy in the last 30 years. I have every right to be aggrieved as an Irish citizen of Irish immigration policies, and the disparity between what is afforded to people from another country that is afforded me as an Irish national. Even in the application for a D Visa, A non National sponsor only has to prove an employment contract and the potential of earning however, I have to prove earning based on the last three years and have no opportunity to prove my potential earnings as an Irish national.

So yes, it’s sickens me that my Ukrainian friend can bring her whole family over with full state support And they have absolutely no displacement in relation to any conflict as my friend visits her family every three months And yet, I and my partner have to jump through such onerous hoops just to come to the country on a tourist visa. It is this obvious disparity that fuel the unrest seen lately. Honestly, personally I don’t agree with it but I am not blinkered and naive to not appreciate where the sentiment originates.

So I wholeheartedly thank you for the information you’ve given me. It has been a great help. However, I advise you keep your judgemental and blinkered and naive opinions on Ireland’s immigration policies to yourself and as to whether my actions constitute illegal immigration. I am simply fighting a system that is archaic born out of incompetent and self-serving political interests.

[Vadrar]

However, I advise you keep your judgemental and blinkered and naive opinions on Ireland’s immigration policies to yourself and as to whether my actions constitute illegal immigration. I am simply fighting a system that is archaic born out of incompetent and self-serving political interests.

You made the judgemental comments, opening with immigration, and continue to do so ('blinkered and naive opinions' among a paragraph of other examples). I've reflected your comments back to you; that's not judgement - whether it makes you uncomfortable or not.

And in telling me you can have opinions, but I can't ('keep your judgemental and blinkered and naive opinions... to yourself') - you've given another example of things being ok for you to do but not others. I know you will see the hypocrisy in that.

I hope you find a way to work things out, and I hope the process builds generosity and empathy rather than exclusion.

[Fastmover]

However, I advise you keep your judgemental and blinkered and naive opinions on Ireland’s immigration policies to yourself and as to whether my actions constitute illegal immigration. I am simply fighting a system that is archaic born out of incompetent and self-serving political interests.

You made the judgemental comments, opening with immigration, and continue to do so ('blinkered and naive opinions' among a paragraph of other examples). I've reflected your comments back to you; that's not judgement - whether it makes you uncomfortable or not.

And in telling me you can have opinions, but I can't ('keep your judgemental and blinkered and naive opinions... to yourself') - you've given another example of things being ok for you to do but not others. I know you will see the hypocrisy in that.

I hope you find a way to work things out, and I hope the process builds generosity and empathy rather than exclusion.

What I said about people illegally entering this country is a statement of fact, not a judgement. 300 people an year are deported from this country, 70% of people seeking refugee status their application is not allowed, which means the application was bogus and 70% of the people presenting at Dublin airport have no documents or fake documents. These may be inconvenient truths for you to accept but they’re true.

It was you that was judgemental equating me, trying to find most expeditious way to have my wife and child join me as tantamount to being the person engaged in illegal immigration. So get off your high horse I never said one single word about doing anything illegal.

But what really annoys me is when people like you jump up and down and get your knickers in a twist and jump on the soapbox when somebody questions Irish immigration policies. I am perfectly entitled to be frustrated at a government policy that seems to allow 100,000 Ukrainian refugees legally come into the country with full state support. However, I cannot bring my wife and child into the country unless I approve €40,000 earned in the last three years in case my wife is a burden to the state.

I don’t need empathy with a system that has disparity against citizens of this country. I am an inclusive individual. All I want is to be included and afforded the same rights that other Non-nationals are getting