Work Visa (Stamp 4) vs 4EUFAM

[guessaname]

Hi,

My wife is on work visa(Stamp 4) since 6 years and I recently got Irish citizenship through naturalisation. Can my wife now apply for 4EUFam permanant residence card using EU3 form? Is there any benefit in switching from Stamp4 to 4EUFam other than getting 5 years stamp and benefit of visa free movement to some EU countries? If she gets 4EUFam, will there be any problem in the future to move to another employer or search for other jobs? Will the Irish employers understand the meaning of EU4FAM when considering to give an offer? If she looses a job will she get social welfare payments on EU4FAM stamp? How long will it take to get it approved? I read that we need send all the original docs, will they keep all the docs with them for entire duration of processing?

Sorry for asking so many questions.

Cheers
G

[ashimashi]

AFAIK she can't. You can only apply for Eu4FAM if you're residing in a member state other than spouse's original state, i.e. if you were to live anywhere but Ireland. When in the original state, you are governed by national laws and you get a "stamp 4 (spouse of irish citizen)".

[guessaname]

oh ok I didn't know that. so its not possible for my wife to apply for EU4FAM.

Thanks for your reply.

Cheers
G

[scrudu]

ashimashi is correct. Your wife is not eligible to apply for a Stamp4EUFAM. The only extra rights this confers on top of the Stamp4 she already has, is less paperwork for movement throughout the EU. Stamp4 and Stamp4EUFAM have equal value as far as rights in Ireland go (i.e. freedom to work for any employer, 5 year duration, extendable). A difference now will be that as a spouse of an Irish citizen she will not be have to pay any Visa Fees.