Possibly moving to Netherlands: Residency issues

[Tandor]

I think I know the answer to this already but would welcome input from others.

I've been living in Ireland for 11 years now with my wife, we are both South African. Our Daughter is Irish. We were on Work Permits from 2000 to 2006 at which point we took advantage of the generous IBC scheme so as to be able to move jobs without the additional hassle of getting new work permits.

We have not yet applied for citizenship (don't ask )

Anyway, the company I work for has offered me a position in the head office in the Netherlands that I am seriously considering. However, I'll be throwing away 11 years residency won't I?

The wife and I are thinking that she just stays here in Ireland with our daughter at least until citizenship comes through (which it seems will be a minimum of 2.5 years from when we apply - next week or so). We've both been working since day one with no gaps in employment at all.

Our major concern is losing residency rights and having to move back to South Africa, something we both feel is not an option.

Any thoughts on this?

[9jeirean]

I think I know the answer to this already but would welcome input from others.

I've been living in Ireland for 11 years now with my wife, we are both South African. Our Daughter is Irish. We were on Work Permits from 2000 to 2006 at which point we took advantage of the generous IBC scheme so as to be able to move jobs without the additional hassle of getting new work permits.

We have not yet applied for citizenship (don't ask )

Anyway, the company I work for has offered me a position in the head office in the Netherlands that I am seriously considering. However, I'll be throwing away 11 years residency won't I?

The wife and I are thinking that she just stays here in Ireland with our daughter at least until citizenship comes through (which it seems will be a minimum of 2.5 years from when we apply - next week or so). We've both been working since day one with no gaps in employment at all.

Our major concern is losing residency rights and having to move back to South Africa, something we both feel is not an option.

Any thoughts on this?

One option you and your wife can explore is to apply for a Without Condition As to Time (WCATT) stamp http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Wi ... dorsements This should give you longer residency permission without need to renew your immigration stamps on a short term basis as you currently do. Caveat: in principle, WCATT is given on the basis that the holder will continue to reside in the state, so there may be implications where the holder have resided outside of the state for a long time. It does however have the potential to give you a bit of "breathing space" while you tries out Netherlands and a potential for return to residency should you decide to return back to Ireland. I think, asking your wife to stay back at least initially is a good idea. You never know

Best of luck to you and yours.

9jeirean

[AShawna]

We have not yet applied for citizenship (don't ask )

I'm not asking but cant help but wonder!

[Tandor]

One option you and your wife can explore is to apply for a Without Condition As to Time (WCATT) stamp http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Wi ... dorsements This should give you longer residency permission without need to renew your immigration stamps on a short term basis as you currently do. Caveat: in principle, WCATT is given on the basis that the holder will continue to reside in the state, so there may be implications where the holder have resided outside of the state for a long time. It does however have the potential to give you a bit of "breathing space" while you tries out Netherlands and a potential for return to residency should you decide to return back to Ireland. I think, asking your wife to stay back at least initially is a good idea. You never know

Best of luck to you and yours.

9jeirean

Thanks for that. I wouldn't do anything possibly illegal or dodgy such as apply for WCATT for myself were I to be leaving, however for the wife it may be an option. However I think you have to be within 6 months of the end of your current stamp before you can apply now? We have 2 years or so to go.

We have not yet applied for citizenship (don't ask )

I'm not asking but cant help but wonder!

Yeah, freakin stupid ain't we? I guess we lost focus after the whole IBC thing and then one thing came up after another and we just never got around to it.

You know those things you will regret till the day you die? This be one

[9jeirean]

Thanks for that. I wouldn't do anything possibly illegal or dodgy such as apply for WCATT for myself were I to be leaving, however for the wife it may be an option. However I think you have to be within 6 months of the end of your current stamp before you can apply now? We have 2 years or so to go

I don't think that words like illegal or doggy apply here. Far from it that I would be seen to imply that you do anything dodgy or illegal You are either qualify for it or you are not and from the info you provided in your initial post, it would appear that you might be qualify for it anyway. I addedd the caveat just so you know there may be implications should you opt to stay away on the long term. I suppose if you have 2 years to go on your current permission, then you may want to take a leap on that.

Good luck mate.

[Tandor]

Cheers for that. I guess the other problem with WCATT is that I use my passport at a minimum every two weeks, already travelling to Holland a lot, and as such would not be able to be without it for more than a week. As I understand it WCATT is currently taking a long time (month or two).

[fatty patty]

NB Applications are currently taking up to 40 working days (eight weeks). Therefore do not apply for this stamp if you intend to travel in the near future.

source: http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Wi ... dorsements

[kabuki]

If you want to ensure that you don't have to leave ever, then I would have to say it would be your best bet to apply for Irish Citizenship, even though it takes so long. If your family moved to the Netherlands, you would be starting from scratch in terms of citizenship, plus the Dutch don't recognise dual nationality, which means if the move became permanent and you wanted to take up citizenship, you would have to renounce your South African citizenship. If you want and EU passport, Ireland seems to be your best bet at the moment.

I'm not sure how EU law works for young children, but I do know that parents are family members, so technically you could go on an EEA Residence Card, but I don't know how a child exercises treaty rights of his/her own free will at a young age, but it's not something you could rely on forever.

Best of luck.