On Work Permit for more than 4 years what to do next

[in8214]

Hi guys

I am on work permit for more than 4 years and I would like to know what is the best option to apply.

Is it Long term residence?

Or

Citzenship

or any other which I don't know.

I also heard that I should be in the State for 1 yr before I can apply.

I am going for holidays for 3 weeks and will be taking few more week next before my 5 year term completes in September.

Do they count holiday period as an absence from country?

My current stamp 4 expires in 2014 August. I just had stamp 4 VISA on the basis of zambrano case.

Thanks

[IQU]

once your in state more than 96 months you can apply for stamp 5.if you have currently stamp 4 you dont have to worried about that.i think you should apply for citizenship after 60 months.i mean 5 yrs.if you have any doubt you can check it out www.inis.gov.ie citizenship than go to residence calcultar.good luck

[agniukas]

if you got stamp 4 based on zambrano, you are not eligible to apply for long term residency any more, as you already have the stamp 4.
your option is to apply for citizenship when you have 5 years in the state.
time in the state is counted by the stamps on your passport and the time on holidays does not impact your status if it was covered by your immigration stamp. last year has to be continous, meaning that you should not have even a days gap in your stamps in the passport during the last 12 months before applying for citizenship.

[xxxtieee]

if you got stamp 4 based on zambrano, you are not eligible to apply for long term residency any more, as you already have the stamp 4.

Did not know that Long Term residency was out of reach for Zambrano Stamp 4s! Is that from a credible source?

What about WCATT? The Zambrano stamp 4 has a condition related to time.

Cheers

[agniukas]

for long term residency only time spent on work permit conditions counts. if you get residency on any other basis, that's it. you stick with that.
wcatt is ok as long as you have 8 years in the state, apply 6 months before your stamp expires and do not have long term residency.
unless any new changes will be introduced to stop people applying for 2 or more residencies at the same time and making more work for the department.

[xxxtieee]

Thanks for that.

Hate to prolong this point, but I am confused about one more detail.

I moved from my Work Permit Stamp1 to Sambrano Stamp 4 while continuing working. So, are you saying that my Long Term Residency Application (I haven't applied yet, but hypothetically) will be rejected as I am already on Stamp 4?

Cheers

[agniukas]

yes, it would be rejected, because you are no longer on stamp 1, and also you ALREADY HAVE residency to live in ireland. you dont need two residencies if you understand what i mean.

[IQU]

the best option is apply for citizenship after 5 years.

[xxxtieee]

yes, it would be rejected, because you are no longer on stamp 1, and also you ALREADY HAVE residency to live in ireland. you dont need two residencies if you understand what i mean.

Thanks agniukas and IQU for the info. And I hope I have not hijacked in8214's post. what is typed below are just my thoughts and am not necessarily looking for an answer, but they are welcome.

I thought Stamp 1 also was a residency stamp but with a lot more conditions attached (like work permit, business permission etc). Each of these stamps is a different type residency permission but with different levels of conditions attached.

However, I understand what agniukas mean. And moving a person on Stamp 4 again to same stamp but for another reason sounds a bit of work for the offices concerned. But the reality is that the Stamp 4 based on Sambrano and an LTR are not the same, at least from the standpoint of the conditions attached to renewing and maintaining each. So, it still doesn't make sense.

Unless: Stamp 4 confers the same rights to everyone who holds it, but the way to get it are different. But in that case, when my Zambrano stamp 4 is up for renewal, I should be able to renew it on foot of an LTR application.

But from a practical standpoint on how the system works; like you guys mentioned, I am probably better off applying for the citizenship. Again, thanks for the info.