Proposed move to Ireland with non EU Spouse, help!

[ltb86]

Hi all,

I am really in need of some advice from all you experienced Irish immigration people!

My fiance and i are getting married next year and then we want to apply for a visa for him to come to Ireland with me, we plan to live/work in Ireland for a while before moving to UK. We will be travelling/arriving in Ireland together (i am a British citizen) I just have a couple of questions in relation this move proposed move:

1) Am i right in thinking we need to apply for his visa online at the inis.gov.ie website and then submit docs at the embassy in his country?

2) If the above is correct, what type of visa do we need to apply for? Having read the INIS website i can see that a short stay visa (up to 90 days - category C) is non extendable. Does this mean we need to apply for a category D visa, long stay visa over 90 days?

3) Also i am wondering if a previous UK visit visa refusal (2010) will effect this EEA application as i have heard that the UKBA and Irish immigration people are on the lookout/trying to stop people using Ireland as access into the UK, now that the UK has made its own immigration rules so ridiculous and hard. I refer to this post:

4) I previously did a 'dummy' application on the INIS website to see what questions were asked and one of the questions was about having a 'host' in Ireland. Is it better if we have a host to speak of? Or does this not really make much difference?

5) Another one of the questions on the INIS website asks about dependant children. We have 1 child with a British passport only who lives with me currently in UK. Is this a dependant child or is that question refering to any child financially dependant on my spouse (the applicant)?? Confusing!!

6) Also will me and my daughter need a visa for Ireland of any kind? Or can we literally just turn up in Ireland with just our passports? ANd does it matter that my passport will have my old maiden name??

7) My final question (for now, sorry!) is who makes the final decision on if my spouse will get his visa for Ireland or not? Do they send the papers to Dublin or what? How long does the decision generally take? I'm a bit worried that the embassy in his home country will lack knowledge of what our rights are. I am worried they will refuse if they don't understand the legal side of things

What a headache! Ok thanks so much in advance for any replies

[Brigid from Ireland]

You and your child have British passports, so you can both travel freely to Ireland. You just get on a plane or a boat, and bring the passports with you.

You are a British citizen, so therefore all you need to do is get married. He can then appy to come to Ireland with you.

Regarding your passport in your maiden name, it is fine for you to travel on this, as it is legally your name. You should bring an original marriage cert, to show that he is your husband.

You do not need a 'host' to bring your spouse to Ireland. You, the British citizen, need to get a job after you come to Ireland, so that you are exercising your rights as an EU worker. (If you don't get work, you have fewer rights).

If the job is for 20 hours per week (or more) you might get Family Income Supplement, as you have a child. Once you start to work in Ireland, you should apply for child benefit at the Irish rate of payment, it is higher than Britain.

[Brigid from Ireland]

'An EUTR visa should be applied for and it must be issued on the basis of an accelerated procedure, free of charge. It can only be refused in very specific and unusual circumstances.

The only documents required for the application for the EUTR visa are the passport of the applicant and of the EU spouse (or National ID card in the case of the latter), and their marriage certificate. That is all.'

Previous refusal of a visa is not relevant, once you are married.

[ltb86]

Thanks so much for replying to me Brigid.

So the EUTR visa we need to do online before submitting docs to the embassy, is that right?

So seeing as i have never been to Ireland before, i really dont know where to move to. Do we go for the obvious, Dublin? But then i guess that would be expensive when it comes to renting a place...yes i was aware also that i needed to find a job. Is it relatively easy to get a little part time job as a waitress or in a shop, i'm a very hard worker and don't have problems securing work in UK at all. And i'd need to work for minimum 3 months? Are we entitled to any other benefits whilst in Ireland, i've got no idea about the Irish system.....thanks again

[xxxtieee]

Thanks so much for replying to me Brigid.

So the EUTR visa we need to do online before submitting docs to the embassy, is that right?

So seeing as i have never been to Ireland before, i really dont know where to move to. Do we go for the obvious, Dublin? But then i guess that would be expensive when it comes to renting a place...yes i was aware also that i needed to find a job. Is it relatively easy to get a little part time job as a waitress or in a shop, i'm a very hard worker and don't have problems securing work in UK at all. And i'd need to work for minimum 3 months? Are we entitled to any other benefits whilst in Ireland, i've got no idea about the Irish system.....thanks again

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/ is a good source of all the information if you are moving to Ireland Hope that helps.