Ireland is not treating me equally under EU LAW

[adnan01]

Hi everyone,

Whenever I had problems immigration board was my friend.

I'm going through hard time in Ireland and here is my problem;

I'm Non EEA family member of EEA national with UK residence card issued under Directive 2004/38/EC and I came/moved to Ireland from UK with my EEA wife ON 19th January 2013. At airport I was forcefully given landing stamp with validity of 2 months that expired on 19th March. I came here as I was offered a job and I'm still working till date.

Because my daughter's passport was expired, we left our daughter in the UK and my wife came along with me for 2 days and then she left. She came back again later along with our daughter as her new passport was done but by that time my stamp was expired, we sorted out accomdation and applied for PPS number on 2nd April 2013.

In Ireland you can't get Sickness/health insurance without PPS number and my plan was to get PPS and obtain sickness Insurance and then apply for Residence Card in Ireland within 3 months of my stay on basis of my wife being self-sufficient.

PPS Authorities has declined my application saying that I need to have valid stamp!! I sent them EU Directive legislations and after reading that they agreed that yes I have a right to stay here but I still need to have stamp and they cant issue PPS number. So they advised me to go to Immigration office (Garda) in Cork and get a stamp. I went to Garda Immigration and they said they CANT give me a stamp and I need to apply Registration Card under EU law. I said Okay I can do that but I need PPS number so that I can obtain health insurance in order to apply Residence Card in Ireland. Immigration said you don't have right to work here neither we can do anything about PPS so go to PPS and ask what they can do.

I phoned PPS authorities and they said NO we can't do anything until you provide valid stamp.

I can't get PPS number which means I can't get health insurance so I can't apply for Residence Card. What is the solution to this problem?

Shall I exit to UK with my valid UK residence Card and come back with my family and get landing stamp again? I'm worried about my job as well now because this situation can have severe consquences and with family its really hard.

Please advice.

Many thanks,

Adnan

[Brigid from Ireland]

Complicated.

Does your wife have a PPS number?

If not, can she get one?

If she has a PPS number, can she get sickness/health insurance to cover her whole family, including her spouse? If so, would that help?

It is advisable when contacting state offices re getting PPS number or any matter to phone first and to follow up with an e-mail, as the decision is only valid when received in writing. So e-mail info@welfare.ie to ask your question in writing, and to get answer in writing. The same with Garda immigration - e-mail and explain the position, and get a decision in writing.

It would not be advisable to mention that you are working at present when talking to any of the above offices, there appears to be doubt as to your right to work, so this could cause trouble. Obviously don't lie if asked, but don't volunteer the information either.

[Brigid from Ireland]

Once your right to work is confirmed you can apply for Child Benefit and if on a low wage for Family Income Supplement also. If low wage you can also apply for medical card and/or GP visit card.

If your wife gets a job she can apply straight away for the above things, as she is an EU citizen. One payslip is needed for child benefit (and the legal right to work, which your wife already has as an EU citizen).

Payslip/letter stating hours of work more than 20 hours per week needed for Family Income Supplement. Then you get it if wage is low based on number of children in family.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

OP will have right to work as spouse of EU citizen if EU citizen exercises treaty rights.

[adnan01]

Hi,

thanks for your reply.

I would be applying Residence Card as self sufficient so I suppose we would need to show money in Account? I would prefer getting my PPS done so that I can recieve normal salary atleast because currently I'm taxed 52%.

Do you think if I leave Ireland and come back with my wife and daughter, will I get another landing stamp so that we could start our stay in Ireland from scratch?

If I call them and ask to process my wife PPS application I suppose they will do it and I can certainly get sickness Insurance then, but to apply Residence Card on basis of Self-sufficient would require some financial supporting documents and that would not work as its only myself working but my salary is good enough if PPS is done and I get normal salary.

I would appreciate any possible suggestions.

Thanks

[Brigid from Ireland]

Yes, I would agree that his wife needs to exercise treaty rights. The easiest way for her to do this is to contact revenue and inform them that she is self employed. She does not need to be making much/any money from this. She just needs to get the paperwork right. Then she is exercising treaty rights and husband has the right to work. Some people make a loss from self employment - there are tax advantages to this if the other spouse is on considerably more than 42,000.

Another point about self employment is that if the spouse makes a profit of about 5,000 euro from it each year, she pays prsi and that means she can get maternity benefit if she has more children.

Re tax: If you are paying more than you need because you are on emergency tax, you can reclaim this as soon as you get a pps number and confirmation of your right to work.

[Brigid from Ireland]

I would be reluctant to leave and try to re-enter. Your wife had three months to become self sufficient. These are used up, and I don't think getting another three months is as simple as leaving and re-entering. So it could be a bad move, depending on which official you met.

Your wife declaring self employment is much easier than leaving and trying to re-enter.