Irish Long-term Residency

[joesoap101]

Unfortunately time spent as a student doesnt count towards the residence requirement for long term residency/naturalisation- unless you hold refugee status or have stamp 4 in your passport.

But you should contact them to see what they say, but don't get your hopes up, the Fianna Fail government is too incompetent to realise that retaining skilled students is better than going through the extra effort of trying to recruit these skilled people from abroad.

[marialear]

Hi everyone,

Just off the phone with a rep from the Immigration Dept of Dept of Justice. Asked about my Long-term residency (LTR) application which was received in August 2006. Guess what? Shock! Horror! The waiting time has increased AGAIN!

It's now 45 weeks from receipt of application by the Immigration officials.

When I applied in August 2006, it was 14-16 weeks wait.
At the end of that time, I was told it was increased to 20-24 weeks
At the end of that time, I was told it was increased to 30 weeks
At the end of that time, I was told it is now increased to 45 weeks

Very quickly losing whatever patience I had with this whole place. If anyone out there has recently gotten their LTR & applied after June 2006, please let me know the secret code and/or handshake that you used. Thanks.

M

[TRV]

Marialear,

I have applied on June 16th 2006, not heard a word since. Lost the patience long time ago and now moving out of Ireland. I would recommend you do the same or atleast start look somewhere else. I know, I am not helping, but can't see any other way out of this mess of a so called country with worst public service I have ever seen. Believe me, it is not any way better than a third world country.

Gud luck.

[JAJ]

Hi everyone,

Just off the phone with a rep from the Immigration Dept of Dept of Justice. Asked about my Long-term residency (LTR) application which was received in August 2006. Guess what? Shock! Horror! The waiting time has increased AGAIN!

It's now 45 weeks from receipt of application by the Immigration officials.

When I applied in August 2006, it was 14-16 weeks wait.
At the end of that time, I was told it was increased to 20-24 weeks
At the end of that time, I was told it was increased to 30 weeks
At the end of that time, I was told it is now increased to 45 weeks

Very quickly losing whatever patience I had with this whole place. If anyone out there has recently gotten their LTR & applied after June 2006, please let me know the secret code and/or handshake that you used. Thanks.

M

You might want to write to your Member of Parliament (or whatever MPs are called in the Republic of Ireland).

[yimy]

Hi Maria and everybody...new here. Just descovered the web few days ago...
Well My history is the folowing:
Living in Ireland since 2001 (more less), I applied for Naturalization last year, and they givme my refernce number (69/xxx) in October 2006.
Since there they keep in contact with me 2 times, one in Febrery 2007 to show with more details and index all my documents showing the link that I have between my self and my great-great grandfather that he was Irish (I know that is far away but if you have Irish ancestors help a lot sometimes) and the last contact was to copy my old passport (that i dont have it) showing stamps previous 2003.
And the problem that Before 2003 I was working in a place during the process of my work permit that never arrived, I have paid tax and everthing (have original copy of my wages and everthing to send to show that I was no regular resident since 2001. Has to move to my country in 2003, re-apply for a work permit with another company being outside Ireland, and coming back to start to be in regular situation, that I am since 2003.
My lawyer sent a letter with my history previous 2003, and will see waht happend next week if I have any news...I hope that my time previous to 2003 count my application (i know that is 5 years to have permision to remain by the Minister), but in the letter that i Recived said (certain another condition apply). And hope that the link that i show between my self and my great-great grandfather help me to waive the application.
Well....sorry for my crap English ...and I send to everybody the best of luck...and always faith till the end.

all the best

[TRV]

JAJ,

"You might want to write to your Member of Parliament (or whatever MPs are called in the Republic of Ireland)."

Sorry mate...You haven't have a clue here, we are talking about Ireland here. MP's reply waiting time is too longer than the Immigration Dept waiting time.... I applied for Long Term Residency and got refused after a long wait and appealed the decision, but never got a reply since then.

No wonder why people feel like a X-mas turkey... (stuffed)...

Jesus, I never been this unhappy...This place brings worst in me...

[mktsoi]

hi maria.

there are other ways that you can get it faster!. i dont know how many people works in the long-term residency section. i spoke to one of the lady i know, she is working in one of those place like citizens information center. she told me that only 2 people working in the citizenship section for naturalisation. so take a educated guess that how many people they will assign to the long-term residency section!!!!!! so you either know the people works in the long-term residency section and they put your file in their desk without their tea cup on top of it OR you know mikey mcdowell youself and he signs it off for you personally!!!!!!!. now you know why it takes them 2 years or more to process naturalisation now!!!! some of the people i know that they have applied more than 2 years and they still waiting, so good luck!

[joesoap101]

she told me that only 2 people working in the citizenship section for naturalisation.

This information is incorrect. There is no way that there are only 2 people working on processing citizenship applications. The staff compliment is in fact 22. The data available for 2004 show 15 staff members dedicated to naturalisation and 4 to PNC. Because PNC is no longer possible they will be transferred. There are 9 vacancies unfilled in the citizenship section, most of them in naturalisation.

In 2004 staff costs were €558,634 and income from fees were €707,000 so they made a profit of €148,000 in the citizenship section.

There seems to be no data on the amount of staff dealing with LTR but it can't be too many!

I wonder if complaints can be lodged with the ombudsman? Im not particularly optimistic, and again the whole notion of 'privilege' as apposed to 'right' when dealing with all things immigration is bound to only make the situation worse.
http://www.ombudsman.gov.ie/en/

[mktsoi]

joesoap101

why dont you even explain whats the procedure involve to grant people long term residency status? does it take 10 months to count someone passport stamp? i am sure they have work to do up in department of justice. just like they start charging people 100 euro to get the gnib card. did the service improve alot? i am sure most of the people trying to apply for status from department of justice do not mind to pay some sort of fees. people would like to see improvement of services after they pay. if they making the profit out of the services, how come they cant hire more people??????? so tell us some more please

[joesoap101]

mktsoi I don't quite understand what your belligerent rant is about?

why dont you even explain whats the procedure involve to grant people long term residency status?

Because no one really knows what happens once the documents reach the department of justce. And if you thought about the process a bit more thoroughly you may have realised that it is quite plausible that they do a check with Social Services and the Gardai to check that you have not been claiming benefits and that you are of good character. This is what slows down the naturalisation process due to the volume of enquiries that has to be made.

i am sure they have work to do up in department of justice

No I don't think so, I believe they go into work and then sit around all day counting their pay packets while occasionally answering phones and being rude to callers to the helplines.

just like they start charging people 100 euro to get the gnib card. did the service improve alot?

The introduction of the fee had nothing to do with service delivery. It was just a very attractive cash cow for the government to milk, much like the re-entry visa system which serves no purpose other than revenue generation.

if they making the profit out of the services, how come they cant hire more people???????

Who knows? Would you like to do that job? I'd imagine its quite demoralising being in a job where the caseload always increases no matter how hard you work. Also I would imagine that they don't want any Tom, Dick and Harry to be determining citizenship applications- perhaps they're too selective.

so tell us some more please

What would you like to know? Ask some real questions instead of going off at a tangent and restating things everyone already knows.

I think you have some kind of misguided perception that I'm defending the Dept of Justice when I am doing nothing of the sort. You would realise this if you have read any of my posts.

The reality is there is no political will to change anything so until there is, the status quo will remain.

PA consultancy did an audit on the system and if anyone cares to read it:
http://www.justice.ie/80256E010039C5AF/ ... Report.pdf

[mktsoi]

joesoap101

sadly, some of those guys really go in and count their facing pay cheques, it doesnt surprise me!!!!!! i have seem some gal in the gnib counter doing their text with mobile phone while they worked on the gnib counter!!!!! and u listen. i work in one of the government department myself. i know how some of the people work!!!!! and i am not saying everyone works there are like that, plus, wow, like you said. they brought in the charges for the gnib card cause they want to milk the people, how nice that sound. in the other word to say it. they can talk to up all the immigrants however way they like. that makes people feel more welcome to stay. woooohooooooo

and they get pay for that, if they dont want to be there, so dont be. i dont know how long it takes to check if the applicant social welfare record, but gnib is part of the garda. i am sure it will take them months to check if the applicant criminal record.

[Platinum]

I think mktsoi is just having a good rant into anonymous cyberspace, since you can't actually get hold of anyone at the DOI to rant at.

But that review joesoap101 posted a link to is fascinating. It does give a good idea of what kind of resources they have over there. It looks like they set up a good, fairly efficient system for asylum seekers when their numbers were high, but now that they've dropped off significantly, no one's managed to re-allocate people and resources to non-asylum immigration services yet, where applications have skyrocketed in recent years.

It is disturbing (to me and my current application process, anyway) that EU-treaty rights/marriage to EU nationals is only mentioned two or three times, and no details of those processes are given at all. It seems to be lumped in with a bunch of other immigration processes that have many more applications.

[Dawie]

One almost gets the feeling that the Irish government is purposely delaying and slowing down applications in order to discourage people from applying. It would be relatively easy to reorganise the Irish immigration system into a streamlined efficient service like the UK immigration system has become. It would require a more business-like approach to immigration services, treating applicants like customers and not like nuisances.

I hate to use the comparison with the UK, but it's unavoidable. 2 week turnaround times for naturalisation applications compared to 24 months (or more) in Ireland. Same-day service for indefinite leave to remain applications compared to 48 weeks for the equivalent in Ireland. Multiple-entry visas issued as a matter of course compared to this ridiculous re-entry visa you have to obtain in Ireland.

Although I think the new proposed fees for UK immigration services have gone a step too far, the comparison with Ireland's immigration services is astounding. For all it's faults, the UK immigration services are lubricated with lots of money and clear standards. Immigration procedures and policies are clearly published and made transparent for all to see on the website and the public is left in no doubt as to what it can expect from the UK immigration system.

Ireland needs to start applying some business principles to their system, charging appropriately for the services (which I'm sure people would gladly pay for were they effecient) and making their immigration processes clear and transparent so that people can hold them accountable.

[joesoap101]

The government wants to frustrate people to the point where they simply decide to leave the country. The thing is its not only immigration services...

Waiting times for a driving test: 1 year (if you fail you may legally drive home unaccomapanied on a provisional licence).

Waiting time to see an obstetrician: 5 months after becoming pregnant

Some parents have to book a place for their unborn child to ensure a place in school. Some children had to repeat a year because they didnt have a place in secondary school (without having to drive 20 miles).

Patients in A&E routinely spend more than a day on trolleys in the corridors of hospitals waiting for admission.


With regards naturalisation, I find it absolutely rediculous that the minister has to check the details of every applicant and then sign off to grant naturalisation. Why not give this responsibility to a senior civil servant. And why does the dept of justice have to ask the police for checks regarding the 'good character' of applicants. You would think that the department in control of the police would have immediate access to their systems.

What I find even more annoying are the Irish citizens who dont complain about how their spouses are being treated by the government. 16 months on average to get permission to remain as the spouse of an Irish citizen is just absurd.

[lavinia]

joesoap101 this is so true...

and one would think that ireland has population of dozens of millions..

and there is only 4 million people here..

unbelievable!

[Maliklahore]

Hi Just Passed my 5 years with my Working Visa and stamp 4 . As i have gone through the whole page i thinks its gone be 9 years to get Irish passport?5 years working 2 years Long Term Res. 2 year naturalization ? can you please correct me in case i am wrong .

Regards

[Maliklahore]

Hi everyone,

Well, I've finally clocked my 5yr legal residence for applying for Irish naturalization. I went to an immigration lawyer in Dublin on Tuesday and she went through everything with me and signed my application. All good to go (thank God!) She also mentioned that the current waiting time is 24months and suggested that I apply for Long-term residency while I waited.

Huh? Long-term residency, didn't know it was an option. So, I phoned the Dept of Justice immigration section yesterday & was told that to apply for long-term residency I need 60 months of 'Stamp 1' stamps in my passport, copies of all my work permits and simply write a letter specifically requesting the long-term residence status. No application form and no fee. The wait is about 14-16 weeks and that's it. You get a certificate or letter in the mail and present to the Garda and that's it!

The Dept Justice worker also said that with long-term residency I would no longer have to get work permits, no longer register annually with Garda and (most important to me) no longer be bound to the one employer, I can change jobs. The lawyer mentioned to me that the application for citizenship and the application for long-term residence are mutually exclusive so they would not interfere with each other.

Has anyone out there applied for long-term residency in Ireland? If so, what is the deal? Is everything I heard true? Any info provided would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Maria

Hi Just Passed my 5 years with my Working Visa . As i have gone through the whole page i thinks its gone be 9 years to get Irish passport?5 years working 2 years Long Term Res. 2 year naturalization ? can you please correct me in case i am wrong .

Regards

[mendo]

It looks that it is more like:
-5 years on work permit/working visa
-1 year & 10 1/2 months for LTR (20 months + 2 months and 1/2 weeks after you send the PCC) waiting time
-3 1/2 years for naturalization (41 months) waiting time

Regards,

Mendo
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[room1102]

Hi Maria

I read some of you post about long term residency already. I know you received your long term residency status as well. I just got my letter from INIS last week and looking for police certificate from all the countries I have lived before I came to Ireland. This is the first request in the letter.

The second request of the letter as following:

2. Please also indicate whether you have ever been convicted of a criminal offence in this State or in any other country in which you resided prior to coming to Ireland.

Some one in the forum suggested that I have to get a delcaration done. Did you need to do this when you replied to the police certs request from INIS?

Other than you RCMP cert, did you need to get an Irish Police Cert from the Garda as well?????? Please share the info:)

Thx
room1102

[marialear]

Hi Room1102,

No I simply sent in my Police cert with a cover letter that stated I had never been questioned regarding a criminal matter, nor had I ever been arrested or convicted in my country of origin, my country of residence (Ireland) or any other country I have visited in my lifetime. That seemed sufficient.

Other than my RCMP cert, nothing else was needed from me - I assume that they did their own Garda check on me.

Regards,
M

[Maliklahore]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the replies.

I put my application for both Irish citizenship & Long-term residency in the post (registered!) to the Dept of Justice on Saturday. Both go to different offices of the immigration section, so fingers crossed.

I'll keep ye informed of waiting times & outcomes.

Regards,
Maria

Hi Can you please explain here more. after 5 years we have to apply for LTR and wait for 2 years for LTR approval. after LTR we have to wait for another 2 year for nationality ? is it taking 9 years ? or is it taking 7 years for full process ?

Regards

[mendo]

Hello,

Only after 5 years you can apply for both LTR or/and Naturalization.
After this the waiting game takes 20 moths for LTR and over 36 months for Naturalization.
This is for now, God knows how long it will take in the future.

Regards,

Mendo
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[walrusgumble]

Hi Just Passed my 5 years with my Working Visa and stamp 4 . As i have gone through the whole page i thinks its gone be 9 years to get Irish passport?5 years working 2 years Long Term Res. 2 year naturalization ? can you please correct me in case i am wrong .

Regards

you dont actually need to apply for long term residency at all so long as you have 5 years work permit in order to apply for citizenship. (i know you know this) after the 5 years apply for citizenship immeditatley.

yes it will at least take 1 1/2 years for a decision in citizenship, so i understand you would like to apply for ltr in the meantime in order to get stamp 4 and free your self from the strict work permit requirements, but reality is that you will also be waiting at least 1 1/2 years for the ltr as well (welcome to ireland)

Conclusion, once you have 5 years done, apply for both citizenship and ltr and hope you at least get ltr quick (don't bank on it)

after roughly 1 1/2 years you should go to an immigration solicitor and see if you could bring a mandamus case against the state for unreasonabel and conscienceable delay. see case of km v mjelr 2007 edwards j who held that in cases dealing with minister's discretion (in that case leave to remain application) 1 year is sufficent time for department to respond regarldess of department short comings

[mendo]

after roughly 1 1/2 years you should go to an immigration solicitor and see if you could bring a mandamus case against the state for unreasonabel and conscienceable delay. see case of km v mjelr 2007 edwards j who held that in cases dealing with minister's discretion (in that case leave to remain application) 1 year is sufficent time for department to respond regarldess of department short comings

@walrusgumble

This is giving me some ideas, I didn't know about this "unreasonable and conscienceable delay".
Would it work for citizenship applications as well, at the end of the day the citizenship is at the minister's discretion as well?

Regards,

Mendo
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[ashimashi]

interesting...
Walrus, could you please send me the full names in that case you're mentioning? can't find it anywehere.