UK ILR with EU citizen family members - how to enter Ireland

[Ciaran88]

Hi there,

After weeks of hearing nothing from the Irish embassy and weeks of their visa office phone line not working we have just been told they are closed for just the right number of days between now and our trip to Ireland on the 28th that not even if we attend the embassy in person can my partner obtain a visa.

So we are looking for other routes:

I am a UK and Irish citizen. She is a Zimbabwean citizen, has lived and worked in the UK for 8 years, has a UK Travel Document and a photo ID indefinite leave to remain card. Her family here have UK citizenship. We will be traveling together with nobody else.

I have read that Ireland accepts people with a “Residence card of a family member of a Union citizen” to enter without a visa in these cases. Does this literally mean the residency card of their family member, or is it a new card entirely? National ID card? Passport? We can borrow any of these from her UK citizen mother, but is that what it's getting at? Because I can't find any info on how to obtain a specific card for this purpose here in the UK.

Otherwise is there any other hope for us?

EDIT: Just found this on the Irish UK embassy webpage:

Family members of an EU citizen who are holders of a document called "Residence card of a family member of a Union citizen" as referred to in Articles 5 (2) and 10 (1) of Directive 2004/38/EC are not subject to an Irish visa requirement. Please be advised that the Visa Offices / Irish Missions are not in a position to provide guidance or advice as to whether a particular card or document held is sufficient to exempt the person concerned from the visa requirement.

Brilliant.

[Ciaran88]

Is this a possibility?

She flies to Belfast, gets the train to Dublin, then comes back with me from Dublin to the UK?

[Ciaran88]

Looks like the above is the only solution ^^^

Is there likely to be any issues with returning to the UK in that scenario?

[Casa]

Is this solely for a visit?

[Ciaran88]

Is this solely for a visit?

Just for 3 nights, my family is Irish and I wanted to show her Dublin during the Easter Rising celebrations.

[That Zimbo Lad]

I have seen this question being asked numerous times on these boards. ILR
is not an EEA family permit or anything of the kind because it is issued under
UK national law and more specifically on the tier based system. An EEA family
permit is issued when family members of EU citizens who have exercised their
treaty rights (work, study) apply for residency for their family members and are
Issued an Article 10 Residence Card on that basis.

To cut a long story short as I understand it your wife does not have the article 10
RC but she has ILR. However since you say you are a dual national I suppose you could use your British Passport and say your wife is "accompanying you" as is set out in the directive 2004/38/EC.

The Irish via INIS seem to have the same modus operandi as the Home Office
so not surprised you couldn't get far. Since the UK and Ireland are part of the
Common Travel Area, you could get to the Irish border and argue your case. See this
http://www.immigrationboards.com/europe ... 95372.html.


Also as I understand it, there are no border checks between NI and the Republic,
so as much as this may sound naughty you could just sneak in lol. Have you given that a thought? Goodluck.

[noajthan]

So we are looking for other routes:

...

Otherwise is there any other hope for us?

...

There's a discussion about the CTA here, but no clear conclusion:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/genera ... 83856.html

You could start here:
https://eumovement.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... -to-travel