Moving to Ireland - Visa Options

[NiallPP]

Hi everyone,

Have spent a great deal of time reading through threads and following everyones experiences here, it's been an incredibly useful resource considering how contradictory some of the information found online can be. Fantastic to hear people's real life experiences.

Our situation is this: I am a joint British/Irish citizen and passport holder who has been living in Asia with my non-EEA partner for the last 8 years. We have been married as of 2013 (marriage in UK on visit visa), and made several visits to UK, Europe and elsewhere over these years. We are now planning to move to Ireland, and having a difficult time making a decision on how best to approach this. As I see it we have 2 options:

1. Domestic immigration long stay spouse visa
2. European immigration route under my British passport and free movement rights.

Though there is some contradictory information regarding whether the second channel is an option to dual-nationals, we have already been issued and visited Ireland on a type C visa under this basis. I've taken some further advice since that it is a valid option, and presumably should it fail we at least have a backup option under domestic policy.

My issues in weighing the pros and cons come down to where either route leaves us in the future. The European route would get us to Ireland a little faster, but presumably then we'd be restricted to the 5 year rule for living in Ireland before citizenship was an option. I presume switching back to the eligibility to citizenship after 3 years of marriage to an Irish national would not apply in this instance?

Domestic immigration would take us a little longer in application but presumably then the option of citizenship after 3 years residence would be open and any uncertainties about the effects of Brexit and the question of my eligibility as a dual citizen would be removed.

I understand the timescale given for domestic spousal applications is around 6 months at present, though this seems to differ depending on the embassy. Our nearest embassy is Vietnam for reference here.

Also, we have been self-employed with businesses in my partner's country for our time here, i'm not sure how much documentation is needed to show finances in these situations but presumably our bank statements and a statement about this would be sufficient to show we are eligible?

If anyone is able to weigh in with any opinions or similar experience on this it is all gratefully received.

Thanks,

Niall.

[NiallPP]

No responses yet, which is a shame. Historically I see lots of people posting on here who have been in a similar position with dual nationality, any input would be much appreciated.

I will probably take some legal advice on this but if anyone has an input on the idea of arriving on the EU route and then 3 years down the line claiming the time in country as part of the reckonable residence of naturalisation based on marriage to an Irish citizen. Is that likely to be refused?

[peachtea]

I'm in exactly the same situation, and also wondering if it's better to go to Ireland as a citizen and bring a spouse, go to Ireland as a UK citizen and go the EU Family route, or even to live in another EU country entirely for a while! No advice to offer, sorry, but will be watching this thread and hoping someone else can advice us both!

[NiallPP]

Hi peachtea, thanks for the comment, its nice to at least hear from someone in the same boat. At least we can both say we have options here!

Have spent a long time looking through the archives of this forum and there have been a few others in similar situations who have taken a few different options. Of note, there was a poster here several years ago who took the case to court when the EU Visa was refused for being a dual citizen, though removed the case because of the McCarthy ruling and then went the domestic route.

I think i'm in a slightly different circumstance because i've been living in Asia with my spouse, and although I have an Irish passport that i've occasionally used, I have never lived there before.

The key thing for me is the question of whether taking the EU route rules you out for applying for citizenship after 3 years. I'm not sure if me 'coming out' as a dual citizen at that point would be possible, or would have any negative bearing on the residency status of my spouse. In a few of the older threads they hinted it should be possible, but i've not heard of anyone actually doing that.

I'm erring on the side of going the EU route at the moment, partly because then there would be a plan b option, and there are a few other benefits for travel etc. Also because of the time taken issuing spouse visas and clarity about financial requirements on the domestic route.

[peachtea]

Wow, very similar - I'm also in Asia, and haven't actually lived in Ireland yet! I don't even have an Irish passport, just the Foreign Birth Register done. I'm also a bit worried about financial requirements, as working in ESL in Asia does not actually translate to a decent wage back home, and although I may be over the 40,000 Euro figure, it might be difficult to get payslips/they might not be in English/etc. Because of this, the EU route seems easier, or even potentially working somewhere else in Europe as an Irish citizen, then moving to Ireland after a year or so and getting a Family Permit and having my spouse email indefinitely on this...I think? The more I look at immigration websites the morning confused I get!

Am I understanding rightly in thinking that your plan is to move to Ireland as a UK citizen, exercise your EU right to bring your spouse with you, then after three years (where you will have hit the 40k income thing) apply for them to get an Irish spouse visa? Would Brexit affect this, do you think?

[NiallPP]

Interesting, very similar story then. I've been self-employed rather than working in ESL, and though likely meet the requirements financially, i'm also concerned about proving this in paperwork.

That is my plan A as you suggest, though I don't believe the financial issue comes into play for claiming citizenship itself, just having the 'reckonable residence' on the island of ireland. Thats why I think it should be possible even if going the EU route, though of course after 5 years naturalisation should be an option regardless. The EU route would necessitate me finding employment or registering as self-employed within the first 3 months of course, and then continuing to be employed. So a bit more pressure in that way. But I know that its possible to get to Ireland this way at least since we used the same channel for a visit visa last year (and the embassy that issued this visa is aware of my dual citizenship..)

Sounds like you'd be eligible for this path too, do you have concerns other than Brexit?

Brexit is a big unknown, nobody knows how its going to affect people living in Europe yet, but it is like to be 2019 or later before this changes things and I believe the pre-existing agreement between the UK and Ireland is more likely to protect you there than elsewhere regardless. The way I see it at least with Irish citizenship we can switch over to that approach should it become necessary.

[peachtea]

Yep, Brexit and the post Brexit UK Irish relations are a total mystery, so it's worrying that we have no idea what could happen there. The finances and the dual citizenship thing are also a worry - I'm a little confused as to how being a dual citizen will make this work, whether I can essentially choose whether I want to be UK citizen residing in Ireland or whether as I have Irish citizenship I must be considered as an Irish citizen.

Hoping somebody here on the forums who has actually gone through this can weigh in, would be reassuring to hear people's experiences!