If you are the spouse of an Irish citizen and you would like to move to Ireland to live with them on a long-term basis, you may be eligible to do so provided you meet the Department of Justice’s conditions.
The first thing to consider is if you are from a visa required country. If you are not from a visa required country, the application process requires fewer steps in that you do not need to apply for a visa to travel to Ireland. Instead, you simply need to travel to Ireland with your Irish spouse, satisfy airport immigration of your intentions for moving here, and complete the steps for registering your residency permission here in Ireland.
Whereas if you are from a visa required country, you must first submit an application for a ‘D’ visa to your nearest Irish Embassy or VSF office. Once your visa is approved, you can then travel to Ireland and apply to register your permission after you arrive here.
The ‘D’ visa application involves completing a visa application form online. You then have 30 days from the date you submit your online application to submit some supporting documents to the relevant embassy. And in some cases, depending on where you live, you may be required to attend an appointment at an embassy or VSF office to submit your supporting documents in person.
The preparation and submission of the relevant supporting documents is a very important part of the application process, therefore it is crucial that you are well prepared. The supporting documents must be submitted in their original format. They must be translated if not in English, and certain identity documents must be apostilled or notarised.
Upon review of your application, the Visa Office must be, among other things, satisfied that your spouse is an Irish citizen and that they have the finances to support you on a long-term basis in Ireland. If you are only very recently married, and /or your relationship has been long distance / you have never lived together, the Visa Office will require a significant selection of documents as evidence of your ongoing relationship to date. An original marriage certificate is rarely, if ever, sufficient proof of your relationship to your spouse.
Once your application is submitted in full, the Visa Office will take anywhere from 6 to 15 months to process the application, sometimes longer. The time it takes them is dependent on a number of factors such as the location the application is submitted and the complexity of your case. If your application is refused, you will be given 2 months to submit an appeal, and appeals can then take anywhere from 12 to 24 months to be processed. Accordingly, in order to avoid the frustration of having your application refused and the subsequent long wait for an appeal to be processed, it is very important that you do things right the first time you apply.
If you are interested in applying for a visa to join your Irish citizen spouse in Ireland, we would be happy to meet with you for an initial consultation to advise you on your eligibility and the application process. Please email us at info@mcrathmullan.ie or call us on +353 (0) 1 873 5012.
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