How to Get a Spouse Visa When Arriving in Ireland
[Originally posted on 16/4/2019]
Disclaimer: This was the process for getting a spouse visa in 2019, things have changed a little since then.
I must commend Ireland on how delightfully easy it is to come into this country, to work in this country, and to legally join my husband in this country.
We phoned the Irish embassy in New Zealand last year – knowing the rigours of getting into the UK – and figured that Ireland was similar, asking what we’d need. The response was ‘Just show up, show your passport and marriage certificate’. And I thought that they’d gotten something wrong, because how can moving to a modern English-speaking country be that easy? [NB: English speaking – mostly, modern, questionable?]
But it was.
We arrived on 16 Feb 2019, and it was exactly that easy! We turned up, and showed our passports, and marriage certificate and had to answer why we were entering. ‘To live here and explore Europe’ was a satisfactory answer.
I started on a tourist visa, and then was given three months to get my paper work in order.
Getting an appointment was the tricky part. They issue a handful of appointments each week day at 10am (actually more like 10:07, because Ireland). The appointments are for 7 weeks in the future. So I finally managed to get an appointment confirmed on 26 Feb for today, after 10 days of trying and failing.
You can legally work once you have the appointment booked, and proof of the appointment is sufficient to act as a work permit until the appointment.
At the appointment, I brought my documents – marriage certificate, passport, proof of address, proof of work/means – and waited for ages once I’d registered with a number at the check in desk. I was called to take finger prints 3 times as it didn’t work the first two times, and then eventually given stamps in my passport. The whole process took about 3 hours.
Important things to know: Spouse visa is free!
I will now get issued with a Irish Residency Permit, on a card much like a drivers licence, in the next couple of weeks, but I have a stamp in my passport that says I’m good for the next three years!
So pleased I do not have to deal with these appointments and bureaucracy again for three years or so.
[I am now attempting the next great hurdle: getting Irish citizenship – I’ve only been waiting a year to hear back – no rush.]
Now to get internet at our flat… [spoiler alert: it was easier to move]
Useful links: