making it in ireland

hi ppl
I am new here and looking for info suggestions etc. I am a British citizen and have a non eu financee we intend to wed in a few mouths time. because i earn under the magic 18.6k in my employment in the uk, i am looking to use ss route in the emerald isle for a year or 2. no immediate hurry to leave.
Now i know about pps and eu family permits. so my question is more broad about the initial landing in Ireland. cheap places to stay, is there any ss route support groups out there etc. and your opinion on the initial cost of moving there ( one man and his bag style)

this really is the last option open, thanks to various circumstances we are all too family with.
I look forward to hearing your remarks

Best to get married before you go, they are tightening the noose with the false must prove 2 years cohabitating requirement for durable relationship partners.
My own plan is to head for Waterford or another large town rather than Dublin. You can get accomodation for 350-400 euros a month, ok maybe lucky to get cheaper but remember you are going to need somewhere that you can get utility bills for. Obviously budget in a deposit.
Train and ferry should be lest than £100.
No decent support group other than the good folks on this forum. My other plan is to buy a semi-derelict place, repair it and open as a hostel for SS but I need to raise about another 10k to make it happen.

I would recommend any town that has a train connection to Dublin. The most obvious example is Longford/Edgesworth - it is far enough away from Dublin that property is relatively cheap to rent, particularly as there is a massive oversupply of property there. It also has a train connection that would get you to Dublin in time for work at 9 o'clock, if you were doing a standard 9-5 job. The problem with places like Waterford is that there are too few jobs. So look for towns where property is cheap AND you can get to Dublin for work. You can rent a three bed house in Edgeworthstown for 350/month or a one bed apt in Longford for 75/week, according to daft.ie today.
The problem is that travel to Dublin for work will cost about 25 euro per day, but if you only work part time two days a week that is not high. The other good thing about working part time two days a week is that if you have been working in the UK you can use the NI contributions from the UK/any country in Europe to claim part time jobseekers benefit for the days you don't work. Even if you have never worked you can try to get part time jobseekers allowance (but this is not guaranteed, benefit is definite if you meet set rules, for allowance the sw office use 'judgement on habitual residence' as well as rules, so there is no guarantee you will get allowance). If your wife is living with you and has no income you can get quite a lot on jobseekers if you work two days a week.
The key to getting support is that you need to work in any job for at least one day. That triggers an entitlement to jobseekers benefit, if you have paid enough NI in the UK. Then the key to getting a visa for non-eu spouse is that you continue to work, but part time will be enough. They will ask for current payslips after spouse has been here three months, and again after another six months, and then spouse gets 5 year visa, as you have been working 9 months at that stage and one year of work (which is an exact 52 weeks of payslips even if you only work one day a week) gives you considerable rights to social welfare and permanent residence for your spouse.
The other good news is that if the girl gives birth to a child in Ireland, and one parent is a UK citizen, that child is automatically an Irish citizen. If that happens, the non-EU parent can apply to stay in Ireland under Zambrano (parent of Irish child living in Ireland). This is almost always granted (unless the non EU parent has been convicted of something very serious like terrorist activity).

very good insights, keep em coming ppl

Hello Brigid,

Do we need to supply continous 6 months of payslips of the EU spouse in order to get 5 years Stamp4EUFAM?
I am currently on temp stamp 4 issued for 6 months. We supplied 3 payslips with EU1 application in the beginning.
Is the EU treaty right going to ask for all the 6 months payslips after the 6 month is over?

many thanks

No, the EU law accepts that people can be in work and out of work. They will usually ask for a recent payslip, as proof that the EU spouse is currently working. They ask for this at the end of the six months and then they give the 5 years.

ok many thanks

Brigid from Ireland wrote:No, the EU law accepts that people can be in work and out of work. They will usually ask for a recent payslip, as proof that the EU spouse is currently working. They ask for this at the end of the six months and then they give the 5 years.

thanks 357mag. looks like you have put some thought into this. the obvious choice for me is dublin with better work prospects. i hear you about needing utility bills. however bank statements and maybe mobile contract bill could suffice if shared accommodation. shame i dont have 10k or would be right there with you doing the hostel plan.

Brigid from Ireland wrote:I would recommend any town that has a train connection to Dublin. The most obvious example is Longford/Edgesworth - it is far enough away from Dublin that property is relatively cheap to rent, particularly as there is a massive oversupply of property there. It also has a train connection that would get you to Dublin in time for work at 9 o'clock, if you were doing a standard 9-5 job. The problem with places like Waterford is that there are too few jobs. So look for towns where property is cheap AND you can get to Dublin for work. You can rent a three bed house in Edgeworthstown for 350/month or a one bed apt in Longford for 75/week, according to daft.ie today.
The problem is that travel to Dublin for work will cost about 25 euro per day, but if you only work part time two days a week that is not high. The other good thing about working part time two days a week is that if you have been working in the UK you can use the NI contributions from the UK/any country in Europe to claim part time jobseekers benefit for the days you don't work. Even if you have never worked you can try to get part time jobseekers allowance (but this is not guaranteed, benefit is definite if you meet set rules, for allowance the sw office use 'judgement on habitual residence' as well as rules, so there is no guarantee you will get allowance). If your wife is living with you and has no income you can get quite a lot on jobseekers if you work two days a week.
The key to getting support is that you need to work in any job for at least one day. That triggers an entitlement to jobseekers benefit, if you have paid enough NI in the UK. Then the key to getting a visa for non-eu spouse is that you continue to work, but part time will be enough. They will ask for current payslips after spouse has been here three months, and again after another six months, and then spouse gets 5 year visa, as you have been working 9 months at that stage and one year of work (which is an exact 52 weeks of payslips even if you only work one day a week) gives you considerable rights to social welfare and permanent residence for your spouse.
The other good news is that if the girl gives birth to a child in Ireland, and one parent is a UK citizen, that child is automatically an Irish citizen. If that happens, the non-EU parent can apply to stay in Ireland under Zambrano (parent of Irish child living in Ireland). This is almost always granted (unless the non EU parent has been convicted of something very serious like terrorist activity).

With regards to rental, here in the uk getting a place is a major pain in the rear end. if not private for witch they are not many. credit checks £100, signing on fee's, deposits, compulsory insurance etc etc its very expensive process. are estate agents in Ireland as greedy? or is the market a little more laid back.

My hostel plan also involves giving 10 hours a week for 12 weeks employment as maintenance man or driver escort at minimum wage. Imagine client pays a one off payment of 5k giving 12 months, non reimbursible, rent plus employment and support to get through SS, client would get back around 1.4k.. Or 7.5k giving 6 months work.

There are a lot of private landlords in Ireland, who rent their own property without the expense of an estate agent.
Basically if they like the look of you then you will get the place. They will want one month in advance and one month as a deposit. They will ask you questions, to establish if you are respectable and if you can afford the rent, but they don't usually go to the expense of a credit check.

can one also go to northern ireland using ss route or will it ve to be in ROI, if so i have a question,
am a british citizen currently residing in UK, am getting married in June and after that i will apply for my non eu spouse to join me, i want to know that if i decide to go now and get a place and find a job and get married in June , will my partner be given a 3 month visa to join me or 6 months , reason am asking is cus my partner gets 3 months if am not working yet but will he be given 6 months if am already working?

and advice will be appreciated

Northern Ireland is part of the UK and, as such, doesn't count for Surinder Singh via Ireland (for a British citizen)

oh ok , thats fine thanks, where will be the best town to relocate to in ireland in terms of getting a job and also cheap rent

Really hard to answer.

Some people recommend living outside Dublin and then commuting in to work in the city. This sounds good, however, train tickets can mount up.

Although not central (i.e. not close to Dublin), you might want to think about Lifford in Co. Donegal. It's just across the border from Northern Ireland so it's quite easy to go there to do grocery shopping (NI is generally cheaper than the ROI for groceries-unless things have changed since I lived there). I think there are quite a few jobs in Lifford too, but this obviously depends on the season and (to a certain extent) your luck and what you're willing to do.

Remember that your job only needs to be genuine and effective. It can be part-time (not sure of the exact number of hours) and doesn't need to be super well-paid.

Hope some other people will come and join in your discussion!

Best
CC

Thanks for reply chaoclive

any ideas about Galway at all.

Galway is a nice place to live. It's got the seaside. Costs should be lower than Dublin but I'm not sure of actual rental prices etc or the job market, but I guess someone else should be able to provide some ideas.

I've only been there once on a short holiday with my parents ages ago.

Waterford is cheaper to live as compared to DUB and job opportunities have started to open, specially in hotels, restaurant, etc

I'm thinking along the lines of County town, ie Cavan for county Cavan. A bigger town should have better chance of finding a job.
I also plan to take my car for commuting but that opens a few problems with registering it and insurance.
There seems plenty of care worker jobs advertised, one 12 hour shift a week would just about cover the requirement.
This forum is about helping each other so I'm suprised there are not couples teaming up together to rent a place. Renting a 3 bedroomed place for around 400 a month and splitting it with one or even two other couples seems a good idea.

I must say that is a really good idea. You might want to create a separate thread to meet people who are thinking about going to the same place as you are. This would work quite well as long as you get your names on the required documents, e.g. electricity/gas/phone&internet/rental contract.

I've also thought about this for meeting people in Belfast who hold Irish passports when I get back home later this summer. To be honest, none of my friends/family have Irish passports and my partner's citizenship will require signatures from 3 (I think) Irish citizens. It might be a good idea if we were to set up some kind of support groups/friendship networks etc so that we can get to know each other for the requisite time and then be able to sign off on each other's applications.

Unfortunately, I'm in China ATM and don't have a VPC anymore....so no Facebook

Hi wonderful ppl
if one is using ss route in Dublin-Ireland and working in northern ireland will it count towards their spouse been able to use payslips for stamp 4 or does the person have to work only in dublin- ireland? Thanks

How could Northern Ireland possibly work? It's not in Ireland - it's part of the UK.

-You must be working outside the UK if you are British and trying to use the Surinder Singh route back to the UK.
-You must be working in Ireland to be able to get Stamp 4 for your spouse (not the difference between EU4Fam and Stamp 4)

Thanks for reply chaoclive

I feel the advice is wrong. The requirement is that you have to be working, theres no saying as to where.

Theres some recent posts in the eea section about case findings this week regarding cross border working

http://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-ro ... 0-160.html

If maaberglady45 wants to test this, I'd welcome him/her to go ahead but I'd advise against it.

The UKBA even rejects more 'standard' Surinder Singh claims from people working full-time in another EEA country...do you think they're gonna accept an application from someone who worked in NI (part of the UK) without a fight through the courts.

Let's get serious.