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Ok so... I'm confused.

Forum to discuss all things Blarney | Ireland immigration

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Ohoopee
Newbie
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:21 am
Location: Kerry, Ireland

Ok so... I'm confused.

Post by Ohoopee » Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:28 pm

Ok so I have just received my second work permit in Ireland and when it expires in 2012, I will have resided in Ireland for four years. So basically, I will be one year away from being eligible to apply for a Stamp 4 permanent residency. I was talking with my location immigration officers last week when I went to register and he told me that current processing time for a Stamp 4 application is about 2 years.

Now I know their is a difference between the Visa stamps and the work permit. Work permit just gives me permission to work, not to reside in Ireland and the Visa stamp gives me permission to remain in Ireland but not to work and I need both to legally live and work in Ireland. I understand all that, but my question is, when am I eligible to apply for a permanent work permit? My reason for asking, since I now know that three years from now, my stamp 4 application will take about 2 years so at this moment, I am about 4 years away from received a Stamp 4. I have read something somewhere about getting a permanent work permit but I don't understand the criteria of it or how it works. So this is my third year in Ireland. I worked in Ireland for two years on a work permit then when it expired, I changed jobs so I had to apply for a new work permit which just arrived last week. So, how much longer before I can apply for a permanent work permit and how long does that process take?

Thanks

9jeirean
Senior Member
Posts: 556
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:15 pm

Re: Ok so... I'm confused.

Post by 9jeirean » Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:09 pm

Ohoopee wrote:Ok so I have just received my second work permit in Ireland and when it expires in 2012, I will have resided in Ireland for four years. So basically, I will be one year away from being eligible to apply for a Stamp 4 permanent residency. I was talking with my location immigration officers last week when I went to register and he told me that current processing time for a Stamp 4 application is about 2 years.

Now I know their is a difference between the Visa stamps and the work permit. Work permit just gives me permission to work, not to reside in Ireland and the Visa stamp gives me permission to remain in Ireland but not to work and I need both to legally live and work in Ireland. I understand all that, but my question is, when am I eligible to apply for a permanent work permit? My reason for asking, since I now know that three years from now, my stamp 4 application will take about 2 years so at this moment, I am about 4 years away from received a Stamp 4. I have read something somewhere about getting a permanent work permit but I don't understand the criteria of it or how it works. So this is my third year in Ireland. I worked in Ireland for two years on a work permit then when it expired, I changed jobs so I had to apply for a new work permit which just arrived last week. So, how much longer before I can apply for a permanent work permit and how long does that process take?

Thanks
Hi Ohoopee,

Let me see if I can provide some answers here to the best of my knowledge:

When you say this
I will have resided in Ireland for four years. So basically, I will be one year away from being eligible to apply for a Stamp 4 permanent residency.
I am assuming you are referring to Long term Residency LTR http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Lo ... _Residency.

In that case, you would only be eligible to apply after you have completed 5 years on work permit. It is not actually permanent residency in real sense as it is valid only for 5 years. It however allows you to work with any employer without requiring a permit or set up your own business. Yes, LTR process currently takes up to 24 months so you would need to keep the renewal of your work permit while the processing is on. S by your calculation, yes, you are at least 5 years away from an LTR except INIS policy changes in that regards.

The alternative is to apply for naturalization, which as in the case of LTR you can only apply for after 5 years of residency. Again as with LTR, processing currently takes between 2-3 years. Some have been known to take longer. http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Co ... %20Section.

The other point which I think you were probably alluding to in your post is Long Term work Permit (May not be the exact official wording) which the work permit office used to issu to persons who have completed 5 years on work permit with the same employer. It used to be valid for 5 years or the expiration of one's passport (whichever comes first).

You may find more info here:

http://www.deti.ie/labour/workpermits/e ... imited.htm
What lies behind us and ahead of us is nothing compared to what lies within us

Ohoopee
Newbie
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:21 am
Location: Kerry, Ireland

Post by Ohoopee » Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:32 pm

Hi 9jeirean,

Thanks for the clarification and the link.

See I don't know as much about all of this as I should but I was under the impression that if you had a work permit in Ireland, and you received a renewal valid for three years that you didn't have to apply for a work permit anymore but I wasn’t sure what this meant for me since I didn’t renew, I changed jobs so I had to apply for new permit? Perhaps I read the documents wrong or misunderstood them but I was under the impression that if you made it as far as to get a work permit renewed, you were home free in regard to not having to constantly renew a work permit every two or three years. See I live in a very small town that has only one bus leave in the mourning and one bus that comes back the after noon. My immigration officer is based in a town about a 50 minute bus trip from my town so when i go to register, I have to take ALL day off work and stay in the town all day just for a process that takes 15 minutes. It is a lot of run around for me and I have been waiting until I was granted permanent residency to try to get a car as that way I wouldn't have to worry about suddenly having to pack up and leave the country and then be worried about having to sell everything. But now, it is sounding like regardless of what I do, I am forced to go through all of this for at least another four years. I haven't read that link you sent me though, perhaps it offers an answer. If that is true, I am better off just waiting for the 5 year mark and applying for naturalization.

Even though it is a little annoying having to go and register one every year I am more concerned about the work permit. There are a lot of jobs out there in my field actually, I see loads of job listings everyday but that 1000 Euro along with the 3 month waiting period now it takes to get a work permit really makes it hard to get someone to hire you, unless you do just stay where you are I guess. If I could get that long term work permit you are talking about, that would solve most my concerns so yeah I guess I just need to shut up and read that link you sent. ;)

Thanks,

9jeirean
Senior Member
Posts: 556
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:15 pm

Post by 9jeirean » Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:15 pm

Yeah some of us around here live in them "Bally-one-bus" villages :wink:

Seriously, I understand your plight. Believe me I have been there before. Look at it this way, at least you are lucky as you put it, you work in a field hat currently offers you a options for jobs. that's one thing you don't see around these days. The good news is if you can make it o the 5 years mark, based on current INIS policies you have about 3-4 options which should offer you the flexibility you are implying.


Good luck mate.

Slan
Last edited by 9jeirean on Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
What lies behind us and ahead of us is nothing compared to what lies within us

agniukas
Senior Member
Posts: 665
Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 7:19 pm

Post by agniukas » Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:56 pm

work permits are renewed on an annual basis. only when you have worked for 5 years with the same employer you may get an unlimited work permit for that employer, or a 3 year work permit. i guess it depends on the field of the employment.when you change your employer, the count starts from the beginning. but all the time spent on work permits even for different employers counts towards long term residency, and you need 60 months before you apply.

Ohoopee
Newbie
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:21 am
Location: Kerry, Ireland

Post by Ohoopee » Thu Jun 17, 2010 10:54 am

Thanks for the information guys. Looks like I was grossly misinformed and things don't work the way I thought they did at all. I think the easiest way for me is going to be to say with my current employer for the next two years, when this permit expires, stay with the employer and apply for a renewal. Then after one year, apply for Stamp 4 and continue working for that employer until I get the stamp 4, that way I only have renew my permit one more time. Buy the time all that happens, I should be eligable to apply for Citizenship.

So thats my plan for the moment assuming the economy doesn't get any worse.

Thanks guys!!!!

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