Visa waiver and marriage banns

Hi folks,

Just wanted a bit of help for a friend. He is an Irish citizen in a long distance relationship for the last year or so with an American girl. She has visited him twice through the visa waiver programme, each time for a week, and wants to come over again in November for a longer stay to see how they get on cohabiting.

She has another 2.5 months of her visa waiver allowance left so was planning to come for that amount of time. My friend is planning to propose to her when she arrives, and wants to know if there is any way she would be able to stay here and get married right away. I know there is a 3-month notification period ('reading the banns') for all marriages in Ireland which could cause some problems.

Would she have to declare her intent to marry when arriving in the country in November, given that they will not yet be engaged at this point? Is there such a thing as a fiancée visa in Ireland, and would she have to apply for one to ensure she can stay the full 3 months before being able to marry? Would there be a huge issue with her staying for 2 weeks after her visa waiver expired to get married? Would she have to return home and apply for a proper visa?

Sorry about the vast list of questions. I've tried going through the history on this site, and I have been on to the ICI, but every case seems to be slightly (vastly!) different and I want to make sure I have th facts right.

Cheers,
Poppy

Just a quick update, as it may be useful to someone else in a similar situation some day.

I called the Immigrant Council of Ireland and Citizens' Information and the HSE to get some information about this.

The girlfriend is a US citizen, so she does not need a visa before traveling here. My friend (Irish citizen) will need to propose before she travels though, because when she gets to immigration in Dublin she should let them know that she is intending to get married here. She will need to have documents to show that the wedding is planned, and she will need proof that she can support herself for 3 months and that she has return flights booked, and she should then be granted a 90-day C-class (short-stay) visa.

They can get married during those 90-days, and once married they will have to go in to the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) in town and apply for a change of status to 'Spouse of an Irish Citizen'. They will need supporting documentation:
- details of immigration history
- proof of current legal status (C-class visa)
- original marriage cert
- original passports & birth certs
- proof of relationship history (including wedding details)
- proof of joint address (utility bills)
- passport photos x2
- proof of health insurance
- proof of income for you (you need to have made over €40,000 over the last 3 years (pre-tax))

The change of status process can take up to 12 months by post, but if you bring everything and go in person, the ICI said you should get the new visa THAT DAY! In many cases, they will also grant her a Stamp 4 then too, which is a work permit.

When registering their intention to marry, they will first need to apply to do the application by post (normally you need to meet the registrar). If the registrar approves the postal notification, they will still have to meet with them no less than 5 days before the wedding to get the marriage license.

The registrar will send out forms which they must return with copies of passports, birth certs, and the intended details of the wedding (intended date & location, civil/secular/religious, details of solemniser, details of 2 witnesses) and a €200 notification fee. You are also supposed to have PPS numbers, according to the HSE lists, but I checked with Citizens' Information and they said that all the requirements are 'if any', so they should just speak to the registrar about how to get around that one.

Lots of detail, but I thought it could be useful.

Cheers,
Poppy