non-EEA national - when to apply for GNIB card

Hello all,

I hope you are all doing great.

My husband and I moved to Cork in June of this year. I am German and he is Congolese. My husband arrived here with a Visa C for 3 month - accompanying spouse who is an EU citizen.

As we arrived here we went to Garde Immigration because the Immigration Officer at the airport told us so. There they noted something in their system and told us which form we need to apply for the 4EUFam visa. They did not give him a stamp or note in his passport.

We sent the application for Family members of EU nationals who exercise their right to live in Ireland at the end of June and received a notice that we will get the first outcome within 5 weeks.

So far, so good.

Today I saw online that non-EEA nationals need to register with GNIB to get a Immigration Certificate of Registration as well as a GNIB card if they stay longer than 3 month.

(Found here: citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_to_ireland/rights_of_residence_in_ireland/registration_of_non_eea_nationals_in_ireland.html)

I have not heard of that card or certificate before and I am a bit unsure when to apply.

Right now my husbands visa says he is allowed to stay for three month. It's that's why they didn't let us apply for the certificate as we were there the first time? But on the other hand the officer was aware of the fact that my husband intends to stay because we have been told what form to use to apply for the visa.

Are we suppose to wait until he gets the outcome of the application? That will be a 6 month visa (Stamp 4 I guess) which will be valid until a final decision reg his application has been made. I believe we will need to go to Garda for that anyways to eventually get the stamp in his passport because they already returned it.

What happens if you don't register for that card? Or register too late?

Is it even possible that the EU Treaty Rights Division who handles the application issues the Certifacte?

As you can see - I am totally lost!

I would appreciate if anybody who knows or has heard about the GNIB card could share their experience!

Thanks a lot and I wish you a great weekend!

U sent the application in June right? It takes up to. 5 weeks before u receive ur correspondence from them,in that correspondence,u'll be told to go to ur GNIB office with ur EU partner to receive the temporary stamp 4 for 6 months. The reason is because,it takes up to 6 months to finalise ur application for 5 years stamp 4. So,u've got to wait for that letter from INIS that would instruct u to go with ur husband.Hope it's clear enough.

Thank you very much for the reply.

So far it makes sense to me: As soon as we get the letter from the Eu Treaty Rights Devision we need to go to GNIB to get the Stamp 4 so he gets his visa C extended until a final decision on his visa is made if he gets the 5 years or not.

But what about the GNIB Card which is also called Immigration Certificate of Registration? Is that the same than the Stamp 4? Or are they gonna issue it when you go and get your Stamp 4 at GNIB?

Hope the questions are not too silly! Thanks so much for your help!

Not silly at all,without curiousity,we wouldn't be human. The stamp 4 also come with the GNIB card,there would be a stamp on the passport and also the GNIB card,they would take his picture and biometric and state the date and duration of it. That's just about it basically.

You have been super helpful - thanks so much for the clarification!

Such a good feeling when you find out that you don't have to worry about something

I wish you all the best!