retention information

Hi guys
I dont know if this is right place to ask .. as I am in ireland
But I seen that the UK section is more informative than Irish one

So I ll try and see if someone can please help

I have been married to my eu national wife for 4 years

But the things have gone out of hands and decided to go separate wayd

It is really hard but its the only option we can see to get our happiness back...



Got married in Ire
Wife have been working all the time so am I

Have 1 baby together.
(This is the hardest thing to do .. to live away ftom your kid)


The question is

What are the chances for me to get retention after divorce

And if anyone have experience dealing with Irish immigration.

Thank you all.

If u have the proof like p60 s or p31 report of her employment that she was excercising her rights in ireland before seperation and also proof of addresses like any bills from past 3 or 4 years prior to seperate .. will do it all ....

If ur child is born in ireland and birn irish then u can choose that way too

The process of obtaining retention are very similar in the UK and Ireland.

However Irish law is a bit more lenient than British law.

Under the British system you are required to show that you spouse was working or exercising treaty right up to the point of divorce, Irish law does not provides this.

The Irish court has ruled that a person is to be given reasonable time to make an application for retention, following the departure of the spouse to another country where it is easier to obtain a divorce than Ireland. So you spouse can obtain a divorce from another EEA country and you will be fine.

See Regulation 10 2(b)

Also see Lahyani

Obie wrote:The process of obtaining retention are very similar in the UK and Ireland.

However Irish law is a bit more lenient than British law.

Under the British system you are required to show that you spouse was working or exercising treaty right up to the point of divorce, Irish law does not provides this.

The Irish court has ruled that a person is to be given reasonable time to make an application for retention, following the departure of the spouse to another country where it is easier to obtain a divorce than Ireland. So you spouse can obtain a divorce from another EEA country and you will be fine.

See Regulation 10 2(b)

Also see Lahyani

Thank you Obie and shaz.

Yes my wife is from east europe

And I figured it out that we can even divorce from here
And she doesnt have to travel to her home country to get divorce.

Would that divorce be recognised in Ireland ?

And I have all the p60 , payslips , rent agreements , prtb's
And 1000 of letters to prove the residency

I

Yes, divorce from your spouse EU country would be recognized in Ireland. There is only one requirement that one of the spouse should be domiciled in the country of divorce and you need an address in her home country.

There are solicitors in Ireland who can help you with the divorce and you both doesn't have to travel there, but they will cost you alot. On the other hand you and your spouse can mutually agree to go to her country and get a solicitor there and do the job there and than.

Also get Apostille of the divorce certificate by the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the country of divorce.

The solicitor who helped in divorce can do the job for you and will charge you some money for that, may be 100 Euros. The Apostille (Stamp on the divorce certificate) fee is 10 Lats but the solicitor know that you need it that's why he can rip you off.

I would recommend the Apostille but it is not necessary if you want to use the divorce cert in the DOJ but on the safe side Apostille would help in case you ever want to get married..

CalvinKlien wrote:Yes, divorce from your spouse EU country would be recognized in Ireland. There is only one requirement that one of the spouse should be domiciled in the country of divorce and you need an address in her home country.

There are solicitors in Ireland who can help you with the divorce and you both doesn't have to travel there, but they will cost you alot. On the other hand you and your spouse can mutually agree to go to her country and get a solicitor there and do the job there and than.

Also get Apostille of the divorce certificate by the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the country of divorce.

The solicitor who helped in divorce can do the job for you and will charge you some money for that, may be 100 Euros. The Apostille (Stamp on the divorce certificate) fee is 10 Lats but the solicitor know that you need it that's why he can rip you off.

I would recommend the Apostille but it is not necessary if you want to use the divorce cert in the DOJ but on the safe side Apostille would help in case you ever want to get married..

Thank you v.much Calvin

Just few more questions

How long it takes in latvia to get divorce from court?

And what are the retention chances here in Ireland?

Thank you.

If you proceed with the divorce procedure with mutual agreement and things are clear like no property issue, no childens or children's maintenance issues, no fighting on other things, You should have at least one address in Latvia (should be your wife's address). In other words if every thing is clear between u and ur wife the divorce should be finalized with in 2 months.

Once the judge accept the divorce, there will be 30 days period in which you or ur wife can go back to the court and change decision, the 30 days is a kind of cooling off period, any party can contact the court to reverse the divorce.

Make sure u get a good solicitor, otherwise a bad solicitor will make ur life hell. Also when dealing with him make sure u ask him for the Apostille of divorce certificate from Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Riga Latvia (you will need the Apostille at later stage if u ever want to get married).

Discuss all the cost and particularly ask if there is any hidden charges. Make the payment in two installments, one start of the process and one when the divorce process is finished. Pay extra few hundreds but get a good solicitor.

Hope the above explanation will help. Any question do let me know.

CalvinKlien wrote:If you proceed with the divorce procedure with mutual agreement and things are clear like no property issue, no childens or children's maintenance issues, no fighting on other things, You should have at least one address in Latvia (should be your wife's address). In other words if every thing is clear between u and ur wife the divorce should be finalized with in 2 months.

Once the judge accept the divorce, there will be 30 days period in which you or ur wife can go back to the court and change decision, the 30 days is a kind of cooling off period, any party can contact the court to reverse the divorce.

Make sure u get a good solicitor, otherwise a bad solicitor will make ur life hell. Also when dealing with him make sure u ask him for the Apostille of divorce certificate from Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Riga Latvia (you will need the Apostille at later stage if u ever want to get married).

Discuss all the cost and particularly ask if there is any hidden charges. Make the payment in two installments, one start of the process and one when the divorce process is finished. Pay extra few hundreds but get a good solicitor.

Hope the above explanation will help. Any question do let me know.

Hi Calvin
Thank you v much for detailed info...
Much appreciated.

I ll keep all this in mind.

And what about tje retention in Ireland

Any current experience with the INIS regarding retention cases?

Please share

Yes, i applied for retention of EU treaty rights after divorce , i applied in November 2013 and got aproved in June 2014.

Well, retention is a tricky area but if you tick some of the boxes ur retention will be granted. Few tick boxes u need to click are below:

1- You should be divorced.

2- Your EU spouse should be exercising treaty rights all the way down until your divorce.

3- You should be married for at least 3 years.

4- You should have proof of address of living together in the form of joint bank statement/utility bills.

Once your retention is granted, you will than face a dellima when you will apply for permanent residence card on form EU3. DOJ will be looking for the same documents again and again...like ur ex-wife P60 / P21 for the past years, Proof of addresses and no matter if u tell them u were granted retention, the question from them will remain same.

All the best....

@ CalvinKlien, its true after retention we need to apply again for permanant residence on EU form 3 , but i have good luck in this matter , i applied for retention in November 2013 and got approval letter in June 2014 , in that letter DOJ stated your application of retention of EU treaty rights approved and we have noted that your current permission to live in the state will expire in coming few months so we have decided to approve your permanent residence as well and you can bring this letter to your local immigration officer and can get further permision for 10 years and i did the same .
So you don,t know what you can get in surprise i didn,t think about it even a single time but it did happened.
So best of luck to everyone

@ bluemoon2

A special mercy of GOD and the prayers of your parents have made u successful in this process. You are the one i ever have came through. Usually this is not the process.

Hi Calvin and bluemoon.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge.

It looks like I will be alright

wife has been working for last 4 years ..

Divorce should be finalised in 2.3 months.

Have all proofs , utility bills and bank statements

And have been married for more than 4 years and all the time in ireland.

And I dont mind sending them the same docs again and again if they ask for

But I think INIS has matured alot in last 3.4 years
And they have got loads of much needed knowledge regarding eu treaty rights.

Just to share with you guys

One of my friend got his retention while her husband exercised treaty rights by studying
husband eu citizen had the health insurance all the time but the non eu spouse didnt have the insurance but she was in employment ... there was 1.2 months delay but she was granted the retention last month after 7 months of process.

Just an advise for every one who is looking for retention, make sure u keep the photo copies of each and every document you send to DOJ as they can ask for the same document again, might be it is lost or not in ur file any more. Also DOJ would be looking for all the proofs when u apply for permanent residence card after 5 years. So on safe side keep the proofs...