Is spouse visa neccessary?

Hey all!
I am a US citizen and my boyfriend is an irish citizen. I am due to finish university in the US, and wanted to go work in Ireland for a while. Is there any other method I can obtain a work visa-short of marrying him?
Thank you!

imi85 wrote:Hey all!
I am a US citizen and my boyfriend is an irish citizen. I am due to finish university in the US, and wanted to go work in Ireland for a while. Is there any other method I can obtain a work visa-short of marrying him?
Thank you!

Maybe if you can find an Irish company to sponsor you for a work visa.

I don't know whether the Irish accept unmarried partner relationships, but if they don't, and if you've lived for 2 years, then your partner could move to Northern Ireland and sponsor you for a (British) partner visa. You could then become naturalised British after 5 years.

Thank you for replying . I neglected to mention that he is from the republic, so they probably have different rules there than in Northern Ireland. Also, most companies will not sponsor a non EU resident because of the tarrifs that the state imposes on hiring a non national.

imi85 wrote:I neglected to mention that he is from the republic, so they probably have different rules there than in Northern Ireland.

If a work visa isn't possible then you need to qualify for a spouse, fiance or unmarried partner visa (although the latter two visas may or may not exist under Irish law).

Should he choose to move to Northern Ireland or anywhere else in the United Kingdom, then as a UK permanent resident he could sponsor for a British visa. You could become British citizens after 5 years residence.

As for the Irish system others can comment better than I. It seems to be a total mess.

There are often student work experience programs which have a quota of visas for current or recent students.

In Canada a program called SWAP http://www.swap.ca has a visa arrangement with Ireland. You can check with them about who their sister organization is in the US. IAESTE is another organization http://www.iaeste.org.

It is worth talking with the placement office at your college, as well as the office which which coordinates exchanges.

I seem to remember reading from the Oasis site that Ireland doesn't accept domestic partnerships. It's marriage or nothing. You may want to check it out, though; I could be wrong: oasis.gov.ie

If you've just graduated from college, maybe try BUNAC- they facilitate some kinds of work-holiday-type visas. Don't know much else about them.

Unless your college degree is in something in short supply/high demand in Ireland- nursing (but you must have all certification), etc., it's almost impossible to get a work visa. You could think about going to graduate school in Ireland. I think students are allowed to work a certain number of hours.