Immigration info for dummies

I apologise in advance if these questions have been asked many times but i am still a little confused. I am Irish & am getting married to my Nigerian boyfriend in 2 weeks - we both currently live in Spain & will be getting married in Nigeria. We wish to move to Dublin in Dec, what exactly do we have to do.

Do we apply for a normal tourist visa or as he will be my husband then is it a separate visa - i see Stamp 4 & D Spouse mentioned here a lot but need more clarification. I am aware that we must register him with the Garda when we arrive & wait until his spousal visa is issued, can he work in this period of waiting & can he claim dole there until he finds work??

Thanks again for the advice

1 other question - if my husband gets his residency in the south can we travel feely to the North to visit my family or do we need to get a visa each time? Seems crazy if we do but think thats what i read here

First apply for a D spouse visa from the country you and your husband are resident in? Which I assume to be Spain?
Ok so you have two options once you obtain the visa;

1) Apply for a residence card using Irish national law, this will take from what I'm told up to a year, and you should, but will probably not be able to travel outside of Ireland with your husband without a visa (as Ireland is not part of Schengan)

Your second option would to use EU law providing of course that you have been exercising your treaty rights while living in Spain? ie- working/studying.

2) You apply for your husbands RC using EU.1 this takes up to 6 months. You will then recieve a residence card for the spouse of a EU citizen and will be able to travel throughout Europe visa free!

Ok thank you this makes it a bit clearer for me. As we have both been working here in Spain for over 2 years i think the EU citizen route will be the best one. My husbands job has finished last month & as he has been working here he will now be entitled to Paro (unemployment) - as he has been paying into the system here will this have any bearings on him being able to get unemployment in Ireland until he gets a job?

It is always better to be employed..... but no it should not affect your application....the Embassy must issue the visa free of charge and within two weeks....as you are a EU citizen exercising treaty rights!

Yeah of course we will be trying to get jobs as soon as possible, for me this will be much easier than my husband, however we are fully aware of the economic situation in Ireland at the minute. My question is - when we arrive will he be able to claim unemployment benefit UNTIL he gets a job, as he has been living & working in Europe for the 5 years

i found the answer to this question now, thanks for all the advice