U.S. citizen wanting to live in Ireland

Hello, I'm a really nice American who visited his distant cousins in Ireland over the summer and loved it there. I felt at home more than I do here in America. I'd like to try living there for a few years.

With my Bachelor of Science degree, I'm sure I'm a bit useful to the economy of any nation, but I am not sure Ireland as a nation absolutely needs my skills and therefore my visa application will probably be turned down (highly-skilled, highly-payed doesn't quite describe me, a computer animator). I have been applying to open positions with companies all over the island with no luck. I believe they may be timid about sponsoring a foreigner's visa application, as I imagine it's costly for them.

I am not sure I want to get married in order to gain all the perks of residency and working there, etc (I'm 25).

I am beginning to wonder, is it impossible for me as an American to simply move there and begin working? Is my only choice to apply to the National Universities of Ireland or some other schools in order to study for my Master's degree? I'd like to get my Magister Scientiæ but I wasn't sure how easy it would be in Ireland, what sort of tuition assistance would be available for me, and other important factors.

So these are the thoughts on my mind. Can anyone relate? Can't blame me, it's a beautiful country with millions of wonderful people living in it.

Thanks in advance!

You should read up more details at http://www.entemp.ie/labour/workpermits ... sation.htm

Applications

Applications for Working Visas and Work Authorisations are accepted from persons outside the country only. Applications must normally be made through the Irish Embassy/Consulate in the applicant’s country of permanent residence and applicants may be required to attend for personal interview. If there is no Irish Embassy/ Consulate in the country in question, the application may be made through any Irish Embassy/Consulate, through the applicant’s reference in Ireland or direct by post to the Visa Office, Department of Foreign Affairs, 13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland.

At present the designated categories are:Information and Computing Professionals

* Information and computing technologies professionals
* Information and computing technologies technicians

IT skills are definitely an area in short supply in Ireland so you may be in luck. If you can find an employer willing to sponsor you while you are in the US, you could apply for a Work Authorisation from there

Work Authorisation

The holder of the passport of a country on the list in Section V, who has an offer from an employer in Ireland of employment in one of the designated sectors, may be given a Work Authorisation by an Irish Embassy or Consulate.

As you are from the US, you do not need a visa to enter the country which makes it easier to come here and start looking for work. If you get an employer who is willing to sponsor you, you could apply for a Work Permit. More info at http://www.entemp.ie/labour/workpermits/

Note that due to the expansion of the EU and that employers must first seek to fill all positions from EU candidates first, it can be difficult for a non-EU citizen to find a role.

To answer your question, No, as an American you cannot simply move to Ireland and start working. You could apply to do your MSc in Ireland but you should check out the fees for this and note they are usually higher for non-EU citizens.

Best of luck with it!

Thanks very much for your help scrudu! Unfortunately I'm not in the IT field (I know nothing about scripting, servers, network administration, or anything of the sort). I focus more on what you'd see in a Pixar film; graphics and such. When I spoke to the Ministry of Immigration in Dublin during my visit, they said that my application would be useless since I'm not highly skilled or highly paid (engineers, IT pro's). Although they were extremely nice and supportive, they basically said "start applying for job openings" which I've been doing.

I'm looking into DIT for their postgraduate program in Digital Media. I'll send in my application and see what they say. The 30 Euro fee is worth it if the results show where I stand with the University option.

As most Animators in Ireland seem to end up working in the IT industry as Graphic artists, you may still wangle an IT related work authorisation.

Check out Vivendi Universal for Graphic Artist roles. http://www.vugames.ie/home.aspx. Other jobsites include www.monster.ie, www.jobserve.com, www.alljobs.ie/

As a Student you can work up to 20hrs a week, so you could fund yourself through P/T work.