We travelled outside of Ireland while EU-1 pending

This probably isn't very useful information but I have to vent somewhere where people can understand why I'm so angry.

We have just returned from a short break in Europe. It was fabulous until we arrived at passport control in Dublin and were harangued by an official there.

Basically he stated my wife has been living in Ireland illegally and he had every right not to allow her re-entry. This was despite:

1) us having an email from the DoJ stating that, as a non-visa required national she should have no problems re-entering should we want to leave the country temporarily. (Quite vague I know) "This means nothing."

2) an acknowledgement slip for receipt of our EU-1 application. "They send acknowledgement letters on headed paper. This is highly unusual."

The problem was my wife only has the stamp she got when she arrived 4 months ago saying she had to report to the GNIB. Of course, we did that but were told we couldn't get any kind of stamp while the EU-1 application is being processed.

The official allowed us entry but insisted we get onto the DoJ and get her status regularised. I wanted to tell him that we would love to do that but my head hurts from banging my head against a wall. It was difficult enough for me to convince my wife that we live in Ireland. Now I'm getting quite disheartened myself. We are scheduled to travel again soon but I don't know if either of us can face that crap again.

Just went to check the mail after I posted that and my Irish passport has arrived. I was entitled through my Irish mother and applied just before we went on holiday. So things may be a little easier for us (although I'm not counting on it). I'm still bloody angry about how EU-1 applicants are treated.

Kev: I also have British and Irish citizenship but was intending using the EU route into Ireland as I thought it would be a formality. How wrong I was and so we have put off the move for the time being.

(Also, the EU rules seem a bit more flexible about the amount of time spent out of the country.)

Keep us informed how you get on whether you use your Irish citizenship or not!

They are little buggers when they sink their teeth into you aren't they.
Now you have a passport, that's good
maybe you can go to the consulate and tell them your experience at the border and ask if they'd write you a letter to smooth things over for your next trip since they already confirmed that it is ok to travel, then let them put their letterhead where there mouth is

The other thing that might be helpful is to explain your demeanor with the officer, did you find being bewildered or frustrated or any specific manner made him more willing to let you slide (although you weren't sliding)

Do not let this have happened for nothing. Write a letter to the European Commission, copying it to your EU member state embassy, and to the Irish immigration department. Make a lot of noise and rattle the cage. And include a photocopy of the entry stamp so they can identify the guard.

In reality the poor bugger that the border is probably just frustrated that he does have to let you in and he can't do much about it. He can just make a lot of noise.

In the future, I would strongly suggest you carry the day and emergency consular telephone of your non-Irish member state embassy in Dublin travelling into Ireland. If they give you any problems (they do not have any right to do so), call the embassy and explain the situation to them. You should also carry a copy of Directive 2004/38/EC with you.

It is just a load of bu......reaucracy.

You expect this to happen in the USSR or China, or on the border of Afghanistan. But just harassing people for no apparent reason, or just frustration of the official that he doesn't know your rights.

For this reason we have stayed in this godforsaken country for 7 months now. I really need a vacation, but I am expecting stuff like this.

BigAppleWoodenShoe wrote:It is just a load of bu......reaucracy.

You expect this to happen in the USSR or China, or on the border of Afghanistan. But just harassing people for no apparent reason, or just frustration of the official that he doesn't know your rights.

For this reason we have stayed in this godforsaken country for 7 months now. I really need a vacation, but I am expecting stuff like this.

Big Apple, you are from US, aren't you? I can tell you that the US immigration is not much better The way they treat people is probably even worst... (please don't take it personally, but if you can speak bad about USSR, China & Afghanistan, then you probably won't mind to hear my personal opinion about US)

I am from a visa required country, and I was a resident (legal) alien in the U.S on a student visa & work visa for 4 years and I have to say even my own country's bureaucracy/officials have never treated me as good as the Americans did.
(Of course I speak as someone who is not from the Middle East whose country has no history of violent attacks againt the U.S,and I was legal as well)
As far as the Irish Immigration/bureaucracy goes, I have been treated no better than an illiterate asylum seeker who has jumped over a fence even though my wife is a E.U citizen and I have a clean immigration record for anywhere.

I didn't want to stereotype any country, so that's why I took a country that doesn't exist anymore: USSR, a country that is in civilwar: Afghanistan, and a country with a reputation of being a bureaucracy (although rapidly changing) China.

I had to compare it with something. But my sincerest apologies to all USSR/Afghan/Chinese.

I can tell you that the US immigration is not much better Smile The way they treat people is probably even worst

I find it's not so much *how* they treat you- all countries have immigration officers who have control and power issues and who sometimes take out their issues with you and treat you like crap. It sure makes your life difficult.

The problem with some of the Irish immigration officers, at Dublin airport, is that they have no clue what the law is. They have not been given sufficient leadership and information from their bosses. Their bosses have not been in close contact with the DoJ and the GNIB, so many times, no one has a clue as to what to do. When confronted with this, it makes them feel like they can't do their job, and they may lash out at you. It's not right, obviously, and is maybe what contributed to the OP's problem.

I've never been anywhere where I have obviously known more about the country's laws and policies than the "officials" I'm speaking to. In this case, I think everyone has a legitimate complaint here about the Irish officials specifically, without having to say whether their treatment is better or worse than any other country's.

I agree with your opinion it's a problem with the leadership at the DOJ.Lets see if they will have better leaders under Brian Lenehan

So do they hold on to your passport while you're waiting for a Stamp 4 for residency? I saw it listed on the FormEU1 (http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/FormEU1. ... ormEU1.pdf), but I wasn't sure if you gave them a copy or the original? It does say original on there, though, so I assume you can't travel anywhere you need a passport during that time. Am I confused?

You do need to send in your original passport. But call DOJ to get it back, and they will mail it to you. You do not have to wait until they make a decision before you get your passport back. I had no troubles and got mine back very quickly, but other people were not so lucky and had to call DOJ repeatedly. Needless to say, I felt weird mailing it out too!