UK Citizen Married to US Citizen, need Stamp4 URGENT

Hi all,

I posted a topic before:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 389#137389

Despite some of your recommendations, we decided to marry. I have been in the USA for the past fortnight, where we held a small ceremony in the park and are now married. I have applied for certified abstract of marriage which should be arriving shortly.

We are going to try to go for a Stamp 4. I am aware of the large number of EU.1 rejections, but I do feel that I have a strong case. I intend to accompany my application with a cover letter detailing my background (I have been in this country since the age of 12 - over 11 years and have completed all of my education and employment here). I will also enclose several photos that I hope will prove beyond a doubt that we are fully in love and this is no "marriage of convenience".

Please though, some advice is needed. She has a ticket to come here next weekend. We obviously don't have enough time to submit the necessary applications for her to enter the country as my spouse, so I have planned the following strategy. I would appreciate any and all comments (positive and negative!) and any suggestions on how we might improve on this and where and how this might fail or be illegal in any way:

1) Her previous passport was recently replaced, so this new one is devoid of any stamps showing she was here before. I am sure this is all in a computer system somewhere, but I guess the point I am making here is that no unnecessary attention will be brought upon her.
2) She will enter the country on a visitor's visa waiver, with an aim of securing the standard 3 months here.
3) She will have a ticket to another european country already booked that departs from this country before the 3 months is up
4) If she successfully enters Ireland, we will immediately complete all the necessary application forms for obtaining her residency
5) I will retain proof of postage and a full photocopy of all items enclosed for (4)
6) If we do not receive a reply to (4) within the 3 months, we will attempt to have her visitor's visa extended, on the grounds of there being an application pending - is this possible/feasible and to whom and where should we go to organize it?

If our application is denied, I intend to make a phone call to the Gerry Ryan Show on National Radio, explaining the situation, my history/background in this country and challenging the Minister and the DoJ's decision. I will publicly invite the minister to discuss the matter with me on air and challenge this unfair and biased model and its legality under the EU. I will post full details of the intended date and time of this phonecall to this forum, should we be forced to make it. and I would encourage anyone currently stuck in a similar situation to join me in this effort

I would appreciate any urgent replies to this message, as she will be arriving next weekend.

Many thanks.
-- A.

Since there is no spouse visa for people who come under the visa waiver category, she will have to necessarily arrive following the usual protocols for an American Citizen on a visit to Ireland. Once she is here, apply for residency using the E.U1 form here.

If things don't work out (Hopefully, your case won't be dealt by a person called Magdalene Keady...according to some people here, she has refused everyone whose application has been unlucky enough to land on her desk) , pm me and I will let you know the contact details of our solicitor. We filed a lawsuit against DOJ in August2007 and they settled with us and gave us the 5 year stamp4 in December 2007 even though we had not lived in another E.U country before.
My spouse is a E.U citizen who has been living in Ireland for the last 7 years.
Good Luck!

archigabe wrote:Since there is no spouse visa for people who come under the visa waiver category, she will have to necessarily arrive following the usual protocols for an American Citizen on a visit to Ireland. Once she is here, apply for residency using the E.U1 form here.

If things don't work out (Hopefully, your case won't be dealt by a person called Magdalene Keady...according to some people here, she has refused everyone whose application has been unlucky enough to land on her desk) , pm me and I will let you know the contact details of our solicitor. We filed a lawsuit against DOJ in August2007 and they settled with us and gave us the 5 year stamp4 in December 2007 even though we had not lived in another E.U country before.
My spouse is a E.U citizen who has been living in Ireland for the last 7 years.
Good Luck!

Many thanks for this rapid response. Perhaps you could clarify a few things for me?

1) If the EU.1 application takes upto 6 months, but she enters on a 3 month visa waiver, is it possible to extend the 3 months on the basis that an application is pending? What is the best way to go about this?
2) Can she tell the full truth if interrogated upon arrival? i.e. is it better to pretend she is simply travelling Europe or can she state "I am here to visit my husband, during which time I will be applying for Stamp 4"? The last thing we want is for her to get rejected at the airport.
3) If we do have to go to a solicitor in the end, can you let me know a ballpark figure that I should expect to pay ... we might have to start saving!

Many, many thanks, this forum is such an asset to a very confused and frustrated mind - i don't know what i'd do without you people!

-- A.

1) If the EU.1 application takes upto 6 months, but she enters on a 3 month visa waiver, is it possible to extend the 3 months on the basis that an application is pending? What is the best way to go about this?

They wouldn't extend my visitor's visa (well, my visa waiver, anyway), and wouldn't give me another stamp. So for a while, I just had no proof that I was in the country legally.

2) Can she tell the full truth if interrogated upon arrival? i.e. is it better to pretend she is simply travelling Europe or can she state "I am here to visit my husband, during which time I will be applying for Stamp 4"? The last thing we want is for her to get rejected at the airport.

I told them the truth, and it wasn't an issue, just stamped my passport and wrote "join spouse" on it. Actually, then they gave me a 1 month stamp and told me to report to the GNIB, instead of the normal 3 month stamp for a US citizen. And then every time I traveled and came back into the country, I had to prove to them again that I was indeed married to an EU citizen and had a right to be in the country.

Platinum wrote:They wouldn't extend my visitor's visa (well, my visa waiver, anyway), and wouldn't give me another stamp. So for a while, I just had no proof that I was in the country legally.

So, you simply stayed in the country illegally once your 1 month was up? Did this not have any implications for processing of the EU.1 application?

Platinum wrote:And then every time I traveled and came back into the country, I had to prove to them again that I was indeed married to an EU citizen and had a right to be in the country.

Did you ever have any issues coming into the country? Could you leave and return ad infinitum? How many times did you re-enter? How much time went between each departure and return? Did you return to the States each time or another European country? Is it enough simply to go to another European country for a weekend and return?

Many thanks,
-- A.[/i]

No, I wasn't illegally in the country- I simply had no proof of my legal status there. I am allowed to live in the country during the time it takes to process the EU1, but they don't give a stamp to cover this gap time. Which I think is very shoddy of the DoJ and GNIB.

I went out of the country quite a lot, actually. After we realized the whole EU1 thing was more trouble than it's worth, I started job-hunting in the UK, so I went over a few times for interviews. We also went over to visit his family. I always carried my passport (obviously), our marriage certificate, and the little scrap of paper upon which the DoJ had stamped a receipt date for my EU1 application. If my husband wasn't travelling with me, I also carried his passport, for proof that he is an EU citizen. That might have been overkill, though.

I didn't have too much trouble at Dublin airport immigration. It's just a pain to have to explain again...and again...and again. Also, I hate to say it, but as an American, I'm not really a "suspicious" person to them, so they generally believed me and let me through without any problems.

You can apply for a 'stamp3' at GNIB for her while the E.U1 application is being processed. This will provide her with a legal status while the application is being considered.