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Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Forum to discuss all things Blarney | Ireland immigration

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smiley012
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Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Post by smiley012 » Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:05 pm

Hi all,

Myself (Irish Citizen) and my partner (NZ) have been residing in Ireland for the last 5 years, and have gone through 3 renewals of her Stamp 4 visa.

We have been trying for the last 4 weeks to get an appointment before her expiry and no luck. On the advice from INIS we booked an appointment for 4 weeks beyond the expiry of her visa, as we were told it was better to have an appointment than not have one.

I have 2 questions I need help with - INIS, Justice Department and Department of Workplace Relations have not been able to give me an answer on these:

1. For the 4 week period between her expiry and her renewal date - is she legally able to work? Her company (a semi-state body) are insisting that she comes to work or risk losing her job - we are concerned that her application for citizenship could be impacted if this was not legal.

2. Will this gap in her stamps impact her citizenship application? We will be doing this this year.

Thank you so much in advance,
Smiley

littlerr
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Re: Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Post by littlerr » Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:17 pm

See this thread regarding the difficulty with booking an appointment.
ireland/difficulty-booking-an-appointme ... 95033.html

Btw you should start looking for appointments 10 weeks in advance, not 4 weeks, although it is still very hard to find one by yourself.

Just walk in to the Burgh Quay office and ask to be seen on the same day or next day. Just say that her employer insists that she has a valid permit at all times. You can first try some quieter afternoons and if that doesn't work, you may need to go to the office in the early morning.

Legally she is not allowed to work if she does not have a valid permit even for 1 day. My fiancee had the same experience of having to be put on unpaid leave for 1 day because we couldn't find an appointment. She walked into the office that afternoon and was seen on the same day. Having said that, if her employer doesn't know when her permit expires, it is unlikely to be an issue for INIS or DBEI.

And yes it will impact her citizenship application. She must have valid permit for the last 365 days before she applies for naturalisation.

smiley012
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Re: Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Post by smiley012 » Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:39 pm

Her passport was due to expire in Nov 2020, we renewed so she could go the whole three years, and we would have time to apply for citizenship without worrying about the upcoming passport expiry. Unfortunately this took a little longer than I would have liked, and we were unable to apply without a valid passport (as soon as she applied for the new one, her old one was deemed "invalid" and INIS said she was not allowed).

We initially began 10 weeks prior, but then began in earnest 6 weeks once we received her passport back. I initially said 4, but have been corrected by my partner! And my chrome history...

When I call Burgh Quay (as I have done daily) they tell me under no circumstances are we to turn up as we won't be seen. Was your partner told this too? And did they take her in because she was there in person? (if that makes sense). Was this when you were able to just walk in, before the appointment system was in place?

Thank you so much for your response.

smiley012
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Re: Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Post by smiley012 » Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:45 pm

Oh and thank you for linking that post, I had looked at it too earlier.

My problem is that INIS said we're better to have an appointment and keep it, rather then cancel it. We did that a few times, had an appointment for the future (beyond expiry). See an appointment for a closer time, so cancel the future appointment, wait for at least 60 minutes for the expiry to be processed, and then by the time we go back to book the closer appointment it's gone.

We tried with bots too, but obviously they can't book one for us if we already have an appointment.

littlerr
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Re: Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Post by littlerr » Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:51 pm

She walked-in 2 years ago. The appointment system was well established before that. It all depends on the reasons you can provide and the mood of the receptionist.

I've seen a number of people on this forum who has successfully got a ticket last year for various reasons (some of them simply don't want to book an appointment online). Unless this process just changed from this January, they should always have a number of walk-in tickets every day to cater for any emergencies.

And yes, if you call them, they would always try their best to discourage you from walking in. Just treat it as a morning/evening walk along the quay. Walk in, be nice, give them a genuine reason (e.g. the employer has threatened to fire her if she does not have the permit in time). With a bit of luck, you should be able to get a ticket on the same day.

Granista
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Re: Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Post by Granista » Tue Jan 14, 2020 10:22 pm

That's not a visa, its a residence permission. Totally different thing

smiley012
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Re: Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Post by smiley012 » Thu Jan 16, 2020 11:38 am

For those of you who are interested, you can definitely no longer walk in at all. We just tried and were turned away rapidly.

In the meantime I have been told a number of things:

1. There's a 90 day grace period where she can work and reside (does anyone know if this is written anywhere?)
2. Citizenship application won't be affected by a gap in her visa
3. Despite the fact her visa has expired she can still work because she has an appointment within 90 days

Has anyone else heard any of this? Her work don't want her to work without proof she's legally able to, and there's nothing written anywhere.

littlerr
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Re: Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Post by littlerr » Thu Jan 16, 2020 11:51 am

I’ve long heard of the 90 day rule but have never seen it in written form anywhere. I guess you can email them with the same question so at least you could have some official correspondence in writing.

smiley012
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Re: Stamp 4 Visa Expiring - Unable to get an Appointment in Time

Post by smiley012 » Thu Jan 16, 2020 12:19 pm

I wish they would respond - 10 days and multiple follow ups- not a single response

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