Stamp 4 vs. Stamp 4 EUFam

Hi All,

My wife is from Asia and has just been granted a Stamp 4 as the spouse of an Irish national.
Can we expect to receive the EUFam Stamp 4 as a result? Or is this something we have to specifically seek?
I ask as we are hoping to do some travel in the EU and I see that the EUFam designation is very helpful in that regard.

Kind Regards,
M

If you are an Irish national, your spouse won't get a 4EUFam. This is for the people that are married to a person from another EU state (eg Poland) and are with them using treaty rights.

Thanks for the response.
It seems that Stamp 4 EUFam holders have an easier time traveling in the EU compared to Stamp 4 holders (ie.
https://irland.um.dk/en/travel-and-resi ... mp-4-eufam).

I understand that Stamp 4 could also be acquired via work permit etc. But in our case, it's acquired as her spouse is Irish (and therefore a citizen of the EU).

What would differentiate that from an EUFam designation? As in, why should we face more scrutiny when traveling? Would appreciate if anybody could clarify this.
I also apologise in advance if I am in any way mis-informed about the above.

Hi,

As you are an Irish citizen, your wife will only be entitled to Stamp 4. However if you had previously exercised your treaty rights and lived in an EU or perhaps EEA countries with your wife immediately returning to Ireland, then your wife will be entitled to apply through Stamp 4 EUFam. See below.

I am an Irish citizen. Can my non-EEA family members apply for EU Treaty Rights?

Generally, no. The Directive applies to EEA nationals who move to another member state or who live in a member state other than their own and to the family members who accompany them or join them in the State (Article 3 of Directive 2004/38/EC).

Exceptions can apply in cases such as:

Where your non-EEA national family member has previously held a “residence card of a family member of a Union citizen” that has been issued by another Member State under Article 10 of the Directive and where you and your non-EEA family member have subsequently moved to Ireland, or
Where you, the Irish citizen, have exercised your right to free movement in another member state prior to returning to Ireland and your non-EEA national family member accompanies you on return having resided with you as a family member in that other member state.

In your case you will not be able bring your non EU national spouse back to Ireland (as you are Irish) under this route unless you have exercised treaty rights in another EU country. Same goes to, for example, a Dutch cannot bring his/her non EU national spouse back to the Netherlands without first exercised treaty rights in another EU country. It is generally fall under their national immigration law when it comes to this.

I assume your wife requires Visa to enter other EU countries and i can understand this can be difficult to do last minute trip but unfortunately this is the national law and it really is down to what passport she is holding. But after 3 years she will be entitled to apply for Irish citizenship and maybe that will be an option (instead the standard 5 years for other nationals).

Hope this info helps.