Relocating to Ireland - EU/Non-EU family rights

Obie wrote:Please don't get upset with me..

not at all Obie

I do not know what are OP's personal circumstances, but based on proposed salary alone I (personally) would not advise him to move here (he asked for advise , did not he ?)

In fairness, I am in total agreement with zzz.

26K is going to be *very* tight and I think it's in the OP's best interest if we are as upfront about this as possible. First, food and grocery bills are going to be at least double in Ireland than in Spain. Accommodation costs will be difficult to gauge since they vary widely with the city, area, quality etc., but a good place to start is www.daft.ie to get an idea of what's available. Gas/ESB are absurdly expensive (each averages about 1K a year according to the providers themselves) and we all know what a con Eircom is if you're not fortunate enough to live in an area serviced by an alternative provider.

Since it is uncertain whether the OP's family will be eligible for a medical/GP card, it's best to err on the side of caution and say that his family will be ineligible. In this case, he's looking at paying all his family's day-to-day medical expenses out of pocket, and as anyone knows who has or has had young children, these costs can be both unexpected and very high. For instance, a visit to my GP is €50 and a visit to my dentist is €75. Medication must also be paid out of pocket.

Subsidized daycare and creche facilities are non-existent in Ireland, so even if the OP's wife decided to enter the workforce, this is also going to be a HUGE -- and quite possibly a prohibitive -- expense.

The OP should also be aware that the government's budgets are only expected to get worse, meaning that taxes are only going to go up, along with the attendant stealth taxes and levies that our fearless leaders are going to pummel us all with in the upcoming budget.

So all told, unless this job opportunity offers phenomenal career prospects or invaluable work experience, I would advise the OP to think very carefully and weigh up all options before moving house and home.

Oh, and did I mention the weather sucks?

sideshowsue wrote:In fairness, I am in total agreement with zzz.

26K is going to be *very* tight and I think it's in the OP's best interest if we are as upfront about this as possible. <snip>

I completely agree with sideshowsue and zzz. 26K would be a very tight budget given the cost of living in Dublin. Obviously it depends on what kind of lifestyle you are accustomed to, but I'd suggest doing a solid comparison of your current and possible future lifestyle in Ireland to see if it's worth it. You'll also be arriving during the Winter months which can be depressing enough without adding a degradation in lifestyle on top of it.

The cost of living in Ireland has reduced drastically. Therefore, i will say if the OP is able to live a content lifestyle and live within his means, he will be alright. Also see THIS 2009 survey.

He would need to explain to his employer that he will be depending on his wife's freedom of movement rights, and probably take a leave from his present job and come to Ireland and see things first handed. He would also need to bear in mind that a resident card application can take up to 6 months to process. Hopefully he will receive the temporary stamp 4 for 6 months, which will ensure his ability to work is not affected.

He would also need to open a bank account and get medical insurance sorted.

If he already has a job, it would be best for him to come and see things first, before submitting his resignation.

After that, he will need to ask himself which country has more to offer him.

Thank you all for participating in this thread. I thought it would be like Spanish forums - you post a question and someone bothers to reply within the week. We'll take everything you said into consideration. Since you’ve been so kind, here’s a little summary of what we came to understand.

The last couple of days we have consulted an immigration expert who pretty much cleared things up for us, although nothing is black and white (far from it). It seems that Irish immigration officers (or whatever you call them) are not limited to stapling papers and stamping passports; their personal notes count as well. People in my situation can and have been approved under community law. Among other things it depends on the impression you leave, if you have a job which not many people can take up, etc. We also thought about my wife taking up a part-time job as a translator, working from home, which will change her status.

And yes - it does help, although not officially, if you are currently legally living in another EEA country or have been prior to relocating to Ireland. In fact, until last year Ireland approved family members of EU citizens only if they had lived and worked in another EEA country before (until EU high court declared this practice as contradictory to EU regulations). Also, my salary is defined as 26K OTE 35K, so even though the “officialâ€

[quote]Spain may be a bad example since its policy is too “leftistâ€

Wa reading the post and it is really interesting as I was thinking about moving home this year Ireland after living abroad for 9 years....decidedd to wait until next year as the economy is not that great!

Just want to give my opinion....I think 26k is an ok salary for Ireland, alright child care is a killer in Ireland I have seen ridiculous prices for creches in Dublin.

At the moment I live in Italy I earn about 30k which is considered a very good salary, we pay 800+ around 200 in bills every month for a one bedroom...remeber this is a building so no garden or parking included! Dublin is really expensive to eat out, Rome is much cheaper my husband and I usually pay 60 euros for a 3 course meal including wine! Transport is better obviously in Italy there is a metro(a bit gross but v.quick). It costs about 30 euros a month for a ticket. Dublin was a bit expensive for public transport. Generally speaking I found Dublin cheaper for day to day living not sure about gas, electricity etc...in Italy electricity costs about 100 euros every two months. Also Ireland has a really good education system.... Spain is supposedly one of the worst and Italy is not far behind.

Weather is bad but I love Ireland so I'm biased

Guyweisz - would love to hear how it goes - the move to Ireland!

TBH, I find 26K very tight for a family with 1 child in Dublin, especially considering that taxes might well go up by quite a bit in January. 26K before tax would be roughly 1850 euro a month net. Add 180 or so child benefit and you have just above 2000 Euro a month.

A 2BR Apartment in a semi decent area will set you back 900-1000 euro (would have been 1300 a few month ago) on it's own a month, not including Heating, Gas, electricity, phone & BB costs of probably another 200 Euro. If the new company doesn't provide health Insurance, then the private cover for the family will probably be another 150 euro a month.

This means rent, utilities and Health Insurance would eat up roughly 60%-70% of the complete monthly income.

Then transport, high food costs etc., and there will be left very little for comfort.

I have been working in Ireland & Northern Ireland for the last 9 years, and would not be looking forward to the the idea of having to live on that money with a wife and kid in Dublin.

on the balance of probabilities I would never relocate to Oireland, specifically if I had choice. There are very few things about this country that are positive, and none of them are exclusive to this little island on the outskirts of Europe. Think twice before you commit resources and time and become to be seen as a cash cow for fat, ignorant and rather poorly educated local tribal chiefs aka irish politicians. What is worse, the majority of the populus is aint far off them.

throw dices...

The majority of the Irish population are very welcoming, friendly and has a very laid back approach to things.

Of the nearly 6 European countries, including 1 which i lived in for the most part of my life, the Irish are the best in terms of hospitality and tolerance.

You cannot compare the general population with those brood of venomous vipers at the DOJ and other.

I only received few hostility from certain ignorant segment when i speak in my British Accent.

Obie wrote:The majority of the Irish population are very welcoming, friendly and has a very laid back approach to things.

Of the nearly 6 European countries, including 1 which i lived in for the most part of my life, the Irish are the best in terms of hospitality and tolerance.

You cannot compare the general population with those brood of venomous vipers at the DOJ and other.

I only received few hostility from certain ignorant segment when i speak in my British Accent.

a difference of opinions...have you lived in any of the Scandinavian countries? compared to the centre of the universe aka ioreland, noun of tolerance has not been even defined here yet. too sad...otherwise, my original comment stands

Yes i lived in Copenhagen (Denmark). They are very intolerant, and they hide their intolerance under the guise of Nationalism and Patriotism.

They make everything looks perfect on their website, but when you deal with their departments, the picture is different.

Obie wrote:They make everything looks perfect on their website, but when you deal with their departments, the picture is different.

on the scale of 1 to 10 (10 - being performance of Swedish migrationsverket) and 1 - DoJ, where would you place their performance, objectivity, punctuality and consistency of performance? My point is...I have not seen any performance of any department in any of the 27 countries, as impotent and incomprehensive as one of DoJ. I hardly expect any disagreement on this

D1mitry wrote:

Obie wrote:They make everything looks perfect on their website, but when you deal with their departments, the picture is different.

on the scale of 1 to 10 (10 - being performance of Swedish migrationsverket) and 1 - DoJ, where would you place their performance, objectivity, punctuality and consistency of performance? My point is...I have not seen any performance of any department in any of the 27 countries, as impotent and incomprehensive as one of DoJ. I hardly expect any disagreement on this

I would nominate the Prefecture of Nice, France as being one of the worst in Europe. I have never in my life witnessed such dearly beloved, discriminatory, disgraceful, demeaning, degrading and offensive behaviour on the part of ANYONE, let alone the permanent, pensionable staff of a public office, as the Prefecture of Nice.

For instance, one morning, while my husband and I were queuing up to renew my permis de sejour, there was a young man in a wheelchair who requested assistance from a member of staff. This member of staff muttered a dearly beloved comment and told the young man simply to take a ticket and wait. The issue being, however, that the ticket machine was eye-level to someone standing up. The member of staff was such a dearly beloved POS that he didn't even offer a ticket to the chair-bound man and simply walked off. D.I.S.G.R.A.C.E.F.U.L.

I, my husband, and everyone else, who witnessed this event lodged a complaint against this monstrous member of staff, but nothing ever seemed to come of our complaints since he remained employed there as long as I lived in Nice and needed to renew my permis de sejour.

I think there’s a difference between people’s friendliness and the behavior of government officials. I know dealing with Irish IOs sucks, as I said other EU member states have complained about Irish immigration system in general. On the other hand, I happen to know a couple of Irish lads living here in Spain and they’re cool. Besides, Dublin was elected the world’s friendliest city for 2007 and 2009, so I’ll stick to that for now.

Also, I think the way government officials behave doesn’t really have to do with their personality. I can tell you five years ago, in times of the Spanish Popular Government, dealing with immigration was a huge headache. Then came the Socialists and changed the system to the extent that today immigration officers will smile at you even if you’re an illegal alien (and even try to solve your problem).

Today I received an answer from the Irish embassy in Madrid to my query sent two days ago, quoting: “Dear Guy, You should contact the website at www.inis.gov.ie for the information you require. In order to apply for EU Treaty Rights both parties must be resident in the state. Application Forms may be downloaded from the website and you will find a list of the documentation required when making an application. Regardsâ€

Sure ciaramc - let you know if and when I get there.

guyweisz wrote:In order to apply for EU Treaty Rights..

I hate this phrase. Unfortunately, it's a favourite of the DoJ's..

Deleted

I don't know what your query was about, but on the face of their reply, it seems accurate.

The are obliged to facilitate your entry as stipulated on the directive, but there is no requirement, that they process a resident card for you before you enter Ireland.

Resident card is only processed, once the EEA national is in the Host member state and exercising treaty rights in the capicity stated on the directive.


Renting a house, and all the other stuff are not that much of an hassle, especially when most of the houses are empty these days.

I think you query should be centered on how your entry into Ireland can be smoothly facilitated.