Costa Rican going to Ireland

[cathycostarica]

hi there,

I am an Irish national currently living in Costa Rica for the past year. I plan to return home next month and a good friend of mine wants to come to Ireland for a year with me. Firstly, does he need a visa to come into Ireland? And if he doesnt, can he just leave for the UK every 3 months and re-enter? Finally, he is a qualified industrial electrician...what do you think his chances are of getting work if he applies for a work permit over there?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Cathy

[Dawie]

Costa Ricans do not require visas to enter the Republic of Ireland for tourist visits.

You can see more information here:

http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/services/visa/01.asp

[cathycostarica]

Hi Dawie,

Thanks for your response. But what if he wants to stay longer than 3 months? For example, here in Costa Rica I leave every 3 months to Nicaragua and come back in after 72 hours and I get a new 3 month stamp. Could he do that by going to another European country e.g. the United Kingdom?

Thanks again!

C.

[Christophe]

Hi Dawie,

Thanks for your response. But what if he wants to stay longer than 3 months? For example, here in Costa Rica I leave every 3 months to Nicaragua and come back in after 72 hours and I get a new 3 month stamp. Could he do that by going to another European country e.g. the United Kingdom?

Thanks again!

C.

Well, I am sure that doing that would contravene the terms of the entry permission - you cannot live in Ireland as a visitor.

(In any case, the UK and Ireland form a Common Travel Area, and there are no routine immigration controls between these two countries - so your friend wouldn't get any stamps in the passport simply by travelling to the UK and back to Ireland.)

[Dawie]

Hi Dawie,

Thanks for your response. But what if he wants to stay longer than 3 months? For example, here in Costa Rica I leave every 3 months to Nicaragua and come back in after 72 hours and I get a new 3 month stamp. Could he do that by going to another European country e.g. the United Kingdom?

Thanks again!

C.

Your friend could try doing that between Ireland and another EU country (but not the UK for the reasons stated above) however he would probably only be able to do it once or twice before immigration officials became suspicious. Immigration controls in European countries are somewhat stricter than those in Central American countries.

[scrudu]

Unfortunately as he is an electrician, he is not eligible for a Working Visa/Work Authorisation as they are only available to certain skilled workers. See more on http://www.oasis.gov.ie/employment/work ... orise.html

He may be eligible for a Work Permit. You must apply for a work permit BEFORE coming to Ireland (at nearest embassy or consulate) as he will not be allowed switch from a tourist visa to a work permit. See http://www.oasis.gov.ie/employment/work ... #id3153971

Note also that because of the expansion of the EU (large scale availability of migrant workers), and the requirements on employers to first advertise any open positions throughout the EU before hiring a non-EU employee, it can be difficult to get a Work Permit. The employer must provide proof that they have tried through the expanded EU before employing a non-EU citizen.

If you have any contacts at home who would employ him, that would be the easiest route as they may go the lengths required to take him on.

I agree with Dawie about exiting Ireland and re-entering. This could also work out to be an expensive process as it will require flying to other EU countries to get his passport stamps only to return a day or so later. Unlike S.American countries, the Irish Immigration will probably ask questions about someone re-entering so soon after exiting, especially if it happens a number of times

[cathycostarica]

Thanks everyone for your fab help - this site is an absolutely brilliant source of information for people like me!