A Canadian wanting to be in Ireland

[stephibell]

Thanks to anyone who replies with some ideas and/or advice....

I went to Ireland on a working holiday visa, and immediately met my present boyfriend. We stayed together the entire year, then my visa expired and I am back home in Canada without him. He has started a government job which is fantastic, so he will not join me here at this time.

I am pretty sure there are no other visas that I qualify for to return to Ireland, so I am wondering about my options, if there are any. I have no qualifications or skills (that sounds so lame, I know) and both parents and grandparents were born in Canada.

I am interested in some info on getting married, maybe in Ireland, maybe in Canada.....What are the first steps? Whats it like going back to Ireland as a visitor after you have already been there for a year? Would they hassle me at the port of enrty? What I want the most is to be with him in Ireland long term.

Thanks again for any advice and information......

[iamwhoever]

Well, you can always got the study/training route. If you have no qualifications and want some, there is always accounting and other business training programs. However, you would have to be in Ireland for interviews, and most firms have completed their hiring for this year. Your other option, if interested in accounting, is to study ACCA. Griffith College has a fuul-time ACCA course, which if have to register for the year as a non-EEA student. You would take to exams each semester, so you come out part-qualified. Also, October is the beginning of the milk rounds, but many firms have milk rounds again in April, these are all the medium-large firms. Some firms, some of the larger ones, prefer the ACA, but it shouldn't hurt you. Also, the full-time program at Griffith College (http://www.gcd.ie) is pretty cheap. Now, I am assuming you want to be based in Dublin. The other campus might have a similar program, but I'm not sure. The ACA (http://www.icai.ie) and the ACCA (http://www.ireland.accaglobal.com) both run an accounting technician program; however, this won't help you stay long term, meaning more than your training time unless you continue on to pursue a full accountancy qualification, but it should give you at least another year to be with you boyfriend and see where things go. A full accountancy qualification is a passport to the world.

Anyway, I hope this helps. I don't really know of a different route. Also, returning to Ireland as a visitor, it's completely at the discretion of the immigrations officer. You might want to wait a month or so to be sure. The Griffith College course would get you in for an August start, and you are able to return and get a student stamp up to one month prior to your start date. It will cost you €100 to register at the GNIB, this will happen every year you are on a student or training visa.

Good luck, and let me know if you have any question. Cheers!