Non EEA mother of irish citizen child on C visa

[Easylife123]

Hi everybody,

I've been through this forum in detail but can't find a thread similar to ours, so it would be great to get a little information and clarification if possible...
Thanks in advance...

I'm an Irish born male, my partner is Non EEA.
We have a 4 year old son, born outside Ireland but with an Irish passport.

For the last 10 years I have worked in Asia and pre covid my family lived with me in China where I worked...

Due to covid, things have gotten a little messy regarding re-entering China, so we met again and spent some time in a 3rd country.

Now, we have entered ireland (my partner of 6 years on a 3 month C visa) Since we entered last month, my son has been offered a place in a local school in my hometown to begin his school life and I'm strongly considering staying at home and not returning to my old life back in Asia....

My question is about the possibility of my partner applying for stay (stamp 4) based on being the mother of our Irish citizen child.

The following is from INIS:

(B) If you do not hold a valid immigration permission or if you are on a short stay ‘C’ visa, you must complete the parent of Irish citizen child application form and submit it, with all the required documentation to the following address:

It seems that there is an option for my partner to remain in ireland by simply completing a RES3 form and submitting it. Consideration will be on emotional support to our son who will begin junior infants in September.
I just want the best life for my son and don't believe returning to their home country or to China is the best life...

Does anybody have any further insight or info regarding our circumstances?

My understanding is that the process would take about 1 year.

During that time, will my partner be "illegal?"

Is the application likely to be accepted as our son will have almost finished his first year of school?

Sorry for the long message, trying to be as detailed as possible.

Thanks in advance for any comments / info.

[Easylife123]

Does anybody have any comments or info regarding this route?

Would be appreciated so much before we try.

Thanks again all

[littlerr]

Once an application has been made, the applicant will not be 'illegal' until there is an outcome. However, she might not be able to do anything within this period - she won't be allowed to open a bank account, apply for a job, go to college or anything. I don't know how big of chance there is for her application to be approved or rejected. There is no recent official data on that unfortunately.

You didn't mention your nationality. I presume you are Irish (based on the fact that your child was born abroad but can hold an Irish passport). The correct way would be to apply for de-facto partnership visa for your partner from where you lived prior to coming to Ireland (i.e. that 3rd country). Of course, that does mean your partner will be stuck there for a year or so.

[Easylife123]

Thank you very much for your reply....

Yes, sorry forgot to mention I'm irish, was born in ireland and grew up there to irish parents...

What you said is what I presumed, no work, bank accounts until they have reached a decision. By the time they come to a decision, our son will be almost finished his first year of school so I'm hoping this will play a big part in their decision...

I understand the 'correct way' that I should do it, the thing is that we got separated from each other due to covid and I don't want to risk that again, as you say it's almost a year to receive an answer for a D visa. If it is bad news, we're in trouble after waiting so long!!. And I want our kid to begin school in August, this is the main reason that we are going down this route. 10 years living abroad dealing with visa systems in a range of countries. I don't like doing things the way we're doing it now, but feel it's our only option.

Thanks again for your reply, it's really appreciated.

I will leave an update once we start the process