Permitted Family Members

[treefriend]

Hi Folks,
I(visa national), my EEA national wife and my mother(visa national) recently moved to Ireland from UK. I hold UK residence card and my mother has UK visit visa. My mother stayed with us in the UK for 1 month however we don't have any proof to validate it.

We are all three now living in Ireland under one roof and have proofs to prove it. I have very good job so does my wife and we want our mother to stay with us. Based on the recommendation of one of EEA directive gurus here (thanks Ben) , our mother should also get EEA RC based on living in the same household as my EEA national wife.

We are putting our application in next two weeks. I have few questions and wondering if someone expert in the field can guide us.

Q1: As we don't have any proof that our mother stayed with us in the UK, would it make any difference?
Q2: Would Irish authorities question why our mother did not apply for EEA permit from within the UK?
Q3: What other evidences we should produce in addition to same household residents?

Thanks in advance. Your help would mean us alot.

God Bless...

[Brigid from Ireland]

Your mother is dependent on her EU migrant worker relative (your wife).

It is important that your wife continue to work. This is the critical point.

There is no need for proof that your mum lived with you elsewhere.

You should set up a bank account for mum, and pay a weekly sum equal to or greater than 186 euro into mum's bank account, from the account into which the wages of your wife is paid. The idea here is that the EU citizen (your wife) is creating paper evidence that she supports mum. It is critical that this goes in every week. (Mum needs to take out the money every week, to show that she is using it to live on). Mum can give the money back to your wife in cash if she wants, the critical aspect is creating the paperwork to show the money is paid by your wife, and withdrawn by mum for living expenses.

It is important that your mother take out health insurance. She should do this as soon as possible - the cheapest will do, as pre-existing conditions will not be covered anyway.

What age is your mother and does she have any source of income (pension...)?

[treefriend]

Your mother is dependent on her EU migrant worker relative (your wife).

It is important that your wife continue to work. This is the critical point.

There is no need for proof that your mum lived with you elsewhere.

You should set up a bank account for mum, and pay a weekly sum equal to or greater than 186 euro into mum's bank account, from the account into which the wages of your wife is paid. The idea here is that the EU citizen (your wife) is creating paper evidence that she supports mum. It is critical that this goes in every week. (Mum needs to take out the money every week, to show that she is using it to live on). Mum can give the money back to your wife in cash if she wants, the critical aspect is creating the paperwork to show the money is paid by your wife, and withdrawn by mum for living expenses.

It is important that your mother take out health insurance. She should do this as soon as possible - the cheapest will do, as pre-existing conditions will not be covered anyway.

What age is your mother and does she have any source of income (pension...)?

Thanks man. At last some one bothered to reply. she is 50+ and living under the same roof as my wife.

[Brigid from Ireland]

No bother.

It is important that mum does not apply for any state supports until she has been in Ireland for at least five years of residence (residence that is legal and she can provide proof of being here.) This means no access to means tested social welfare or to a medical card for five years.

After three years of residence your mum becomes ordinarily resident in year four (Jan 2016) and this confers limited entitlement to public health services, including subsidised medication. You still need to keep the health insurance after this, but it reduces the cost if health care is needed.

The sum of 186/week mentioned earlier is the amount that the Irish social welfare pays as assistance to the poor - if your wife pays mum more than this each week, she is showing that she does not need to access public funds. When mum takes this money out of the bank each week she is showing that she is dependent on your wife, so these two things are very important.

It would also be useful if your mum could show that she is integrating into Irish society (not necessary, but useful). This might involve attending free English classes if she lives in an area where they are offered, or attending church services for those of her faith. If she has any health problems, she could join the relevant society eg the Arthritis Society of Ireland. This is also useful when you wish to show that mum was definitely living in Ireland. If she took out library books once a week, and attended the 'whatever society/club she likes eg Active Retirement' meetings once a month this is proof that she was definitely in Ireland. Again, use e-mail to document attendance at club/society meetings by sending a thank you e-mail after each meeting to say how much mum enjoyed it.

PS: IF mum has poor English, she could attend some club or society in the evening once a month with her English speaking daughter or son. The point is that this gives proof that she is in Ireland.

I assume mum has no money/assets - there are ways to build up an entitlement to Irish social welfare in the future, but these are more complex. The short version is that if she can get a work permit she should register as self employed and pay the small amount of tax that would be due on a small income. If she can commence this before age 55 (or 64 depending on the case) it may confer significant rights to social welfare. Getting work as an employee also does this, but it is more difficult than becoming self employed. She needs permission to work if she wants to take this route.