IRISH CITIZEN + EUFAM + STAMP 4 EUFAM APPLICATION

[irishbosnian]

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone can give me some insight into some topics for my non-EEA spouse, Its really hard to get my head around it :S ...

My partner (Indian) and I currently live in Spain. I am an irish Citizen and she holds a "Residence card of a family member of a union citizen" in Spain.

We applied for this card in Spain and since I am practicing my EU treaty rights in a member EU/EEA state she is entitled to have this card here. She is currently allowed to work here and reside for the next 5 years here.

We have lived here for almost 2 years and I have been employed throughout our stay here, I was always employed. According to the INIS website if I return to Ireland with my spouse, I would be considered an EU Citizen :

"Generally, no. The Directive applies to Union citizens who move to or reside in a Member State other than that of which they are a national, and to their family members who accompany or join them. (Article 3 of Directive 2004/38/EC)

Exceptions to this apply in cases where the third-country national family member has previously held a “residence card of a family member of a Union citizen” which has been issued by another Member State under Article 10 of the Directive, and the Irish national and their family member have subsequently moved to Ireland."


So according to INIS my spouse would be able to apply for the STAMP 4 EUFAM card.

I wanted to get clarity on the following points:

1. Do I need to be in Ireland to make the application? Since my spouse got a job offer there and they are not willing to provide a work permit, maybe ill join her later

2. If I go there with her, What is the first thing we should do? GNIB or Stamp 4 EU Fam...

3. Will she get the stamp on the same day of the GNIB appointment? ( For example we land in Ireland , Book an appointment in GNIB for the next week, then be given a TEMP stamp 4 on the spot?, while the application is in process?)

4. For a temp stamp 4 would it take long?

5. Do we need to have an Address in ireland for the application? Or can we use our spanish current address?, because it would take long to get a utility bill etc.

6. I am not planning to start work immediatly..... I want my spouse to work... anyways i have sufficient means etc ( I worked previously in ireland for 4 years with p60´s etc) .. will this be a problem if i dont work?

Sorry for such a long thread hehe,.... But i am sure in future somebody will also benefit from this xD....


Thanks in Advance everyone....

Regards,

Mustafa

[dupalsky]

1) yes you need to be residing in Ireland to exercise treaty right. She can only work without work permit while you are resident in Ireland. This is not to mean, that you cannot leave Ireland. According to the directive, you can leave as long as it's for short period of time(I think 6 months at one time in a year).

2) and 3) GNIB and Stamp 4eufam are one and the same thing. GNIB is the name of the card and stamp4eufam is a type of card. You will need to apply for residence permit. Once u send ur application, writhin weeks, u will receive acknowledgement letter with a letter to go to the immigration for a temporary stamp(stamp 4). Then you will need to make an appointment online and attend on the date. The app process takes about 6 months.

4) No. Once you attend on ur appointment date, it literally takes probably 20 minutes to half an hour.

5)you MUST have a proof of address for ur application to successful.

6) No you don't v to work to exercise your right, although being employed is the easiest way to demonstrate ur treaty right. If u v a regular income with a bit of savings, it should be ok. But if you don't have a regular income, you will need to have significant amount of lump sum amount in ur account.

[DingDong]

Hello Mustafa,

So basically what you are going to do here is the "Irish" version of the "Surinder Singh route" , this the same procedure what UK citizens are doing as coming to Ireland & practicing there EU treaty rights and once there non-eu family members get's the RC card they stay for another 6 months or so and return back to UK and then makes another application for a UK RC card based on the fact that another EU member state has already given them a RC card.

So in your case as you are an Irish citizen & have practiced EU treaty rights in Spain and your spouse also received a Residence card, So therefore when you will return back to Ireland "you are spot on" that the following rule will going to apply on yourself & your spouse at return to Ireland.

"Generally, no. The Directive applies to Union citizens who move to or reside in a Member State other than that of which they are a national, and to their family members who accompany or join them. (Article 3 of Directive 2004/38/EC)

Exceptions to this apply in cases where the third-country national family member has previously held a “residence card of a family member of a Union citizen” which has been issued by another Member State under Article 10 of the Directive, and the Irish national and their family member have subsequently moved to Ireland."

- Since there has are not many examples where Irish citizens who have used the "Irish" version of the Surinder singh route so therefore the above stated policy was mentioned in quite a vague manner on the INIS website, but in principle on the basis of Surinder Singh route an Irish citizen can return back to Ireland and he will be treated as an EU citizen meaning there non-eu family members can retain the EU residence card in Ireland.

***So what needs to be done?

- Move back to Ireland with your spouse.
- Ensure bring all the evidence back with yourself like provide that you both were living in Spain in the form of bank accounts, health insurance, rental home contract & etc...
- Get a rental accommodation in Ireland.
- The good thing is that you dont need to work or find a job since you are an Irish citizen, the obligation to work/study or have a regular income only applies to EU citizens who move to Ireland but not the other way around.
- Apply for Stamp 4 EU Fam card (everything is mentioned on INIS website)
- PLEASE NOTE : The process mentioned on the INIS website is mostly for EU citizens, however it will "also going to apply on Irish citizens" if you have practiced EU treaty right in another member state, so I "believe" the same form is required to be filled.
- Now another catch here is normally if an EU citizen applies for a RC card it is taking forever to get a decision, however in your case since your spouse already holds an RC card from another EU member state so technically in principle the INIS only needs to check few evidences that the rights has been practiced in Spain & to be honest a decision should be made in a quicker manner "because due to the fact your spouse already hold an RC card" and the dept does not need to run several checks on your case as they are suppose to do on a brand new application.

- Please keep me posted how did you get on because I am in the same boat as you are as I am an Irish citizen as well & practicing EU treaty rights in a member state & have plans to return back home.

Best Regards,

[irishbosnian]

thanks so much for your reply HamzaCork. Amazing reply. Will surely keep u up tot date.

Regards,
Ervin

[irishbosnian]

thanks so much for your reply dupalsky.

[jul1]

try to get as much evidence from Spain as possible, i read many complaints about the cost of translation when ging trough surinder singh route.
All your papers will be in Spanish but in Ireland only an official translation will be accepted, for every single page u provide, some said paid 2-3k GBP only for translation in uk.