American dating an EU/EEA citizen. Can we both work and live in Ireland?

[veronicamcgovern]

I am an American citizen and I have been dating a Danish citizen in a LDR (Long-Distance Relationship) for about two years now. We are now both interested in moving to Ireland. I was told that as long as we can prove our relationship, that I can apply for a work permit in Ireland. I was told that this was possible by filling out a EU1A form. So my questions are as follows:

1. Can we "prove" our relationship by plane ticket stubs and IMs alone?

2. If this is true and I qualify for a "permitted family member" residence permit, can I apply before moving to Ireland from the US? I don't want to apply while in Ireland, in case my application gets rejected...

3. What does a residency card in Ireland entail? How long can I work and live in Ireland for? Do I have access to healthcare? Can I later apply for citizenship? etc.

4. If I can apply for citizenship, how long does the process take for that?

Thank you all in advanced.

[max307]

1. Can we "prove" our relationship by plane ticket stubs and IMs alone?

Because you are not legally married the only way you can apply for residence in Ireland is “De Facto Relationship” and these are roughly explained the rules: you have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others akin to a marriage or civil partnership in practice though not in law and the relationship between them is genuine and continuing and they live together or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis and they are not related by family.

The fact that you guys live in 2 different continents it will a major issue for INIS in Ireland but anyways you are more than welcome to try, this is the link with more details: http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/De ... ationships

2. If this is true and I qualify for a "permitted family member" residence permit, can I apply before moving to Ireland from the US? I don't want to apply while in Ireland, in case my application gets rejected...

You will be considered a "permitted family member" after you are married, at the moment that’s not the case. If you applying for “De Facto Relationship” you will need to apply from Ireland, if you get married and want to apply for the non EU spouse of a EU citizen you can apply from anywhere in the world including Ireland.

3. What does a residency card in Ireland entail? How long can I work and live in Ireland for? Do I have access to healthcare? Can I later apply for citizenship? etc.

Residence in Ireland entails work, study, healthcare, social security, etc. If your application for “De Facto Relationship” is approved you will be given a 5 years residence card and after that time if you still in Ireland you can apply for citizenship.

4. If I can apply for citizenship, how long does the process take for that?

About 6 months from the date the application for naturalisation is lodged, it is taking longer at the moment because they have a huge backlog related to Brexit.

[veronicamcgovern]

Since my boyfriend is Danish, does a De Facto Relationship apply? It says it's only concerning Irish Citizens/Residents? Can my boyfriend just legally work and live in Ireland without any issues/visas?

Is a De Facto Relationship the same as this?

"A partner with whom the EU citizen has a durable relationship. The Irish authorities consider applications for residence cards from partners of EU nationals who can establish that the relationship has existed for at least 2 years."

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/mo ... mbers.html


Thank you for all of the information, by the way. This is very, very helpful.

[max307]

Yes. An EU citizen (Danish in this case) can live, work and reside anywhere in the EU including Ireland.

It is a very vague application so the more information you gather the better! Receipts (restaurants, bars, cinema tickets, etc.), plane tickets, hotel bookings, photographs, etc. Keep everything you think will help you prove that you are in a committed relationship.

[PasadenaTom]

Since my boyfriend is Danish, does a De Facto Relationship apply? It says it's only concerning Irish Citizens/Residents? Can my boyfriend just legally work and live in Ireland without any issues/visas?

Your boyfriend can legally work and live (i.e., become a resident) in Ireland. But from what you describe, I don't think you qualify for a De Facto relationship with an Irish resident. I'd suggest you read this:

De Facto Relationships with an Irish National or Irish Resident

They expect you to have lived together for at least two years. And,

"If a couple claim they have maintained their relationship during the two year period by merely visiting each other as often as they can, this will not be sufficient to demonstrate a committed De Facto relationship.

[veronicamcgovern]

Since my boyfriend is Danish, does a De Facto Relationship apply? It says it's only concerning Irish Citizens/Residents? Can my boyfriend just legally work and live in Ireland without any issues/visas?

Your boyfriend can legally work and live (i.e., become a resident) in Ireland. But from what you describe, I don't think you qualify for a De Facto relationship with an Irish resident. I'd suggest you read this:

De Facto Relationships with an Irish National or Irish Resident

They expect you to have lived together for at least two years. And,

"If a couple claim they have maintained their relationship during the two year period by merely visiting each other as often as they can, this will not be sufficient to demonstrate a committed De Facto relationship.

That's what I was worried about. I suppose the only way we can for sure move there is if we get married or I move to Denmark for a couple of years and live with him (or he lives in the US with me).

Thank you for all of this helpful advice!

[ryuzaki]

You could go to Denmark, live together and get married. Would only need to be for maybe six months.

Having said that, my wife and I were married in May in China and have never had the opportunity to live together. We are applying for a visa as the spouse of an EEA citizen exercising treaty rights. The rules are here:

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Processi ... _38_EC.pdf

You can see that once you are married it doesn't matter if you have lived together or not, beyond it helping to prove that the marriage isn't a sham. Fortunately there are other ways to prove that, such as evidence of a long term relationship, meetings, shared money and financial support etc.

I took legal advice (and you should too, find a lawyer in Ireland skype them) but she said that this should be okay.

[veronicamcgovern]

Thank you so much for this info!