EU Citizen / Non-EU Spouse

[IamDaniDan]

Hi all.

I looked through the forum, but did not find any answers.
I am EU, my husband is not, we live in Austria.
I have a job in Dublin that I work remotely at the moment. I also pay (a lot) for a flat there every month without being able to use it.

We applied for a visa back in November for my husband (after being told it’s possible and that it will take around 12 weeks) but have not heard any updates since. We were under the impression that EU spouse visas would still be processed, but apparently not?
Now the embassy in Austria forwarded an email with the info from the Justice Dept that my husbands documents were not even looked at and the visa ban will be prolonged further after April 5.

Now the question is: is anybody in the same position? Have you had any updates?
Would you wait longer or just hang in there?

I am very close to giving up my dream job at Trinity and stay here in Austria. It’s a shame, really. All the time, energy and money spent for nothing.

[irishman003]

I think is quicker that you move down here and apply for EU 1, if your husband is a visa required citizen, all you need is to bring your marriage/civil partner certificate, then he should be no no problem boarding the plane together with you.

Nowadays, EU 1 takes more than 12 month in general but if EU citizen has a stable job, then is not an issue for your husband to get the approval at the end of the day, all it takes is the time.

I think Irish Immigration don't take it too serious if the applicant is abroad.

Good luck to you.

[irishman003]

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/EU+Treaty+Rights

Here is the website for EU 1 application.

You will be find, don't give up your dream.

[IamDaniDan]

Hello,

Thank you for your helpful reply.

12 months?
Sadly, we don’t have the funds for that and it is out of the question for us to be separated for that long.

But thank you again, I will look into it for sure.

Kind regards,

[smooshy90]

Hi,
I am in a similar situation, with the difference that my wife is stuck abroad while waiting for the visa.

We applied for the entry visa in July 2020 and at the start of 2021 we engaged with lawyers to try and speed things up.

No luck, Irish immigration is hindering all our efforts to live together here in the name of public health, even though my wife is recently vaccinated against COVID-19, and they are informed about it.

I really really hope that on April 5 they will start granting the visas, because that’s what they told us (after previously saying it would be March 5th).

[irishman003]

Hello,

Thank you for your helpful reply.

12 months?
Sadly, we don’t have the funds for that and it is out of the question for us to be separated for that long.

But thank you again, I will look into it for sure.

Kind regards,

You don't have to be separated, you can come together to Ireland, if you are married, and he needs visa to enter Ireland, all you need is to bring marriage certificate show this to custom, they must let him in.

After you arrive, you apply EU 1 straight away, then he will get a temporary visa, then just wait until you get final approval.

[irishman003]

Hi,
I am in a similar situation, with the difference that my wife is stuck abroad while waiting for the visa.

We applied for the entry visa in July 2020 and at the start of 2021 we engaged with lawyers to try and speed things up.

No luck, Irish immigration is hindering all our efforts to live together here in the name of public health, even though my wife is recently vaccinated against COVID-19, and they are informed about it.

I really really hope that on April 5 they will start granting the visas, because that’s what they told us (after previously saying it would be March 5th).

As I suggested to OP, maybe the best way is to fly to your wife if she is in EU zone, and come together to Ireland as long as you guys have marriage certificate, and she has a local residence card granted on the basis with the EU citizens relationship. This is EU free movement law, all custom and airline staff are aware of it, they must let your wife in.

Don't worry, this is proved by my friend and many ppl when he travels (Visa required to EU) with his wife (EU citizen) to another EU country.

[littlerr]

As I suggested to OP, maybe the best way is to fly to your wife if she is in EU zone, and come together to Ireland as long as you guys have marriage certificate, and she has a local residence card granted on the basis with the EU citizens relationship. This is EU free movement law, all custom and airline staff are aware of it, they must let your wife in.

That is plain wrong and misleading.

A visa-required non-EU who is the spouse of an EU national, does not need a visa to travel to another EU country if and only if that person holds a residence card issued under directive 2004/38/EC. This cannot be the case for the OP and the other person here, otherwise they wouldn’t be asking the question here.

Without this card, the only right offered to the non-EU national is that he/she cannot be refused entry by the border control solely on the basis that he/she does not have a visa. However, it is perfectly legal for the airline to deny boarding. Especially under the current climate, airlines are asked to ALWAYS check visa requirements for every single person, and they will deny anyone who doesn’t have the correct papers.

[IamDaniDan]

Yes, that is exactly right.

His Austrian visa is not under that certain directive, so he cannot board a plane, let alone enter the country (I wouldn’t want to try it out).

Well, if they start processing the visas again from April 5, that would be great. However, I think I have given up hope.
I understand they do not want to give a visa to somebody coming from Austria right now. But If they could just say “documents are OK, we will issue the stamp when the situation has relaxed” I’d be so thankful.

Again, I understand, but it will probably mean two young, motivated and highly skilled people will not come to Ireland.

To the person in the same situation: Did you know that spouse visas are not processed from the beginning? We thought they are. Numbers on the INIS website are updated every Tuesday, but the embassy told us they had “no ideas what these numbers are”.

Good luck to you. X

[irishman003]

Yes, that is exactly right.

His Austrian visa is not under that certain directive, so he cannot board a plane, let alone enter the country (I wouldn’t want to try it out).

Well, if they start processing the visas again from April 5, that would be great. However, I think I have given up hope.
I understand they do not want to give a visa to somebody coming from Austria right now. But If they could just say “documents are OK, we will issue the stamp when the situation has relaxed” I’d be so thankful.

Again, I understand, but it will probably mean two young, motivated and highly skilled people will not come to Ireland.

To the person in the same situation: Did you know that spouse visas are not processed from the beginning? We thought they are. Numbers on the INIS website are updated every Tuesday, but the embassy told us they had “no ideas what these numbers are”.

Good luck to you. X

Yes, what I meant the residence card has to be the one issued under that directive, in Ireland, there is an endorsement on the called stating EU FAM. Without it, the airline staff will refuse to let him pass.

[smooshy90]

To the person in the same situation: Did you know that spouse visas are not processed from the beginning? We thought they are. Numbers on the INIS website are updated every Tuesday, but the embassy told us they had “no ideas what these numbers are”.

Good luck to you. X

Thank you, I wish good luck to you as well!

If you want them to tell you if your documents are ok, I am afraid you need to engage with a solicitor sending them a letter, only then they will reply back with meaningful information. That’s what happened in my case.

As for your question, what I know is that from the period of my wife’s application (July 2020) to January 2021 the regulation stated that EU free movement visas for family members were in the Emergency/Priority queue. I have no idea if they were swamped with applications or they plainly ignored my case but here we are 8 months later with no certainty of anything. Plus they added mandatory hotel quarantine that you have to pay in advance and it’s very expensive! My wife is already vaccinated and poses little risk to the national health, also considering you need to have a negative PCR test to travel...sounds like overkill and discrimination.
Are the numbers you are referring to the processing dates? If so, I am afraid those dates have nothing to do with EU treaty visas, it’s like a secret procedure in a secret office that nobody knows anything about, believe me I’ve tried to get to know more.

I can only hope that the coming week they will finally start issuing visas for all the families EU/nonEU separated by COVID regulations!

[IamDaniDan]

Thank you for your reply!

May I ask which solicitors you worked with?

Exactly, we thought that as well. We were under the impression that EU spouse visas are still being processed. So now waiting for news every week has started to feel like torture.
And as you say, just having a visa doesn’t mean that you are above the Public Heath Guidelines. While I understand that they don’t want people to enter the country, it almost seems illogical to me to hold back a visa. If we are entering from Austria, we still have to complete the mandatory hotel quarantine anyway, visa or not.

I have been refreshing the “updates” page constantly in the past couple of days...

[IamDaniDan]

To the person in the same situation: Did you know that spouse visas are not processed from the beginning? We thought they are. Numbers on the INIS website are updated every Tuesday, but the embassy told us they had “no ideas what these numbers are”.

Good luck to you. X

Thank you, I wish good luck to you as well!

If you want them to tell you if your documents are ok, I am afraid you need to engage with a solicitor sending them a letter, only then they will reply back with meaningful information. That’s what happened in my case.

As for your question, what I know is that from the period of my wife’s application (July 2020) to January 2021 the regulation stated that EU free movement visas for family members were in the Emergency/Priority queue. I have no idea if they were swamped with applications or they plainly ignored my case but here we are 8 months later with no certainty of anything. Plus they added mandatory hotel quarantine that you have to pay in advance and it’s very expensive! My wife is already vaccinated and poses little risk to the national health, also considering you need to have a negative PCR test to travel...sounds like overkill and discrimination.
Are the numbers you are referring to the processing dates? If so, I am afraid those dates have nothing to do with EU treaty visas, it’s like a secret procedure in a secret office that nobody knows anything about, believe me I’ve tried to get to know more.

I can only hope that the coming week they will finally start issuing visas for all the families EU/nonEU separated by COVID regulations!

Sorry, please see message above. I forgot to quote you.

[smooshy90]

Sorry, please see message above. I forgot to quote you.

Hi,

I am refreshing the updates multiple times a day too!
I am not sure it’s allowed to publicly mention solicitors so I am just going to say I am pretty pleased with “immigration solicitors in Dublin”. If you google that you will find them at the first non sponsored result

[IamDaniDan]

Sorry, please see message above. I forgot to quote you.

Hi,

I am refreshing the updates multiple times a day too!
I am not sure it’s allowed to publicly mention solicitors so I am just going to say I am pretty pleased with “immigration solicitors in Dublin”. If you google that you will find them at the first non sponsored result

Oh yes, I understand. Thanks for your reply.
I was referring to this website:
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Visa%20Decisions
We relied on this one. And here it says that they are now working on visas (Sponsor Category A) received in February 2021. And they still update this regularly. This is what I don’t understand.
Are those people all in the “urgent family matters” category? Could be.

[smooshy90]

Sorry, please see message above. I forgot to quote you.

Hi,

I am refreshing the updates multiple times a day too!
I am not sure it’s allowed to publicly mention solicitors so I am just going to say I am pretty pleased with “immigration solicitors in Dublin”. If you google that you will find them at the first non sponsored result

Oh yes, I understand. Thanks for your reply.
I was referring to this website:
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Visa%20Decisions
We relied on this one. And here it says that they are now working on visas (Sponsor Category A) received in February 2021. And they still update this regularly. This is what I don’t understand.
Are those people all in the “urgent family matters” category? Could be.

That list is for non-EU family of Irish Citizens or non-EU citizens (resident in Ireland). It does not cover EU Treaty Rights visas I am afraid.

[IamDaniDan]

Sorry, please see message above. I forgot to quote you.

Hi,

I am refreshing the updates multiple times a day too!
I am not sure it’s allowed to publicly mention solicitors so I am just going to say I am pretty pleased with “immigration solicitors in Dublin 6”. If you google that you will find them at the first non sponsored result

Oh yes, I understand. Thanks for your reply.
I was referring to this website:
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Visa%20Decisions
We relied on this one. And here it says that they are now working on visas (Sponsor Category A) received in February 2021. And they still update this regularly. This is what I don’t understand.
Are those people all in the “urgent family matters” category? Could be.

That list is for non-EU family of Irish Citizens or non-EU citizens (resident in Ireland). It does not cover EU Treaty Rights visas I am afraid.

Ok, I see. Thank you.
So 5th May now, I just saw it that is our faith sealed, I guess.
We have to abandon our plans to come to Ireland probably.
I feel for you.

[Elizabeth79]

I am also in the same situation with you guys from December 2020 that I have applied for my husband and daughter as a family member of eea national ,we didn't hear anything, this very annoying.

[IamDaniDan]

Hello.
I am very sorry to hear that. It is annoying and heart breaking.
If I hear anything, I will let you know. We applied at the same time it seems.

All the best to you!

[Elizabeth79]

Have you heard anything from this people

[Elizabeth79]

Have you heard anything from this people

[smooshy90]

Hi everybody,

I post my experience here since my thread has been locked.

Today, finally, my visa-required wife (of EU citizen) has been sent an email that her visa is ready to be stamped on her passport!

It took only 10 months… a pregnancy is shorter

Anyway I hope everybody else in the same situation will find relief!

[Elizabeth79]

I am so happy for you