What Visa does my Wife need for N.Ireland?

Hi All....its me...again !
This may sound like a ridicoulously stupid and easy question to ask....but heres the scenario.... I will be getting married in August to a Malay in Malaysia. I am a resident of N.Ireland. I have been travelling for some time now to and fro to Malaysia on an Irish passport ( We are entitled to dual citenship in N.Ireland so I hold a British passport as well). My Fiancee will be applying for a visa on my grounds to come to N.Ireland. I'm confused what visa she actually applies for. I just found out today that I could not get a certificate of Non Impediment from the Regisrty Office here due to travelling on an Irish passport so would have to contact the Irish department of Foreigh affairs for Certificats de Coutume. Does this mean she has to apply for an Irish Visa on my grounds or a UK Visa ? All of my documentation for solomonizing marriage will be with my Irish Passport.

Confused!.........
Any ideas?

Patienceman wrote:Hi All....its me...again !
This may sound like a ridicoulously stupid and easy question to ask....but heres the scenario.... I will be getting married in August to a Malay in Malaysia. I am a resident of N.Ireland. I have been travelling for some time now to and fro to Malaysia on an Irish passport ( We are entitled to dual citenship in N.Ireland so I hold a British passport as well). My Fiancee will be applying for a visa on my grounds to come to N.Ireland. I'm confused what visa she actually applies for. I just found out today that I could not get a certificate of Non Impediment from the Regisrty Office here due to travelling on an Irish passport so would have to contact the Irish department of Foreigh affairs for Certificats de Coutume. Does this mean she has to apply for an Irish Visa on my grounds or a UK Visa ? All of my documentation for solomonizing marriage will be with my Irish Passport.

Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, not the Republic of Ireland. So she must observe United Kingdom immigration laws. http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk

Thanks
I realise that N.Ireland is part of the UK but wasnt sure whether she should apply on the grounds that I had been using an Irish passport travelling which you are entitled to in N.Ireland....makes sense though

Hey Patienceman

I am from Northern Ireland as well married to romanian citizen so fairly familiar with the visa process.

I also have both passports but in the end we went with using the british passport to get my husband here cause it was simpler and quicker.

To bring your spouse from Maylasia to Northern Ireland using your irish passport you need to apply to the british embassy in maylasia for a visa for your wife to accompany you as a non eu spouse of an eu citizen these are issued free of charge but can take up to 6 months to be granted. The visa is issued for 6 months then she must renew it at the home office in the UK which is also free of charge. She can work with this visa.

If you and your wife want to go to the republic of ireland then you need to apply for either a visit visa or a d spouse visa to the department of foreign affairs in dublin. My husband and I flew out of DUblin to ROmania recently and all i had to do was send my irish passport and proof of marriage and his passport and he got the visa free of charge.

We went with the spousal visa issued by the UK with my brit passport cause the EU route seemed complicated. Basically with the spouse visa after 2 years Alec my husband is now a permanent uk cititizen and can apply for a british passport. With the EU option that you are thinking of this period is 5 years before permanent residence and citizenship.

Alec can also apply for an irish passport as can your wife after 3 years from the date of the marriage but you have to live in Ireland (including the north) for the whole 3 years.

Make sense?

Karen

It is very expensive to get a UK spouse visa, and starting in April will get even worse.

EU visa is definitely cheaper, and may be easier to organize. You should not have to wait 6 months for the EEA family permit, though the (5yr) Residence Card can sometimes take that long.

There is a Northern Ireland legal resource center that can provide help. Check at the bottom of the UK page on my freedom of movement blog.

The Law Centre in Belfast has an immigration line you can call M-F 9:30 - 1. It helped me a lot; in the end I opted for the EU route, and now with the fee increases I'm glad I did.

http://www.lawcentreni.org/Publications ... tation.htm

This link is a good place to start, although keep in mind the fees they list will go up as of April 1.