Residence rights of non-EEA nationals in Ireland

Rules

Documentation

If you are a non-EEA national and intend to come to live in Ireland, there are several important pieces of documentation that you will need before coming here. These documents include:

• Your passport: which must be valid for at least the duration of your proposed stay
• The relevant visa: if you are a citizen of a visa-required country
• An employment permit, business visa or business permission: if you intend to work or engage in business in Ireland

An immigration officer will examine your documentation when you present yourself at the point of entry to Ireland. You may be asked to show evidence that you have enough funds to support yourself and any dependants for the duration of your proposed stay. You may also be required to answer other questions relevant to your application for permission to remain. The onus rests with you to satisfy the immigration officer as to the genuine reason for your presence in Ireland. In other words, you must satisfy them that your credentials are authentic.

Requirement to produce identity documents

The Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 (section 34) provides that non-EEA nationals arriving in the State must present a passport or equivalent document when asked for it by an immigration officer. (Previously, it was not specifically stated that they had to present it.)

It also requires non-EEA nationals who are present in the State to provide such a document or a registration certificate on demand to the Minister, an immigration officer or a Garda, if asked to do so to prove that they comply with their permission to remain in the State. This requirement does not apply to people under 16 years of age, but it does now apply to non-EEA nationals who were born in Ireland.

Section 34 does not apply to people who are exercising EU Treaty Rights of free movement. However, anyone seeking to enter or live in the State on the basis of being an EU/EEA national or a dependant of an EU/EEA national is still required to provide satisfactory evidence of identity and nationality to establish that basis.

Certificate of Registration

If everything is in order, the immigration officer will place the appropriate stamp on your passport. If your stay is for longer than 3 months, you will have to register with the Garda National Immigration Bureau or your local immigration office who will issue you with a GNIB Certificate of Registration (also known as a GNIB card). It is the same size as a credit card and will show what type of residence stamp you hold.

Depending on your nationality and your legal status in Ireland, this card may also function as a residence card, or residence document – see below. It is not an identity document: it is just a certificate that you have registered with the Garda Síochána as required by Irish immigration law.

Family members

In general, your family members may join you in Ireland if you can show that you can support them without recourse to public funds. In practice, this means that you have enough money to support them without qualifying for Family Income Supplement (FIS). This payment depends on your income and the number of dependants you have.

Employment permit holders

If you have an employment permit, you have permission to remain in Ireland for as long as your employment permit is valid. You will get a stamp number 1 on your passport. This stamp gives you permission to remain on condition that you do not enter any employment unless you or your employer have obtained an employment permit.

Undocumented workers: There was a scheme for certain undocumented non-EEA workers who previously held a work permit or a Green Card permit. The closing date for applications was 31 December 2009.

Business permission holders

You will need a business permission if you wish to establish or engage in business in Ireland. A business permission is granted for 1 year initially. If you have a business permission, you will also get a stamp number 1 on your passport. This stamp gives you permission to remain for as long as your business permission is valid.

Students

Since 1 January 2011 there are changes to the immigration system for non-EEA students. If you are a non-EEA national coming to study in Ireland you must be enrolled in a full-time course under the Degree Programme or the Language and Non-Degree Programme. There are details of transitional arrangements for students already in Ireland who are affected by these changes and guidelines for students who require a visa on the INIS website.

If you are attending a course on the Internationalisation Register under one of the above programmes you will have stamp number 2 endorsed on your passport. You will be allowed to take up casual employment of up to 20 hours part-time work per week in term time or up to 40 hours per week during normal college vacation periods. The stamp will be valid until you have finished your course of study and your entitlement to take up employment ceases when your permission to remain expires.

If you are not attending such a course, you will not be entitled to take up part-time work or engage in any business or profession. You will get stamp number 2A on your passport. This stamp gives you permission to remain until you have finished your course.

Third Level Graduate Scheme: Non-EEA students who have graduated with a degree at level 7 to 10 from an Irish third-level institution and have a current GNIB Certificate of Registration may be permitted to apply for the Third Level Graduate Scheme (pdf). Those who have a level 7 degree will be granted a non-renewable extension of their current student permission (Stamp 2) for 6 months starting on the date upon which the person receives their examination results. Those with a degree at level 8, 9 or 10 will be granted a 12-month extension. The purpose of the permission to remain under this scheme is to seek employment and gain a Green Card or work permit.

Spouse or civil partner of an Irish national

If you are a non-EEA national married to, or in a recognised civil partnership with, an Irish national you do not have an automatic right to live in Ireland. Depending on your current immigration status, you apply for permission to live in Ireland as follows:

• If you currently have permission to live in Ireland, you should go with your Irish national spouse or civil partner to register with the GNIB or your local immigration officer as the spouse or civil partner of an Irish national.

Or

• If you do not have permission to live in Ireland, you must apply in writing to the Marriage to Irish National Section of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) - see 'Where to apply' below.

You can find details of the application procedures for spouses and civil partners of Irish nationals on the INIS website. Once you have permission to live in Ireland on the basis of marriage or civil partnership with an Irish national you may get a stamp 4 on your passport - see 'People who are allowed to work in Ireland - other eligible categories' below.

De facto relationships

Non-EEA nationals who are in de facto relationships must have permission to remain in the State as follows:

• A non-EEA national whose partner is an Irish national must provide proof of a durable relationship of at least 2 years. If the non-EEA national is granted permission to remain they are not required to have a work permit.
• If you are a non-EEA national whose partner is an EU national you can apply for a residence card if you have proof of a durable relationship of at least 2 years. If you are granted permission to remain you will not need a work permit.
• A non-EEA national whose partner is also a non-EEA national must provide evidence of a durable relationship of at least 4 years and must have an employment permit in order to work.

You can find further information about de facto relationships on the INIS website.

Victims of human trafficking

A non-EEA national who has been identified as a suspected victim of human trafficking may be granted permission to remain in Ireland for up to 60 days. In certain cases such a non-EEA national may be granted further periods of temporary residence in Ireland - see 'Further information' below.

People who are not allowed to work in Ireland

If you are coming to Ireland as a visitor, a tourist, the spouse, civil partner or dependant of an employment permit holder, as a retired person, or in order to receive medical treatment, you will get a stamp number 3 on your passport.

If you have a stamp 3 you will not be entitled to work or engage in any business or profession while in Ireland. The length of time that this stamp is valid will depend on your circumstances. Guidelines to the immigration arrangements for ministers of religion and lay volunteers are on the INIS website.

Spouses, civil partners and some dependants of employment permit holders once they are legally resident in the State are free to seek employment and apply for a spousal/dependant work permit.

People who are allowed to work in Ireland

EU Treaty Rights

If you are a non-EEA family member of an EEA or Swiss citizen, who meets the requirements as laid out in the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2006 and 2008, you must apply to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) for permission to remain under EU Treaty Rights – see ‘How to apply’ below.

When you register with the GNIB or your local registration office the Certificate of Registration that you receive will be a residence card with the wording 4 EU FAM (that is, the residence card of a family member of an EU citizen). As a holder of this card 4 EU FAM, you will be visa-exempt even if you are a visa-required national and you do not need an employment permit or business permission.

Non-EEA family members of an EU national will be given a temporary stamp 4 while waiting for applications under EU Treaty Rights to be processed but this is currently (2011) under review. Stamp 4 allows you to take up employment in Ireland.

Employment permit for 5 years

Since 28 August 2009 if you have worked on a work permit for 5 consecutive years you will no longer need a permit to work in Ireland. You should apply to your local immigration officer – see ‘How to apply’ below – who will issue you with a stamp 4 immigration permission for one year. This permission may be renewed annually and it will allow you to take up any employment or self-employment. Further details about this immigration permission are available on the INIS website.

Other eligible categories

If you are in Ireland as the spouse, civil partner or dependant of an Irish or other EEA national, or of a Swiss national, you will get a stamp 4, which means that you will not need an employment permit or business permission. When you register with the local immigration office, the Certificate of Registration (GNIB card) that you receive will be a residence document.

You will also get stamp 4 if you come under one of the following categories: Convention or Programme refugees; former asylum seekers granted leave to remain.

This stamp also applies if you are on an intra-company transfer (pdf). The length of time that this stamp is valid will depend on your circumstances.

From 21 June 2010 most non-EEA doctors working for the public health service will be given stamp 1 for 2 years when they first register or when they re-register with their local immigration office. Doctors who already have stamp 4 can have their stamp 4 renewed for 2 years.

Long-term residence rights

Depending on your circumstances, you can acquire long-term residence rights if you have been legally resident in Ireland for 5 years or more. You will still need to register with the Garda authorities and obtain a GNIB card.

If you have been here on the basis of work permit conditions for over 5 years, you may apply for long term residency for a further 5 years. Your spouse or civil partner and dependants may also apply for long-term residency if they have been legally resident in Ireland for at least 5 years. If you are successful you will get a stamp number 4 on your passport for 5 years and you will no longer need a permit to work in Ireland. Your dependants will get a stamp number 3 and will still be required to have an employment permit.

Otherwise, if you have been legally resident for over 8 years (but not as a student or an asylum-seeker) you may apply for stamp number 5 on your passport, which gives you permission to remain in Ireland "without condition as to time”. You will be entitled to work or engage in a business or profession while in Ireland. This stamp lasts until the expiry date of your passport, and can be renewed when you get a new passport.

If you have a stamp 4 EU-FAM on your passport, you may apply for a permanent residence card after 5 years in the State – see ‘How to apply’ below. If successful you will be issued with a permanent residence card for 5 years.

It is also possible to apply for Irish citizenship through naturalisation after you have built up 5 years of reckonable residence for citizenship purposes. The residence requirements for citizenship through marriage to or civil partnership with an Irish citizen are more lenient.