Living
Spouses Of EU Citizens
This is a particularly grey area at the moment because of recent legislation. It is possible for non-EU spouses of EU citizens to work in Ireland, based on their marriage. When you enter the country (having organised a visa if you needed one), you will probably be given a temporary stamp to say you can stay in the country for a short period, probably three months.
In the past, the next step would have been to go to the Garda National Immigration Bureau. Along with your spouse, you would have needed to bring the following documents: both of your passports, your marriage certificate, a letter from your EU spouse’s employer saying that they work there and possibly shared private health insurance (you are not always asked for this last requirement).
Your passport would either have been stamped, you would have be given a GNIB identification card (which you will need to present anytime you return to Ireland after going on holidays) and you would have been allowed to stay in Ireland for a year, and then get your residency renewed the following year.
Alternatively, you would be asked at the GNIB to send an application to the justice department, with the documents listed above. Then, in about six months, you would (or would not) receive permission from the justice department to remain here on the basis of your marriage. If you received permission you would then go to the GNIB on Burgh Quay and get your GNIB card.
However, this has been complicated by recent legislation which states that a non-EU spouse has to have lived legally with their EU spouse in the spouse’s home country. For example, if a Russian woman is married to a French man, she will have needed to live with him legally in France in order to be allowed to live in Ireland on the basis that she is his spouse. If you are a non-EU spouse and you do not fulfill this requirement, it may be easier to work in Ireland on a green card or a work permit, rather than as a spouse.
In the past, the next step would have been to go to the Garda National Immigration Bureau. Along with your spouse, you would have needed to bring the following documents: both of your passports, your marriage certificate, a letter from your EU spouse’s employer saying that they work there and possibly shared private health insurance (you are not always asked for this last requirement).
Your passport would either have been stamped, you would have be given a GNIB identification card (which you will need to present anytime you return to Ireland after going on holidays) and you would have been allowed to stay in Ireland for a year, and then get your residency renewed the following year.
Alternatively, you would be asked at the GNIB to send an application to the justice department, with the documents listed above. Then, in about six months, you would (or would not) receive permission from the justice department to remain here on the basis of your marriage. If you received permission you would then go to the GNIB on Burgh Quay and get your GNIB card.
However, this has been complicated by recent legislation which states that a non-EU spouse has to have lived legally with their EU spouse in the spouse’s home country. For example, if a Russian woman is married to a French man, she will have needed to live with him legally in France in order to be allowed to live in Ireland on the basis that she is his spouse. If you are a non-EU spouse and you do not fulfill this requirement, it may be easier to work in Ireland on a green card or a work permit, rather than as a spouse.
