Marriage Visa Ireland

What is the Marriage Visa in Ireland?

The Ireland Marriage Visa is intended for foreign citizens who are in a relationship with Irish nationals and want to get married or enter a civil partnership with them in Ireland. If their application is successful, they can come to Ireland with the primary goal of getting married.

Before you can apply for the Marriage Visa your Irish partner has to receive an acknowledgement from the Registrar confirming the date of receipt of notification of the intention to get married to or enter into a civil partnership with a foreign citizen in Ireland.

Those who are citizens of UK, Switzerland or a country in the European Economic Area do not need to apply for a Marriage Visa before coming to Ireland.

Eligibility requirements for Ireland Marriage Visa

All citizens of countries that are not in the European Economic Area, unless they come from UK or Switzerland, have to hold a valid visa if they want to come to Ireland to marry.

To be eligible for the Ireland Marriage Visa, you have to meet the following requirements:

• Have a passport valid for at least six months past your proposed stay in Ireland
• Have enough funds to support yourself during your stay in Ireland
• Be able to prove that the relationship between you and your Irish partner is authentic
• Be coming to Ireland to get married or enter a civil partnership.

You can apply for the Marriage Visa up to three months before your planned journey to Ireland.

Keep in mind that if your application for the Marriage Visa is approved, you will not be able to undertake employment in Ireland. If you want to come to Ireland to work, you have to apply for a different permit. If you’re looking for advice from an immigration lawyer,  our team of highly trained consultants will assess your situation and tell you what visa would be the best option for you.

How to apply for the Ireland Marriage Visa?

After you receive the required acknowledgement from the Registrar, you can initiate the application process for the Ireland Marriage Visa.

The first step is to complete an online application. After you submit all the forms, you will see a summary application form with the instructions on what you have to do next. From the summary you will find out where you have to submit the supporting documents. Make sure to print and sign the summary as you will have to include it in your portfolio of evidence.

Then you have to pay the visa application fee of either €60, if you are getting a single entry visa, or €100 if you are applying for a multi entry visa. Some countries are exempt from having to pay the visa fee. These are:

• Bosnia
• Morocco
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Ecuador
• Indonesia
• Jamaica
• Kosovo
• Kyrgyzstan
• Montenegro
• North Macedonia
• Peru
• Serbia
• Sri Lanka
• Tunisia
• Uganda

The visa fee is non-refundable even if your visa is not approved or if you withdraw your Irish citizenship application.

After you have paid the relevant fee, you can start gathering all the required supporting documents. You need to have an extensive portfolio of evidence to prove your eligibility for the Marriage Visa. To make sure you prepare all the documents that might be necessary, hire one of our immigration experts.

Finally, once you have completed all these steps, you can submit your application to the visa application office. When you do that, you will receive an application summary sheet, featuring your Visa Application Tracking Number. You can use this number to track your application.

Which supporting documents are required for Irish Marriage Visa?

In addition to the application forms, you need to include the following supporting documents in your Ireland marriage visa application:

• Your passport valid for at least six months past your planned stay in Ireland
• Signed and dated application summary sheet
• Letter explaining what the reason of your travel to Ireland is and how long you will stay there
• Proof of having enough funds to cover the expenses during your stay in Ireland
• Two colour passport-sized photographs
• Details of where you will be staying
• Evidence showing that your relationship with the Irish citizen is genuine
• Evidence of having strong ties in your home country that will make you return there after your visa expires.

Make sure to include original documents and not photocopies. Also, all documents you submit have to be translated to Irish or English.

If you do not submit all the required documents, your application might be rejected. Hire one of our immigration team to avoid that. They will help you put together a complete portfolio of evidence and will review your application to check it for mistakes.

How can I prove that my relationship is genuine?

To be able to receive the Ireland Marriage Visa, you have to be able to provide evidence proving that your relationship with the Irish citizen is genuine. The things that can be used as evidence vary depending on the individual situation of each visa applicant. You can, for example, show that you have extensive previous correspondence or that you have previously lived together abroad.

An important requirement for the Marriage Visa is that you and your partner have met face-to-face several times. If your relationship has only been taking place online, you are not eligible for the Marriage Visa.

If you or your partner were previously married or in a civil partnership that ended, you have to submit a marriage/civil partnership certificate and a divorce/dissolution of civil partnership certificate.

In addition to the evidence showing that your relationship is authentic, you have to be able to demonstrate that you and your partner intend to marry each other or enter into a civil partnership. To do that, you can, for example, submit a marriage registration form.

What financial evidence do I need to submit?

In your application for the Ireland Marriage Visa, you also have to include financial evidence confirming that you have enough funds to cover your stay in Ireland. You will need to submit a bank statement from the last six months. You can rely on a third party to fund your stay in Ireland but you have to be able to show that they regularly support you financially. Moreover, if someone else is going to cover your expenses in Ireland, you have to be able to show that you know them in person.

When preparing the financial evidence, keep in mind the following rules:

• Your full name, address, account number and account type have to be visible on all statements you submit
• Bank statements must be on official headed paper
• If you include a bank statement from a savings or deposit account, it has to be accompanied by a letter from your bank explaining how much you are allowed to withdraw from the account.

If you are not sure what documents to submit as financial evidence and need the help of an expert, talk to our immigration team. They will help you gather the required evidence and will make sure you provide all the information that might be required.

What is the processing time for Irish Marriage Visa application?

The processing time of applications for Marriage Visas vary depending on where you are from. Nevertheless, most applications are processed within eight weeks. The processing can take longer if you fail to include some of the required evidence or you make mistakes in your application. To avoid delays, hire one one of our immigration experts. They will review your application before you submit it to make sure it is complete and filled correctly.

If your application is approved, you will be able to start preparing for your journey to Ireland. The Marriage Visa is a short stay ‘C’ Visa, which means you will be able to stay in Ireland for 90 days. After that you will have to leave the country.

If you are denied the Marriage Visa, you will be informed of the reason for the refusal. Our immigration experts can advise you on what to do next.

How can IAS help?

Here at IAS, our immigration service can help international couples avoid separation and we have helped many clients successfully apply for Marriage Visas.

If you are not sure how to join your spouse or civil partner in Ireland, talk to our immigration experts. They will analyse your situation and will tell you what the best route to join them in Ireland is. If you want to go to Ireland to get married, our immigration team will assess your eligibility for the Marriage Visa and will help you submit your application for it.

If you hire one of our team, the application process will be easy and stress-free. Our highly qualified immigration consultants will be around all the time to assist with any enquiries you may have.

Should your visa application be rejected, our experienced team can help.

Contact us on +44 (0)333 414 9244 to find out more about how we can help.