Irish Spouse/Civil Partner Visas

Requirements For Irish Spouse/Civil Partner Visas

The requirement for this visa type depends on the circumstances of you and your partner. Nevertheless, there are still basic and general requirements that all applicants must meet; they include:

• You must be up to 18 years.
• The relationship between you and your partner must not be solely over the internet or telephone. You must have met your partner face-to-face a couple of times.
• You must provide a recognizable marriage or civil partnership certificate
• You and your civil partner or spouse must provide evidence that your relationship is genuine
• You both must commit to living together as civil partners or husband and wife permanently

Spouse/Civil Partner Visa Application Sponsorship

Your spouse/civil partner residing in Ireland will sponsor your application. However, to be eligible, they must fit in any of the following categories of Irish residents:

• Irish citizens who reside in Ireland or has the intention to reside in Ireland
• Foreign nationals and legal residents with an Irish Employment Permit
• Foreign nationals and legal residents with Stamp 4 permission. This also includes long term residents
• Foreign nationals and legal residents with Stamp 5 permission.
• D. students studying an accredited doctorate course in Ireland
• Ministers of religion with Stamp 3 permission
• Researchers under hosting agreement or with a Critical Skills Employment Permit

Note that your spouse or civil partner is eligible to sponsor your application doesn’t automatically translate to a successful application. Many other factors come into play.

Joining Your Irish Citizen Spouse/Civil Partner In Ireland 

After your marriage to an Irish citizen who’s residing in Ireland, you must apply for a long stay – join the family – visa to remain in Ireland with them.

The immigration officer will consider your application if your sponsor has not majorly relied on benefits from the Irish State for the past 2 years before your application. Also, your sponsor must have earned above State benefits and a cumulative gross income of at least €40,000 in the past 3 years before your application.

Upon arriving in Ireland, you must be granted permission to remain in Ireland for more than 90 days. Even if you have a long stay D visa and pass border control, you can only reside in Ireland for more than 90 days if you register with immigration.

For this, you must visit the Garda National Immigration Bureau Registration office nearest to you with the following documents:

• Your original international passport
• Your original marriage/civil partnership certificate
• Proof of your joint address
• Your Irish civil partner’s or spouse’s original international passport

Joining Your non-EEA Spouse/Civil Partner In Ireland

If both you and your spouse/civil partner are non-EEA nationals, their immigration status mainly influences your Join Family Visa application. For sponsorship, your spouse/civil partner must fall into any of the following categories:

• Critical Skills Employment Permit holders
• Investors/Entrepreneurs
• Business Permission holders
• Researchers
• INIS Approved Scholarship programme students
• Intra Corporate Transferees
• D. Students under certain conditions
• Full-time non-locum doctors

If your spouse/civil partner doesn’t fall into any of these categories but has been in Ireland for more than 12 months, they can sponsor your family reunification application. That’s if they fall into any of the following categories:

• Non-Critical Skills Employment Permit holders
• Stamp 4 holders not under more favourable arrangements
• Ministers of Religion

If your spouse or civil partner who is a non-EEA national in Ireland doesn’t fall into any of the two sets of categories listed above, they can’t sponsor your visa application.

Also, one of the major deciding factors is your spouse/partner’s income. For your non-EEA spouse/civil partner to sponsor you, they must have sufficient income earnings to support you during your stay in Ireland.

Joining Your EU/EEA/Swiss Spouse/Civil Partner In Ireland

If your spouse/civil partner in Ireland is an EU/EEA/Swiss national, you’ll apply for a ‘Residence Card of a Family Member of a Union Citizen’.

More specifically, you’ll apply for a ‘Residence card for a qualifying family member of a Union citizen as there are two types of residence cards.

This requires your spouse to sponsor you using their EU Treaty Rights.

Application for the residence card can take about 12 months to process as you have to submit several supporting documentation and forms.

You’ll receive a letter after submitting all supporting documents and application forms.

Depending on your circumstances, the letter may permit you to reside in Ireland until a verdict on your application.

If your application is approved, you have to register for permission to stay in Ireland for more than 90 days.

Why has my application been rejected?

Due to the level of evidence and supporting documents, you must provide to prove your relationship is genuine, the spouse/civil partner visa application process can be complex to handle. Hence, there are different reasons why your application can be rejected.

Your application may be rejected if:

• You or your partner has previous relevant immigration history of criminal records
• You or your partner is considered a threat to public health, public security, or public policy
• You provided insufficient information and evidence to prove the existence, closeness, and durability of your relationship.
• The civil partner or marriage is suspected to be for the sole purpose of you getting residency in Ireland.
• Your partner doesn’t have the finances to support you in Ireland