Sponsor Eligibility

The policy establishes three categories of individuals who may act as sponsors for family reunification applications.

Category A 

Covers Irish citizens and individuals who have been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection, but who cannot apply for reunification under sections 56 or 57 of the International Protection Act 2015. Individuals within this category are not subject to a waiting period and may apply for family reunification at any time.

Category B 

Includes individuals who hold permissions under certain specialised immigration programmes. These include the following:

• Participants in the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP), 
• Those holding permission under the Start-up Entrepreneur Programme Scheme, (STEP), 
• Holders of Critical Skills Employment Permits, 
• Researchers working under Hosting Agreements, 
• Students participating in immigration service delivery-approved scholarship programmes, 
• Intra-company transferees, 
• PhD permission holders, – (subject to the condition that they have no recourse to state funds)
• Full-time non-locum doctors employed in the State, 
• Ministers of Religion operating under the relevant scheme. (subject to the condition that they have no recourse to state funds)

Sponsors within Category B may apply immediately to bring members of their nuclear family to Ireland once all the requirements of the Policy are met and they have obtained entry-visas where applicable. 

However, applications relating to dependent parents or dependent adult children may only be submitted after the sponsor has been resident in the State for two years.

Category C

Applies to individuals holding General Employment Permits, Reactivation Employment Permits, or Stamp 4 holders not covered by the categories as outlined above.

These sponsors must first hold a qualifying immigration permission for a minimum of 12 months before applying to reunite with nuclear family members. Applications relating to other eligible relatives are subject to a longer waiting period of five years.

Categories of Eligible Family Members

The revised policy identifies three distinct groups of family members who may be considered in reunification applications: members of the nuclear family, dependent parents, and dependent adult children.

The nuclear family category includes a sponsor’s spouse, civil partner, de facto partner and any unmarried children under the age of 18. One significant change from the 2016 policy concerns children between the ages of 18 and 23 who are enrolled in full-time education. Previously, these individuals could be treated as part of the nuclear family; however, the new policy removes them from this category. 

An adult child will only qualify under the revised policy where they are considered dependent on the sponsoring parent due to serious medical or psychological circumstances. In such cases, the dependency must be so substantial that independent living would not be viable without the support of the parent. Official verifiable medical documentation must be submitted to support the application. 

Financial Eligibility Criteria

Under the updated policy framework, financial assessments focus solely on the income of the individual sponsor. Income from other parties will not be considered when determining whether the required financial criteria have been met. 

Sponsors within Category A must demonstrate a combined gross income of at least €40,000 during the three years preceding the application when seeking to sponsor a spouse, civil partner, or de facto partner.

In contrast, Category B sponsors are not required to meet a financial threshold when applying to reunite with their spouse or partner, as these sponsors are permitted to apply for immediate family reunification. 

For Category C sponsors who do not have children, the policy now requires evidence of a gross income of €30,000 in the year immediately prior to the application when sponsoring a spouse, civil partner, or de facto partner. This represents a revision of the earlier requirement, which assessed income over a two-year period.

Where children are involved, the financial requirement for Category C sponsors increases. In these situations, the sponsor’s net income must exceed the threshold used by the Department of Social Protection in determining eligibility for the Working Family Payment (WFP). The expectation is that this level of income will be maintained. Detailed figures outlining the applicable income levels are provided in Appendix D of the policy document.

Applications for Dependent Adult Relatives

Applications involving dependent adult relatives are subject to significantly higher income requirements across all sponsor categories.

Sponsors must demonstrate a gross annual income that exceeds 185% of the national average yearly earnings when sponsoring one adult relative. Where two relatives are involved, the requirement increases to 250% of the average annual income. Higher thresholds apply where additional dependants are included in the application. The minimum income levels associated with these applications are also set out in Appendix D of the policy.

In addition to financial requirements, the policy emphasises that the Minister will carefully examine the sponsor’s ability to provide both adequate financial support and appropriate accommodation for the family member seeking to enter the State.

For further details on the impact of these changes and how they may apply to an individual’s specific circumstances, please contact Sinnott Solicitors.

Please note that this article reflects immigration law and policy as currently in force, which may change over time. 

If you have any enquiries relating to Family Reunification and bringing your family members to Ireland, please contact our experts at Sinnott Solicitors on 003531 4062862 or email us  info@sinnott.ie 

Family Reunification for Spouses/civil partners of Irish Citizens 

ദി Non-EEA Policy Document of Family Reunification sets out the Irish government’s policy for bringing non-EEA family members to Ireland, including Non-EEA spouses/civil partners of Irish citizens.

The process for bringing your Non-EEA spouse/civil partner to Ireland will depend on whether your spouse is from a non-visa required country or from a visa-required country, and whether your spouse is already in Ireland or not.

You can check which nationalities are visa required ഇവിടെ. https://www.irishimmigration.ie/visa-non-visa-required-nationalities/ 

Spouses/civil partners of Irish citizens from non-visa required countries and who are not already in Ireland

If you are married to an Irish national and you are from a non-visa required country, you can travel to Ireland on the 90-day visa waiver scheme and you must then register  with Immigration within 90 days. In order to do this you must make an appointment with Immigration in Burgh Quay, Dublin to register and you must do this by making an appointment through the Immigration Customer Service Portal. https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/

This registration must take place within the 90-days of arrival in Ireland.

You and your spouse must attend the registration appointment together and you must bring the following documents with you:

• Your original marriage/civil partnership certificate
• Your original passport
• Your spouse/civil partner’s original passport
• Evidence of your joint address in Ireland

You will then be granted a three-year residence card, which is renewable as long as the marriage is ongoing.

If the marriage breaks down, you are required to inform the Department of Justice of your change of circumstances within 7 days. You may be entitled to apply for retention of your residence permission if you can show that you have been married for at least 3 years and you have been residing in the State with your spouse for at least 2 years. 

An application must be submitted to the Department of Justice to request retention of your residence permission independently from your spouse in this instance. The Department of Justice can make an exception to this rule if the recipient of the residence permission is a victim of domestic violence.

Spouses/civil partners of Irish citizens from visa required countries and who are not already in Ireland

If you are from a visa required country, you will need to apply for a long-stay D visa before you can enter the country.

The Irish citizen is considered as the sponsor of their non-EEA spouse and must fulfil certain criteria is order to be eligible to sponsor their spouse to come to Ireland. The Irish citizen must have earned not less that €40,000 over the previous three years combined prior to their spouse applying for a visa, and the Irish citizen must not have ben fully reliant on state benefits for two years prior to applying for a visa. You must also provide detailed documentary evidence of the relationship history and dependency.

The long-stay D visa application is completed online initially and then the relevant supporting documents must be submitted to either the relevant Irish Embassy/Consulate or to the Visa office in Dublin. The completed online visa application form will confirm where your spouse/civil partner should submit the supporting documents. The original and supporting documents must be submitted within 30 days of the date of submission of the online visa application.

Processing times for visa applications vary but they can take approximately 18  months to process, although sometimes they are quicker.

If the visa application is refused, an explanation for the refusal must be given in writing and you have the right to appeal any refusal within two months of receiving the refusal letter.

Visa applications can be refused for many reasons but the most common reasons are that the Irish citizen does not meet the financial criteria or that there is not enough evidence of the relationship submitted. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that comprehensive and detailed supporting documents are submitted.

If the long-stay D visa is approved, then you can travel to Ireland and once in Ireland, you will need to register with Immigration. In order to do this you must make an appointment with Immigration in Burgh Quay, Dublin to register and you must do this by making an appointment through the Immigration Customer Service Portal. https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/

You and your spouse must attend the registration appointment together and you must bring the following documents with you:

• Your original marriage/civil partnership certificate
• Your original passport
• Your spouse/civil partner’s original passport
• Evidence of your joint address in Ireland

You will then be granted a three-year residence card, which is renewable as long as the marriage is ongoing.

If the marriage breaks down, you are required to inform the Department of Justice of your change of circumstances within 7 days. You may be entitled to apply for retention of your residence permission if you can show that you have been married for at least 3 years and you have been residing in the State with your spouse for at least 2 years. An application must be submitted to the Department of Justice to request retention of your residence permission independently from your spouse in this instance. The Department of Justice can make an exception to this rule if the recipient of the residence permission is a victim of domestic violence.

Spouses/civil partners of Irish citizens who are already in the State and have an alternative residence permission

If you marry an Irish citizen and you are already living in the State on an alternative residence permission, such as Stamp 2 student permission or Stamp 1 employment permit, you can register online to amend your permission to a Stamp 4 residence permission. This will allow you to live and work in the State without the need for an employment permit.

You and your spouse must attend the registration appointment together and you must bring the following documents with you:

• Your original marriage/civil partnership certificate
• Your original passport
• Your spouse/civil partner’s original passport
• Evidence of your joint address in Ireland

You will then be granted a three-year residence card, which is renewable as long as the marriage is ongoing.

If the marriage breaks down, you are required to inform the Department of Justice of your change of circumstances within 7 days. You may be entitled to apply for retention of your residence permission if you can show that you have been married for at least 3 years and you have been residing in the State with your spouse for at least 2 years. 

An application must be submitted to the Department of Justice to request retention of your residence permission independently from your spouse in this instance. The Department of Justice can make an exception to this rule if the recipient of the residence permission is a victim of domestic violence.

Spouses/civil partners of Irish citizens who are already in the State but don’t have valid residence permission

Is you are living in Ireland and are married to an Irish citizen but you do not have valid residence permission in the State, you can submit an application for residence permission as the Spouse/civil partner of an Irish national.

As part of the application, you will need to prove that your Irish citizen spouse has earned not less that €40,000 over the previous three years combined and the Irish citizen must not have been fully reliant on state benefits for two years prior to submitting the application. You must also provide detailed documentary evidence of your relationship history.

These applications are currently taking approximately six months to process, and the Immigration Service Delivery will not grant temporary residence permission while the application is being processed.

If the application is successful, you will be granted Stamp 4 permission to reside in the State for an initial period of 12 months, which can then be renewed, as long as the relationship is ongoing.

You will then need to register your permission. In order to do this you must make an appointment with Immigration in Burgh Quay, Dublin to register and you must do this by making an appointment through the Immigration Customer Service Portal. https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/

You and your spouse must attend the registration appointment together and you must bring the following documents with you:

• The original letter granting you permission to reside in the State
• Your original marriage/civil partnership certificate
• Your original passport
• Your spouse/civil partner’s original passport
• Evidence of your joint address in Ireland

You will then be granted a one -year residence card, which is renewable as long as the marriage is ongoing.

If the marriage breaks down, you are required to inform the Department of Justice of your change of circumstances within 7 days. You may be entitled to apply for retention of your residence permission if you can show that you have been married for at least 3 years and you have been residing in the State with your spouse for at least 2 years. An application must be submitted to the Department of Justice to request retention of your residence permission independently from your spouse in this instance. The Department of Justice can make an exception to this rule if the recipient of the residence permission is a victim of domestic violence.

We assist clients at who wish to submit either long-stay D visas or spouse of Irish national applications if already living in the State, and we also help clients who need to submit applications for retention of their residence permission if a marriage breaks down. Contact Sinnott Solicitors Dublin and Cork Today!

Family Reunification for de-facto partner of Irish citizens

The Department of Justice’s definition of a de-facto partner of an Irish national is someone who is in a relationship akin to marriage, including cohabitation for 2 years prior to application for family reunification. This is very important as most applications will be refused if two year’s cohabitation cannot be proven.

De-facto partners of Irish citizens who are not already in Ireland

De-facto partners of Irish citizens who are not currently living in Ireland but want to move to Ireland with their Irish partner for longer than three months, must apply for immigration preclearance to enter Ireland before you travel to Ireland. This process applies to both non-visa required and visa required nationals.

You will need to prove that you are residing outside of Ireland and you must remain outside the State while the preclearance application is being processed.

Your Irish citizen partner will need to provide evidence that s/he has earned not less that €40,000 over the previous three years combined and the Irish citizen must not have been fully reliant on state benefits for two years prior to submitting the application. Your Irish partner must also not have sponsored (or been sponsored by) anyone else in the seven-year period prior to the preclearance application You must also provide detailed documentary evidence of your relationship history and proof of two-years cohabitation. You must also show that you have private medical insurance.

To apply for preclearance, you must submit an application to the Preclearance Unit within the Visa Division of the Immigration Service Delivery.

There is a €100 fee for the application. The Immigration Service Delivery does not provide a timeframe for processing these preclearance applications, but they can take 6 to 12 months to process from our experience. If approved, the preclearance letter is valid for six months.

If you are from a visa required country you must apply for a long-stay D Visa application. The long-stay D visa application is completed online initially and then the relevant supporting documents must be submitted to either the relevant Irish Embassy/Consulate or to the Visa office in Dublin. The completed online visa application form will confirm where you should submit the supporting documents. The original and supporting documents must be submitted within 30 days of the date of submission of the online visa application.

If you are from a non-visa required country, you should not travel to Ireland until you have received preclearance approval. The letter of approval will then need to be presented to the border official at the port of entry to Ireland.

Once you have arrived in Ireland, you will then need to register your permission. In order to do this you must make an appointment with Immigration in Burgh Quay, Dublin to register and you must do this by making an appointment through the Immigration Customer Service Portal. https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/

You and your partner must attend the registration appointment together and you must bring the following documents with you:

• The preclearance approval letter
• Your original passport
• Your spouse/civil partner’s original passport
• Evidence of your joint address in Ireland

If you are approved a preclearance application, you will be granted an initial one-year residence permission in the State. This can then be renewed as long as the relationship is ongoing. It is important to note the residence permission is conditional on the relationship, i.e. if the relationship ends, then the permission ends. The Department of Justice can make an exception to this rule if recipient if a victim of domestic violence.

If the pre-clearance application is refused, you will be issued with a letter outlining the reasons for the refusal. You can request to appeal the decision within six weeks of the date of the refusal letter.

De-facto partners of Irish citizens who are already in Ireland

If you are already living in Ireland and you are in a de-facto relationship with an Irish citizen, you can apply for residence permission as the de-facto partner of an Irish citizen.

It is important to note that this option is only available to persons who are residing in the State on an alternative residence permission, such as Stamp 2 student permission or Stamp 1 employment permit. Immigration Service Delivery will not accept an application for De-facto partnership immigration permission if the Applicant is present in the State on a short-stay C visa or on foot of the visa waiver programme. Immigration Service Delivery will also not accept applications from persons who do not have any valid residence permission in the State or from persons who are in the international protection process as an asylum-seeker.

If you have an alternative residence permission in the State, you can apply to amend your permission as the de-facto partner of an Irish national, and if successful, you will be granted Stamp 4 residence permission to live and work in the State without the need for a work permit.

Your Irish citizen partner will need to provide evidence that s/he has earned not less that €40,000 over the previous three years combined and the Irish citizen must not have been fully reliant on state benefits for two years prior to submitting the application. Your Irish partner must also not have sponsored (or been sponsored by) anyone else in the seven-year period prior to the preclearance application You must also provide detailed documentary evidence of your relationship history and proof of two-years cohabitation. You must also show that you have private medical insurance.

To apply for residence permission as the de-facto partner of an Irish citizen, you must submit an application through the ISD online Portal : https://inisonline.jahs.ie/home  

These applications are currently taking approximately 6 -12 months to process, and the Immigration Service Delivery will not grant temporary residence permission while the application is being processed.

If the application is successful, you will be granted Stamp 4 permission to reside in the State for an initial period of 12 months, which can then be renewed, as long as the relationship is ongoing.

You will then need to register your permission. In order to do this you must make an appointment with Immigration in Burgh Quay, Dublin to register and you must do this by making an appointment through the Immigration Customer Service Portal. https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/

You and your spouse must attend the registration appointment together and you must bring the following documents with you:

• The original letter granting you permission to reside in the State
• Your original marriage/civil partnership certificate
• Your original passport
• Your spouse/civil partner’s original passport
• Evidence of your joint address in Ireland

It is important to note the residence permission is conditional on the relationship, i.e. if the relationship ends, then the permission ends. The Department of Justice can make an exception to this rule if recipient if a victim of domestic violence.

If the application is refused, you will be issued with a letter outlining the reasons for the refusal. You can request to appeal the decision.

Do you need to request an appeal on the decision made for you application?

Family Reunification for Parents of Irish citizen child

If you are the parent of an Irish citizen child, you can apply for residence permission in Ireland on that basis. This is as a result of the European Court of Justice Judgment in the Zambrano case, delivered on 8th March, 2011. 

In this case, the European Court of Justice ruled that Member States are precluded from refusing a third country national upon whom his minor children, who are European Union citizens, are dependent, a right of residence in the Member State of residence and nationality of those children, and from refusing to grant a work permit to that third country national, in so far as such decisions deprive those children of the genuine enjoyment of the substance of the rights attaching to the status of European Union citizen.

Your child may be entitled to Irish citizenship from birth if one of the parents is an Irish citizen at the time of the child’s birth, or if you or the other parent had reckonable residence in the State for three out of the previous four years prior to the child’s birth.

Parent of Irish citizen child who is already in the State and have an alternative residence permission

If you have an Irish citizen child and you are already living in the State on an alternative residence permission, such as Stamp 2 student permission or Stamp 1 employment permit, you may be eligible to register online to renew this permission depending on your circumstances. If not eligible to register online then you will have to make a written application to the Department of Justice to change your permission. 

Once granted, this will allow you to live and work in the State without the need for an employment permit.

You will be entitled to residence permission in the State as long as your Irish citizen child continues to reside in the State.

Parent of Irish citizen child who is already in the State but doesn’t have valid residence permission

If you are living in Ireland and you have an Irish citizen child but you do not have valid residence permission in the State, you can submit an application for residence permission as the parent of an Irish citizen child.

As part of the application, you will need to provide among other things documentary evidence of the financial and emotional role you are playing in the child’s life and proof that the child is residing in Ireland. The Immigration Service Delivery may request DNA evidence to confirm the biological link to the Irish citizen child.

These applications are currently taking approximately one year to process, and the Immigration Service Delivery will not grant temporary residence permission while the application is being processed.

If the application is successful, you will be granted Stamp 4 permission to reside in the State for an initial period of 12 months, which can then be renewed, as long as the child is residing in the State.

You will then need to register your permission. In order to do this you must make an appointment with Immigration in Burgh Quay, Dublin to register and you must do this by making an appointment through the Immigration Customer Service Portal. https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/

You and your spouse must attend the registration appointment together and you must bring the following documents with you:

• Your original passport
• Your current Irish Residence Permit card
• Your child’s original Irish passport
• Your child’s original birth certificate
• Evidence of your address in Ireland
• Evidence of the child’s address in the State (i.e. letter from doctor or school/creche)

We assist clients at who wish to submit applications as the parent of an Irish citizen child whether they have an alternative existing residence permission, whether they have no current residence in the State, whether they have received a proposal to deport letter, or whether they are have been issued with a Deportation Order.

Parent of Irish citizen child from non-visa required countries and who are not already in Ireland

If you are the parent of an Irish citizen child and you are from a non-visa required country, you can travel to Ireland on the 90-day visa waiver scheme and you must then register with the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) if based in Dublin, or with your local immigration office if based outside of Dublin, if you wish to stay in Ireland for longer than 90 days.

This registration must take place within the 90-days of arrival in Ireland. In order to do this you must make an appointment with Immigration in Burgh Quay, Dublin to register and you must do this by making an appointment through the Immigration Customer Service Portal. https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/

You and your Irish citizen child must attend the registration appointment together and you must bring the following documents with you:

• Your original passport
• Your child’s original Irish passport
• Your child’s original birth certificate
• Evidence of your address in Ireland

You will then be granted an Irish residence card for an initial 12-month period, which is renewable as long as the Irish citizen child is residing in the State.

Parent of Irish citizen child from visa required countries and who are not already in Ireland

If you are from a visa required country, you will need to apply for a long-stay D ‘reside parent of Irish citizen child’ visa before you can enter the country.

As part of the application, you will need to provide among other things documentary evidence of the financial and emotional role you are playing in the child’s life and explain why you and your Irish citizen child wish to reside in Ireland.

There is no automatic guarantee that you will be granted permission to reside in Ireland if the Irish citizen child has not been ordinarily resident in Ireland.

The long-stay D visa application is completed online initially and then the relevant supporting documents must be submitted to either the relevant Irish Embassy/Consulate or to the Visa office in Dublin. The completed online visa application form will confirm where your spouse/civil partner should submit the supporting documents. The original and supporting documents must be submitted within 30 days of the date of submission of the online visa application.

Processing times for visa applications vary but they can take approximately 12 months to process, although sometimes they are quicker.

If the visa application is refused, an explanation for the refusal must be given in writing and you have the right to appeal any refusal within two months of receiving the refusal letter.

If the long-stay D visa is approved, then you can travel to Ireland and once in Ireland, you will need to register with Immigration. In order to do this you must make an appointment with Immigration in Burgh Quay, Dublin to register and you must do this by making an appointment through the Immigration Customer Service Portal. https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/

You and your spouse must attend the registration appointment together and you must bring the following documents with you:

• Your original passport
• Your child’s original Irish passport
• Your child’s original birth certificate
• Evidence of your address in Ireland

You will then be granted an Irish residence card for an initial 12-month period, which is renewable as long as the Irish citizen child is residing in the State.