Family dependents

For attention: All Family Dependent applicants who are spouses and partners of General Employment Permit and Intra-Corporate Transferee Irish Employment Permit holders

The Ministers for Justice and Enterprise, Trade and Employment have announced that eligible spouses and partners of General Employment Permit and Intra-Corporate Transferee Irish Employment Permit holders, who have applied for, and have been granted family reunification, in accordance with the Non-EEA Family Reunification Policy, will now be registered on a Stamp 1G permission, rather than a Stamp 3. This will allow the holder to take up employment, without the need to obtain a separate Employment Permit, of their own.

Eligible spouses and partners do not need to acquire a new IRP to engage in employment. You can provide prospective employers the following letter, which explains this temporary administrative arrangement Stamp 3 to Stamp 1G employment notice.

For all eligible spouses and partners who currently have an application with Domestic Residence & Permissions, the new changes will go into effect immediately from the 15^th of May 2024. Any grants under the Dependents Immigration strand for eligible spouses will be on a Stamp 1G basis, rather than a Stamp 3.

You do not need to reapply if your application is presently under consideration.

Further details on eligibility for this change are available on the official website notice here – Attention eligible spouses and partners of General Employment Permit and Intra-Corporate Transferee Irish Employment Permit holders – Immigration Service Delivery (irishimmigration.ie)

Currently Domestic Residence and Permissions Division is receiving very high volumes of family dependent applications. As a consequence there is currently a delay in processing post/applications. When applications are received and uploaded on our systems applicants will receive an acknowledgement. We are doing all we can to acknowledge applications as soon as possible.

In This Section

What is a Family Dependent application?
Am I eligible?
How do I apply?
What happens next?
Links

What is a Family Dependent application?

If you are a non-EEA national who is dependent on a family member who is currently resident in Ireland, you may be eligible for permission to reside in Ireland.

In order to apply for permission, you and your sponsor must be currently living in Ireland.

Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) makes decisions on a case-by-case basis.

When considering Family Dependency applications, our intention is to balance the needs of the sponsor/wider family members for reunification with wider considerations of public policy, in particular the resources of the State, the integrity of the immigration system and the welfare of all those concerned.

Who is considered a family dependent?

You may be a family dependent if the following describes you:

You are aged between 16 and 18, or
You are under the age of 23 and in fulltime education, or,
You are over the age of 18 and are dependent on the care of a parent sponsor due to a serious medical or psychological problem which makes life in your home country impossible, and
Your sponsor is an Irish national or a person married to an Irish national, or
Your sponsor is an Irish resident holder of a Stamp 1, Stamp 4 or Stamp 5 permission, and
Your sponsor has been resident in the State for the applicable period of time to permit family reunification with a dependent as per the Family Reunification policy, and
You normally live together with your sponsor as a member of a family unit, and
You do not normally live separately or apart on a permanent basis.

Am I eligible

To be eligible as a dependent, you must meet the following conditions:

If you require a visa to travel to Ireland you must have been granted an Irish ‘D’ – Join Family visa before coming to Ireland
If you are not a visa-required national your sponsor must be resident in the State for the appropriate period of time before you travel to Ireland. Critical Skills Employment Permit, Hosting Agreement, State-sponsored scholars which permit sponsorship, and Doctors on Stamp 1H are able to apply immediately for family reunification on behalf of their family members. A 12-month waiting time is applied in the case of all other categories
You must be the dependent family member of a sponsor. That means your sponsor must be either an Irish citizen, a person married to an Irish citizen or a person living in Ireland with a Stamp 1, 4 or 5 Irish Residence permission
If your sponsor is the holder of a Stamp 2 or Stamp 3 Irish Residence permission they cannot sponsor others
Your family member/sponsor must be able to support themselves and any dependents without any help from public funds
You must have entered Ireland legally. If you are unlawfully present in Ireland when you apply, we may refuse your application
We will not accept your application if you are the subject of a requirement to leave the country. This includes a notification of intention to deport or a Deportation Order
You must be a person of good character and obey Irish laws.

What categories of people are eligible to be a sponsor?

You may be eligible to sponsor a family member if any of the following describe you:

You are an Irish citizen
You are a person married to an Irish citizen
You are a person living in Ireland with a Stamp 1, 4 or 5 Irish Residence Permit
You are a researcher under a Hosting Agreement
You are a PhD student studying for a doctorate accredited in Ireland.

You must also have sufficient funds to support your family member.

How do I apply?

The way you apply will depend on the permission you have been given to enter and remain in the State.

Choose the one that describes your situation:

Recently entered the state on a ‘D’ (Join Family) Visa or were given a Join family stamp by border control

You must:

Make an appointment with the Registration Office by using our dedicated Customer Service Portal. You can register for an account or log in to your existing account
Attend the Registration office with your sponsor and the Required Documents to register your permission. Failure to register your permission promptly may result in future applications being refused.

Resident in the State on an existing permission

If you have a current permission, which has been registered in the State, you may renew this permission online as a Family Dependent. You must submit the Required documents as part of the renewal process.

Your current immigration permission may include: Stamp 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Please note that a €300 fee applies to this stamp category to renew a permission.

Entered on a Short Stay ‘C’ Visa, are an asylum seeker, or you do not hold a valid immigration permission, or have been refused registration

1. If you entered the State on a Short Stay ‘C’ Visa, or
2. You do not hold a valid immigration permission, or
3. Your permission has expired and you were refused further renewal, or
4. You are an asylum seeker, or
5. You have been refused registration by your local immigration office as the Dependent of a family member.

You must:

Complete the Family Dependent Application Form.
This a fillable PDF form, which can be filled in using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Remember to save the form after filling it in completely.
You can submit your application, with all the required documentation, for through the dedicated Customer Service Portal. You can register for an account or log in to your existing account.
Further documentation may be requested from you if required. Requests will be issued to your email correspondence address.
Select ‘Submit Query’ and choose the correct options from the following categories:
‘Domestic Residence and Permissions>Submit an application> Family Dependant application
Please attach your signed and fully completed application form in PDF format.

You may use a solicitor, legal representative or non-government agency to help you apply. However, you must write to ISD giving your consent for them to act on your behalf.

What happens next?

If your application is approved

You will receive a letter from Immigration Service Delivery granting you a permission to remain in Ireland
Details in respect of your registration and renewal of registration will be provided with your permission letter
You and your sponsor must make an appointment with your local immigration registration office to register this permission.

Please note: Your permission can be revoked if we later discover that you are not eligible or you have provided false information. This includes, among others:

a. Information showing you have broken the conditions of your permission
b. Information about your character or conduct, including convictions
c. Information to show that you failed to register your permission

If your application is refused?

If you currently hold immigration permission to be in the State, you can apply for a review of our decision. You must do this within two months of the date of decision.

The review will take into account the information you gave in the initial application. It can also include with any further information you wish us to consider.
The review will also be carried out by another officer who was not involved in the initial decision making process.

If you do not hold permission to be in the State, a refusal decision will be issued to you along with a notification of intention to deport issued under Section 3 of the 1999 Immigration Act. Further considerations of your immigration status will be referred to the Repatriation Division.