How hard is it to move to Ireland?

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Eddie F

Not really the best of times to move to Ireland. The economy has all but crashed (still pending at the moment).

Unless you have a special skill that is not available in Ireland, then you may find it difficult to just up sticks and move over.

Of course, if you have an Irish parent or grandparent - We'd be more than happy to fatten the pig, and welcome the prodigal son / daughter home again!!

Or.... Marry an Irish guy, plenty of them to go round!!

(Unfortunately, the lovely Katherine prevents me from offering my hand in marriage to you!!! )

ash1

there is this temp visa if you are a student:
http://www.anyworkanywhere.com/whvuscit.html

i know that soon there will be a visa where irish people can get a working hol visa for the US for 1 year. Usually countries participate in reciprocal agreements with these visas, so it be unusual if there wasnt something similiar available for an american wanting to come to Ireland. It just might not be available yet..

here's some info http://www.neurope.eu/articles/90023.php

its pretty new so i cant find any other info on it right now. Maybe contact the irish embassy closest to you and ask.
Once you got here and got a job, if your employer agreed to sponsor you , you could apply for a work permit, which are usually granted for a further 2 years before you need to re-apply again. However, your employer would have to show that he couldnt find any irish or EU people to fill the position.
With the economy pretty bad right now, they are cutting down on this - my boyf just got rejected to extend his work permit for this reason. (he is canadian)

a_stylez

trust me its not very good here..lol.. stay in the us..move to boston lol

primarypositionseo

Getting less flexible. Essentially you'd need to have an Irish relation - parent or Grandparent with Irish Citzenship in order to get in as a citizen.

- OR -

You could visit and work in Ireland for 3 months without a VISA

You could find an employer willing to sponsor you

You could find and marry an Irish man

You could come on a student visa

johnny5

There is a visa just agreed in the last few months which is called the J visa, it was an agreement between two countries with America granting 20,000 visas for Ireland and then Ireland granted 5,000.

I have looked at it from an Irish point of view and is aimed at people who are out of college no more then 12 months or who are currently studying and other similar criteria. I took a quick look for it from an American point of view and couldnt find anything but it was just a quick look. I would contact your closest Irish Embassy as I am not sure of the criteria for Americans coming to Ireland.

Good luck to you, I am from Ireland and girlfriend is American and alot of her friends have studied here and love it and now want to move here so do not listen to negative posters.

slipstreamer

Immigration will be very difficult if you do not have Irish citizenship via descent or are not from an EU country. The economy is very bad in Ireland at present, as it is everywhere, so getting a work visa is a bit of a stretch as well. I would wait a few years. The work situation is better in the US. No sense in moving country just to turn around and come back.

However, I would research it if that is what you really want. You might find a way. I have attached some basic immigration information below.

Orla C

Immigration laws are as such: EU nationals stand a much better chance of living there, because there is a lot less bureaucracy involved in processing the necessary papers. US and nationalitiess are far more expensive due to the need to have a work permit as well as a residency permit. You can only get a work permit if you have a job offer from a registered employer in Ireland, and when you are still outside of Ireland.

Please note that marrying an Irishman is no guarantee to automatic residency status. And the reason for all the bureaucracy is the same as everywhere - to keep criminals out of the country.

Right now the situation is as difficult here in Ireland as it is everywhere else, so unless you are a whiz at something that is highly unusual but in demand, forget about moving to Ireland for the time being. The pressure is on to employ our own first, as it would be in the US.

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