Relocating to Ireland - bureaucratic fug

This is a detailed immigration question and I fear that you will struggle in a travel forum to get an answer that is fully reliable. You will find useful information on the website of the Immigrant Council of Ireland (immigrantcouncil.ie)

I have read your post carefully, and I really don't know the grounds on which you think that you and/or your wife will find jobs here. You haven't given any information on your qualifications or career that would substantiate your claim. The economic situation here is extremely serious at present and long-term unemployment is once again becoming a disturbing reality. I would sincerely discourage you from migrating to Ireland at this point in time. Is there any particular reason why you feel compelled to make this move?

Should you be unsuccessful in seeking employment, you are highly unlikely to qualify for social welfare payments in Ireland as you have not been 'habitually resident' here. Ireland is a nice place for sure, but I'm not sure I'd take the risk you are thinking of to move here just now.

Thanks for the reply Barry. I tried to omit details that, as you say, as inappropriate in a travel forum.

We are at our wits end suffering under the all-pervasive corruption in Cambodia - anywhere is better than here. I've been trying to bring her back to England but we can't meet the stringent criteria of the UK authorities and Ireland is more liberal. We want a quiet, simple, non-materialistic stress-free life, so modest wages would be fine for us.

You might well be right, but I suspect that many expats compare their lives in Ireland with the US, England or wherever; if you've relocated in Cambodia, I think you're expectations would be far lower! I've put my question up on a couple of more technical Irish expat websites since posting here. Thanks again anyway.

Sure...well I'm not qualified to give you any more info, but it is obvious that whatever the red tape, your own country has obligations to you. If you're not getting satisfaction from the British Embassy, maybe you should contact your local MP back home. Otherwise, if you still pursue the Irish option, I hope it works out for you.

Ireland really is not more liberal than England. In fact, from an immigration perspective, Ireland is a deeply conservative country that regularly falls near the bottom of European league tables in terms of how welcoming it is to foreign nationals. The only reason you have a better chance here than in England is because of EU Treaty Rights, and even then, only because the Irish government lost the Metock decision in the ECJ which said that Ireland couldn't insist that EU Treaty Rights applied only to couples that had previous residence in other member states.

Have you tried contacting the Irish Embassy in Vietnam (which is accredited to Cambodia)? They may be able to answer specific questions as to what documentation your wife will need.

Good luck.

Thanks, dandelion. Yes, I meant 'liberal' only insofar as Ireland has integrated into Europe more genuinely that 'little Britain'. You do, however, raise another issue for which I'd appreciate insights. I was thinking about Galway as a viable location - pleasant environment, growing economy - and I was examining the demographics. It appears that nearly all the immigrants are from America and E. Europe - i.e. white-skinned. My wife, being very dark-skinned, will likely stand out. Are the locals likely to be curious in a welcoming way, or can she expect to experience any degree of racism?

#1 makes a valid point about employment prospects. I am not sure what your or your wife's field of expertise is but you can expect to struggle to find work whatever your field is.

The Republic of Ireland has possibly the smallest non-white population in western Europe (in terms of straight numbers, I am not sure as ratio of the general population - I exclude stupid states like Andorra and Luxembourg) but I do not think your wife would experience overt racism in the RoI or be treated any differently to other foreign nationals IMO. In larger towns and cities (particularly Dublin and Galway) nobody would even notice her, in smaller towns people of Asian appearance are less common and may be noticed but not in any aggressive way.

Hi andyha - I'd love to hear how you get on with this. My fiance (soon to be husband) and I are doing the same next year - although he is an Irish citizen and I am a NZ citizen so also from a poor country in the Asia Pacific region :-)
Good luck with your plight.

Unfortunately, a lot of darker-skinned foreign nationals do say they experience some amount of racism, but I don't know that that's any more true here than it is in Britain.

Galway is fairly cosmopolitan, as Ireland goes. There are a lot of students from all over the world. There's also a very large Brazilian population in Gort outside the city and they seem to get on ok. I don't know what the job situation is there but culturally it's a good place for you to be looking at.

We live in Cambodia. In the countryside I am very used to being the only white face some people have ever seen in real life, so women and children point and stare, babies cry. But it's all curiosity, no malice intended. It makes me squirm a bit, but that's not racism. If my wife experiences a low level of that, it not a problem.

Dande, it's unfortunate that I have no direct experience and no contacts on the ground in Ireland (hence my queries here), but I identify Galway as not just cultural but expanding. I get the impression of a pleasant environment and job opportunities. however, I may be very wrong, as some people above are warning.

Our situation is such that whatever decision we make, we have to stick to it. We don't have the wiggle-room to dip our toes in the water; thus, I need to keep doing the research before making the leap. Emma, I'll keep you in the loop on this thread. Please keep the tips coming.