Residence Permission for De Facto Partnerships

This Immigration Law update provides information in relation to applications by non-EEA nationals for residence permission on the basis of a De Facto Partnership with an Irish national, or a legal resident in Ireland on a Stamp 1, 4 or 5

  • A non-EEA national may apply if they have been living together with their Irish citizen or Irish resident partner for a period of at least 24 months and are in a serious long term relationship similar to marriage or civil partnership. The period of required cohabitation has been recently increased from 12 months to 24 months
  • In considering applications regard will be had to any criminal convictions or criminal proceedings pending against an applicant and an applicant is required to submit a Police Clearance for any country in which they have resided in the 5 years preceding the application date. In general, clients are expected to be of good character and in compliance with Irish law
  • The Non- EEA Applicant and the Sponsor should be able to support themselves and any dependents without assistance from public funds
  • The current activity of the Irish citizen or Irish resident sponsor is important and the sponsor will need to indicate whether they are (a) employed (b) self-employed (c) studying (d) involuntarily unemployed (e) residing with sufficient resources to avoid a situation where the Non-EEA national applicant might become an undue financial burden on the State. Assertions as to the current activity of the sponsor will need to be supported by supporting documentation specified in the application form
  • Both opposite sex and same sex partners may apply
  • If the Non-EEA applicant has dependent children who intend to reside in Ireland it will be necessary to submit the required supporting documentation
  • To be eligible to apply the Non-EEA national must be legally resident in the State.
  • Applications for a Residence Permission for a De Facto Partner are made on an application form available on the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service website
  • If you are not able to provide any information or documentation that is requested in the application form it is necessary to provide an explanation providing reasons for this
  • It is a strict requirement that the Statutory Declarations are validly completed and then signed before a solicitor, commissioner of oaths or a peace commissioner. A person who intentionally makes a false statement in a Statutory Declaration is guilty of a criminal offence. There are three different statutory declarations to be completed:

(1) Statutory Declaration of the Non-EEA National Applicant

(2) Statutory Declaration of the Irish National or Irish Resident Sponsor

(3) Statutory Declaration of a Supporting Witness attesting that they personally know both the applicant and the sponsor and stating that they believe the relationship is genuine and continuing.

  • Supporting documentation that must be submitted with an application includes
  • Evidence of Identity (copies of passports)
  • Evidence of relationship of applicant with sponsor – evidence of cohabitation, evidence of financial inter-dependence (ex. Joint account/purchases), financial statements from previous 6 months, evidence of contact (ex. emails/facebook), detailed relationship history including evidence of time spent together (ex. photographs/air tickets)
  • Dated documentary evidence of residence in the State showing that the couple have been cohabiting together for at least 12 months
  • Evidence of current activity of Irish national or Irish resident sponsor
  • It has been indicated that a decision will be taken on the application no later than 6 months from the date of receipt of a fully completed application form and the relevant supporting documentation
  • During the period that the application is being processed the responsibility is with the Non-EEA applicant to ensure that their permission to remain in the State is valid at all times. The De Facto Partnership Unit may consider applications to provide temporary permission (Stamp 3) to remain during the application process
  • In some cases a decision may be made to interview both the Applicant and the Sponsor
  • Please note that different rules and procedures apply where the Non-EEA national’s application is based on a De Facto Partnership with an EU Citizen – in these cases EU Treaty Rights apply and a person should make their application on a different application form available on the EU Treaty Rights section of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service website
  • Detailed information in relation to Ireland’s immigration policy in this area is set out in the INIS “Policy Document on Non-EEA Family Reunification” available on the INIS website

Irish Immigration Lawyer in Dublin