Parents of Irish citizens coming to Ireland

man1

Hi, Not sure if this is the right forum?

My wife and I live in Ireland and we want our parents to come and live with us in about 2 years. They are both elderly and we want to look after them in our home. They are from the Ukraine.
My wife and I are both Irish passport carrying citizens (my wife for 5 years and myself since birth) and I am having difficulty with the justice and dept foreign affairs website and office. They are unbelieveably unhelpful, rude, ignorant and borderline racist. When my wife (who has a slight eastern european accent) called they were so rude, said they couldnt help her and there was no way our parents could live here. When I called one minute later to the same person it was amazing the difference in the tone of the conversation (even though they still didnt know anything, they were not rude ). She had to put me on hold each time I asked a question, obviously to ask someone advice. I even think she was american which made me even madder. They havent a clue there.
I have called the office at stephens green once and three times at burgh quay and 2 times they were not sure but said the info would be on the website , 1 time a person said its not allowed as they are not eu citizens and the other time the person said it is allowed and the form is on www.dfa.ie. We cant find any info anywhere on either website. It is so confusing and we dont know who to call.
I know it is possible as I have heard of american and japanese irish citizens who have brought their parents here to live with them. When I said this to them they said that is different. When I asked why, they couldnt answer me.

I also asked them about a multi entry visa for this year for 12 months for them as they will be visiting their new grandchildren 3 or 4 times this year. One of them said they would have to get a new visa each time and pay for it each time and travel 12 hours on train to the irish embassy in Kiev every time they wanted a new visa. Another said they could get a multi entry visa from Kiev and it would be sent to moscow from kiev and it would last for a year and it would be free as we are irish citizens. Another said we could arrange it from here for them. They all kept saying " oh that other person is wrong". It is so frustrating.

I know all about the issues with the so-called non-nationals (i dont know why they are called that?) coming here and getting pregnant so they can stay here with their Irish citizen baby. That discussion is for another day. Anywhere I looked for info on the web about my situation it just kept referring to this situation of parents of irish born children. I know there was a referendum about it too. I cant find anything about my situation which is different, I think?

Maybe someone is in or has been in the same situation as me and could share their views and experience's with me.

Or maybe someone knows the correct law regarding this and where I could find the forms or whatever I need.

Ruu_Old

I'll bump this over to Abroad, sometimes immigration related queries are asked and answered here. Have you looked at Oasis.gov.ie? I'll keep looking for you. From here, I found:

Your "family" is defined as your spouse, children under 21 and other children who are dependent on you and their spouses, your parents and your spouse's parents, if they are also dependent on you.

and think this applies to your situation.

If your family members are not nationals of the EU or EEA, they will need to apply for residence cards and may also need entry visas . There is no fee for the residence card. They will also need to register with the Garda Síochána (the Irish police force) and receive an "Immigration Certificate of Registration" (usually called a GNIB card). As dependants of an EU citizen, they will be exempt from the general fee of 100 euro for this certificate.

Registration of Non EU nationals link
Entry visas link

nikolaitr

man1 wrote:

They are unbelieveably unhelpful, rude, ignorant and borderline racist.

........

man1 wrote:

I even think she was american which made me even madder.

I had to deal witha similiar problem of an elderly relative entering the country. It is very difficult to get them accepted. It is ridiculous that it is so easy for asylum seekers to get in and yet so hard to get ones parents into the country.

Victor

They are from a poorer country => officialdom doesn't care.

man1 wrote:

I know it is possible as I have heard of american .... irish citizens who have brought their parents here to live with them.

There is something like a retirement treaty for Americans who want to retire here.

man1

Hi

Thanks for the replies everyone.
It is ridiculous if there is a treaty with Americans and no-one else. They are not in the EU so why should they get preferential treatment just because they are a big rich country.
The people at the justice and foreign affairs dept's havent a clue what they are supposed to be doing. Every time I call up they have a different answer or they say "err.. I'm not sure about that...err...check the web-site...bye"

How can I find out anything. I might go to Minister McDonald Duck's house and demand and answer!!!!
What would happen if he married a russian or australian or indian or south african or brazilian and wanted to bring his elderly parents here to look after them, Im sure it would be allowed for him.

Im hoping someone on here has had a similar problem or been in a similar situation to me.

AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!

Ruu_Old

Try your local Garda station, ask for their immigration officer (I know mine was very helpful in immigration matters) and I live in the middle of nowhere.

fly_agaric

man1 wrote:

Hi
Thanks for the replies everyone.
It is ridiculous if there is a treaty with Americans and no-one else. They are not in the EU so why should they get preferential treatment just because they are a big rich country.

Maybe in Ireland's case its because of our pretty strong connections with the US? Given that they gave truckloads of Visas to our emigrants in the past it would be somewhat churlish for us to tell US retirees to eff off!

What's it like for people trying to bring their parents to Russia or Belarus (or even the Baltic states now within the EU???) from the Ukraine and vice versa?

That might be a better comparison to US-Ireland than Ukraine-Ireland [I know it's not perfect - Ukraine, Russian Fed., Belarus, Baltic States etc were all politically unified in the recent past...].

fly_agaric

man1 wrote:

How can I find out anything. I might go to Minister McDonald Duck's house and demand and answer!!!