Stamp 4 query

aoiferahmana

Hi,

I know there is a lot of threads already about Stamp 4, but none seem to answer my questions so I wonder if someone would be so kind as to help me.

I am an Irish citizen, and my fiancé is a Bangladeshi national who has been here in Ireland since 2006 on a student visa. He is now finished all his exams and is currently on a Graduate Scheme, still Stamp 2. We have been together for 14 months, and have been living together since October 2012. We are getting married on August 6th 2013.

My fiancé is currently looking for work in the finance/accountancy field, and is finding it very difficult, which I suspect may be partly to do with his immigration status, as I understand that it is difficult for companies to go through the process of hiring non EEA nationals. A couple of weeks ago, he got a call from a company to interview, and was asked about his status. He explained exactly the situation (as outlined above - that he has stamp 2 but is getting married in Aug and will be eligible to apply for stamp 4). There was some confusion, and the guy had to check with his boss since it was an unusual case but in the end he got the interview and was offered the job. The confusion then continued as, after asking for his GNIB card, he was told they couldn't hire him as he didn't have Stamp 4 (even though he had explained his situation - there seemed to have been some lack of communication somewhere along the line). Anyway, the guy told my fiancé to contact him when he has Stamp 4 and hopefully he can organise something, since it's quite a large company with a high turnover of staff.

Anyway, apologies for the long thread, but I wanted to fully explain the situation. My questions are these;

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

We do not qualify for a de-facto relationship status as we have been together only one year, and not the required two. But is there any merit in popping into INIS on the off-chance that they could grant my partner Stamp 4 on the grounds of a potential job PLUS our impending marriage? (Yes, I know that I am clutching at straws here, but you must understand how deeply unhappy my fiancé is - he has a BA and has finished his professional ACCA exams, and is working horribly unsociable hours in a very menial job, so I am desperate to do anything to help him out).

Finally, failing all that, how long does it normally take to get a Stamp 4 after getting married? We are getting married in the Registry Office, not a church.

Thanks so much in advance for any help anyone can give, it is much appreciated.

Cody Pomeray

aoiferahmana wrote: »

He explained exactly the situation (as outlined above - that he has stamp 2 but is getting married in Aug and will be eligible to apply for stamp 4). There was some confusion, and the guy had to check with his boss since it was an unusual case but in the end he got the interview and was offered the job.

The confusion then continued as, after asking for his GNIB card, he was told they couldn't hire him as he didn't have Stamp 4 (even though he had explained his situation - there seemed to have been some lack of communication somewhere along the line). Anyway, the guy told my fiancé to contact him when he has Stamp 4 and hopefully he can organise something, since it's quite a large company with a high turnover of staff.

Anyway, apologies for the long thread, but I wanted to fully explain the situation. My questions are these;

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

We do not qualify for a de-facto relationship status as we have been together only one year, and not the required two. But is there any merit in popping into INIS on the off-chance that they could grant my partner Stamp 4 on the grounds of a potential job PLUS our impending marriage? (Yes, I know that I am clutching at straws here, but you must understand how deeply unhappy my fiancé is - he has a BA and has finished his professional ACCA exams, and is working horribly unsociable hours in a very menial job, so I am desperate to do anything to help him out).

This is personal advice from experience, not legal advice.

I am married to a South African, and our experience is that yes, the GNIB will re-issue your partner with a stamp equivalent to, or else the same as, the stamp he currently has.

This is generally only helpful to those whose stamps are about to run out. In the case of my partner, we had both just graduated from University, and his student visa had expired. In the interim between our CP and graduation, which was about a year, he was eligible for an extension of his last (student) stamp, but not the issuance of a new type of stamp.

I'm not aware of this being a written policy, but when we asked whether he might be granted a working visa, the officer said it was GNIB's practice to only issue an extension of the last stamp.

As for getting a Stamp 4 after marriage/ civil partnership, it is issued immediately on application. You can even go down there and get it on your wedding day if you like!

aoiferahmana

Hi,

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it.

My partner's current Stamp 2 visa is valid until March 2014, and so when I was talking about going down to INIS now, it was with the hope that maybe, just maybe they could upgrade his Stamp 2 to a Stamp 4 on the grounds outlined above. I'm not terribly optimistic about that but it's worth a shot!!

Thanks again for your help

aoiferahmana

Cody Pomeray,

My apologies, I misread your post! Ok, so they won't issue him a Stamp 4 until he is fully entitled to it i.e until we get married. That's pretty much what I had expected! We'll probably head down to INIS tomorrow anyway on the off chance, but I guess that we will be waiting until August for the stamp 4

Thanks!

Cody Pomeray

Yes, definitely try just in case. It might be helpful if you could point to some exceptional need. Don't lie of course, but just extenuate your circumstances!:pac: