This is the full Family Reunification Policy as it currently stands. You can download and print this if it makes it easier for you. Read through it at your own pace.
What is Family Reunification?
In a nutshell, it is the process of bringing family over to live with you in Ireland.
There are multiple restrictions, conditions, some times monetary and sometime separation periods on Family Reunification.
Importantly, you need to be aware of the difference between the Non-Eu family of EU passport holders, Non-Eu family of British passport holders and Family Reunification under domestic Irish law for Irish and SA dependants and Non-EU passports holders with permissions like work permits and their Non-EU dependants.
(note see below for dependants of EU/EEA or British passport holders as these are different conditions)
Highlights from the documents on Family Reunification:
"There is NO automatic right or entitlement to family reunification."
"Adult persons who claim dependency are not persons of independent means, and vice versa. This is an important distinction from the points of view of both lodging and examining applications. Persons who claim dependency are saying that they rely for their subsistence on a family member who is resident in Ireland. Officials examining such applications must be satisfied, by the applicant, that the family member is actually dependent on the sponsor."
“Dependency” for immigration purposes and in respect of an adult must be pre-existing and sustained prior to the making of the application for family reunification. It must also be established that the dependency existed while the dependant was living in their home country."
"The financial support must be not just welcome but must be essential for the on-going support and subsistence of the family member. It must be at a level where the absence of the sponsor in the home country of the family member makes independent life unsustainable."
"It is up to the Sponsor and the Applicant to prove the genuineness and nature of the relationship. In this process of proof, due regard will be given to families who have chosen to live apart in the past, and as such Ireland is not obligated to grant family reunification to reconstitute the family unit."
"Where the elderly dependent relative has a guaranteed income into the future this can be used to partially offset the financial limits, bearing in mind however that a person with a sufficient personal income for their needs cannot reasonably be regarded as financially dependent".
"A factor which the Department must consider is whether there is a reasonable alternative option of family members leaving the State to care for their elderly dependent parent in their country of residence."
"The immigration authorities must also be satisfied that family dependency has not been constructed as a means of facilitating the immigration of the person in question"
"Economic considerations are thus a very necessary part of family reunification policy. While it is not proposed that family reunification determinations should become purely financial assessments, the State cannot be regarded as having an obligation to subsidise the family concerned and the sponsor must be seen to fulfil their responsibility to provide for his/her family members if they are to be permitted to come to Ireland."
"That person (Sponsor) must be seen as assuming certain responsibility for the family member they are seeking to bring to live in Ireland. It is intended in any event to formalise the role and responsibilities of sponsor within the system."
"The onus must however be on the family to show that there is no viable alternative to the parents coming to Ireland."
Family Reunification (Moving non EU family to Ireland) The FULL Breakdown Part1
Family Reunification (Moving non EU family to Ireland) The FULL Breakdown Part2
Family Reunification (Moving non EU family to Ireland) The FULL Breakdown Part3
- We have gone deeper by analysing this 71 page document page by page with a breakdown and information
Important links:
Our coaching Services - Confused or lost and need some direction, book a session with us to help untangle the confusion and work out your route of immigration
Bringing Non EU parents under EU Treaty Rights
