Ireland Marriage Visa

The Marriage Visa is for the partners of Irish citizens or residents who wish to get married or enter into a civil partnership in Ireland.

If you have any questions regarding a marriage visa or a general visa application, you can contact our expert immigration legal advisors to discuss any questions that you may have about immigration, give us a call at 0333 305 9375 or contact us seven days a week via our live chat.

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    Does a UK Citizen require an Irish marriage visa?

    UK citizens may move, work and travel to Ireland freely without completing any visa application. This is due to the agreement between Ireland and the United Kingdom called the Common Travel Area (CTA) which was agreed upon many decades ago.

    Due to this Common Travel Area, UK nationals and Irish citizens can live, travel and work freely in the two counties. Despite Brexit, this agreement is still in place.

    So, if your partner or civil partner is a UK national, there is no need to worry about a visa or residency permit. You can freely marry in Ireland, Northern Ireland or the UK.

    This benefit extends to citizens of Switzerland and the European Economic Area, you will not need to apply for a marriage visa.

    However, many people live in the UK by way of a different immigration system or permission or UK visa and are not a UK national, Irish national, Switzerland or EEA national. As such, if your partner is a non-EEA family member, they will  require an Irish marriage visa.

    What are the requirements for the Irish marriage visa application?

    To be eligible for a marriage visa, there are a few fundamental conditions that must be met:

    • You must hold a valid passport that is valid for at least six months after your proposed leave date from Ireland
    • Personal or financial information for yourself and your family members while in Ireland
    • Provide evidence of the relationship between you and your partner

    What is the supporting documentation that is needed for this Irish marriage visa?

    Whilst the specific required documents may differ somewhat depending on your individual circumstances, there are a number of documents that are needed.

    The required information/documents for this Irish visa are:

    • Valid passport
    • Signed and dated application summary sheet
    • A signed letter highlighting your reasons for travelling to Ireland, how long you intend to stay, who you plan to stay with and your financial resources of how you will fund the trip. You will also need to confirm your commitment to the conditions of the visa and that you won’t become a burden on the State
    • Two colour passport-size photographs
    • Financial information
    • Provide Evidence of your relationship history and intention to get married
    • Documents that show you’ll return to your home country. This evidence needs to demonstrate strong family, social or economic ties to your home country. If you are employed, you will need to provide your three most recent payslips, a letter from your employer on how long you have been employed at the company, the dates which you were absent from the company and the proposed date of your return to work. Whereas if you are a student, you will need to provide a letter from your college explaining the course(s) you are studying, how many years you have been a student at the college and the time of years/terms you have remaining at the college.

    All the information and documents need to be submitted in their original form and in English by an official, accredited translator.

    Once you have all the relevant documents together, you will need to send them, along with your application summary sheet, to the visa application office.

    What further information is needed to prove the relationship?

    It is important to show you and your family member/partner’s genuine relationship.

    Information required includes: 

    • Evidence that the relationship between you and your partner in person, such as travel documents that show you and your partner have travelled to visit you a number of times. If your relationship was formed solely over the internet or through text messages, such circumstances will not be considered.
    • Acknowledgement from the Registrar which confirms the date of the receipt of notification of your intention to marry in Ireland
    • Marriage Registration Form with proposed date or marriage
    • Civil Partnership Registration Form
    •  Up-to-date bank statements, show money going out and coming into your account over the past six months. (This applies regardless of whether you are funding your expenses or if someone else is).

    If your or your partner was previously married or in a civil partnership, you must also provide:

    • Marriage/civil partnership certificate
    • Divorce/dissolution of the civil partnership certificate
    • As well as the evidence of the relationship, you will need to provide evidence of your intention to marry/enter into a civil partnership.

    If somebody else is funding your expenses in Ireland and will bear complete financial responsibility, you will need to show your relationship to this person. The information needed is: 

    • Your name, address, account number and type of account must be visible on statements
    • Bank statements on official headed paper
    • If providing a bank statement from a savings account, you must include a letter from the bank institution explaining how much you can withdraw from the account

    What is the application process for the marriage visa?

    The first step is to apply for marriage permission from the Registrar. After getting that, you can start the application process for the Marriage Visa.

    You will then need to complete an online application form. From the summary, you will find out where you have to submit the supporting documents. Make sure to print and sign the summary, as you will need this for the process. After you have paid the fee, you can gather all the supporting documents.

    Once you have completed all these steps, you can submit your application to the visa application office. When you do that, you will receive an application summary sheet, featuring your Visa Application Tracking Number. You can use this number to track your application.

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      What is the cost of the Ireland marriage visa?

      The visa application fee is €60 if you are getting a single entry visa, or €100 if you are applying for a multi-entry visa. There are some countries that are exempt from having to pay the visa fee. These countries are:

      • Bosnia
      • Morocco
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • Ecuador
      • Indonesia
      • Jamaica
      • Kosovo
      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Montenegro
      • North Macedonia
      • Peru
      • Serbia
      • Sri Lanka
      • Tunisia
      • Uganda

      What is the processing time of applications for Marriage Visas?

      The majority of applications are processed within eight weeks, but the processing time of applications for Marriage Visas varies.

      When your application is approved, you will be able to start preparing for your trip and upcoming marriage in Ireland. The Marriage Visa is a short stay ‘C’ Visa, which means you will be able to stay in Ireland for 90 days. After that, you will have to leave the country.

      After landing in Ireland, you need to report to Irish border control and show your passport, visa and acknowledgement from the Registrar of Civil Marriages to immigration officials.

      Border control will consider your documents and information and if they are satisfied, you will be granted official permission to enter. Unfortunately, if immigration officials have any suspicions about your application or the information you provide, you could be refused entry into Ireland.

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        How Can Total Law Help?

        Getting married is an exciting time for any couple. To avoid any sadness or separation, you can work with the Total Law team.

        The Total Law team offers top immigration services that can help couples successfully obtain marriage visas. Our team can support you with the entire application, provide advice on the best possible route, how to complete your application and submit your paperwork.

        Our team does our best to support you and keep the process stress free. We are open to support you seven days a week, either by phone call or by online chat, whatever you prefer.

        If you have any questions regarding a marriage visa or a general visa application, you can contact our expert immigration legal advisors to discuss any questions that you may have about immigration, give us a call at 0333 305 9375 or contact us seven days a week via our live chat. Contact us today to get started.

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                  Frequently Asked Questions

                  ‘C’ visas are short-stay visas that permit holders to stay in Ireland for up to 90 days as either single-entry or multi-entry visas. If you wish to stay in Ireland for longer, you should look into ‘D’ visas, which are long-stay visas.

                   

                  The marriage visa is a short stay ‘C’ visa and is valid for 90 days.

                  If you wish to stay in the country, you will need to Leave Ireland and apply for the long-stay ‘D’ visa, if you would like to settle in Ireland. This rule applies whether your partner is an Irish citizen or not.

                   

                  If you have lived lawfully in Ireland for a specific period of time, you can become an Irish citizen through the route of being the spouse/civil partner of an Irish citizen. Usually, any time spent in Ireland under the marriage visa will not usually be counted as reckonable residence towards citizenship in Ireland.

                  If you wish to become a citizen, you will need to meet the following conditions:

                  • You must have been in a relationship with the Irish citizen for at least three years
                  • You must have lived in Ireland for a period of 1 year of continuous reckonable residence and for a total of three of the five years immediately prior to the application
                  • You must be able to demonstrate good character and intend to continue living in Ireland for the foreseeable future