The short answer
- Tell ISD in writing within 21 working days of a divorce, separation, dissolution or your partner’s death. Delay can count against you.
- 3 years together, the last 2 in Ireland: you can apply for a change of status to permission in your own right.
- Otherwise: ISD decides case by case on your new situation. After 5 years’ lawful residence, you can apply for your own permission at your next renewal.
- De facto partners: ISD says the permission ends with the relationship. Contact ISD immediately.
- Family of EU citizens: separate EU rules, on Form EUTR 5.
Check your situation
Relationship change check
Your deadline to tell ISD, and your route to your own permission.
To register for the first time
From ISD’s family reunification policy (June 2026), its de facto partner and EU Treaty Rights pages, and the EU free movement regulations. Nothing you enter is sent or saved. Working days skip weekends and Irish public holidays.
Why it matters
If you came to Ireland, or stayed, as someone’s spouse, civil partner, de facto partner or family member, your permission depends on theirs. ISD’s family reunification policy says that if the sponsor leaves Ireland permanently, their family members must leave too. When the relationship ends, your permission needs a new basis.
Tell ISD within 21 working days
After a significant change of circumstances, such as a divorce, annulment, dissolution of a civil partnership or the death of your sponsor, ISD’s policy asks you to notify it in writing within 21 working days. Any undue delay may count against a change of status application. Use the Customer Service Portal.
Your own permission
| Your situation | What ISD’s policy says |
|---|---|
| Together at least 3 years before it ended, the last 2 in Ireland | Apply for a change of status to an independent permission |
| Your sponsor died | Apply for a change of status. ISD takes a sympathetic view |
| 5 years or more of lawful residence | Apply for an independent permission at your next renewal |
| None of these | ISD decides case by case, on your new situation: working, studying or dependent on another resident |
If an application for independent permission is refused, you can appeal. If the application and appeal both fail, ISD’s policy warns it may affect your future residence in Ireland.
De facto partners
ISD’s de facto partner page is blunt: if the relationship ends, the permission is no longer valid, and you must contact ISD immediately through the Customer Service Portal. ISD’s family policy lists de facto partners among those who can apply for a change of status, so ask about it when you contact ISD.
Family of EU, EEA and Swiss citizens
The EU free movement rules protect you separately:
- After a divorce or dissolution, you keep your right to live here if the marriage or civil partnership lasted 3 years, including 1 in Ireland; you have custody of the EU citizen’s children; you have access in Ireland to their child under 18; or particularly difficult circumstances, such as domestic violence, warrant it.
- After the EU citizen’s death, you can stay in your own right if you lived here as their family member for at least a year before.
- Apply on Form EUTR 5, with Annex C. ISD won’t accept it until the divorce or dissolution is finalised.
Citizenship
The spouse route to citizenship needs a subsisting marriage or civil partnership and living together, so it closes when the relationship ends. Your reckonable residence still counts towards the 5-year route, as long as your permission has no gaps. That’s another reason to tell ISD on time and keep your permission valid.
Common mix-ups
Common questions
What happens to my Stamp 4 if I separate from my Irish spouse?
Your permission was granted as a family member, so tell ISD about the change in writing within 21 working days. If you were together for at least 3 years before the relationship ended, the last 2 in Ireland, you can apply for a change of status to permission in your own right.
I wasn't together 3 years. Will I have to leave?
Not automatically. ISD decides a change of status case by case, based on your new situation, such as working, studying or being dependent on another resident. After 5 years' lawful residence you can apply for independent permission at your next renewal.
My partner died. What happens to my permission?
Tell ISD within 21 working days. ISD's policy says it takes a sympathetic view when a sponsor dies. Family of EU citizens can stay in their own right if they lived here as family for at least a year before the death.
I'm on a de facto partner permission. Is it different?
ISD's de facto partner page says the permission is no longer valid once the relationship ends, and asks you to contact ISD immediately. Its family policy allows partners to apply for a change of status, so contact ISD straight away and ask.
I'm the non-EU spouse of an EU citizen and we're divorcing. Can I stay?
You can keep your right to live here after the divorce if the marriage lasted 3 years, including 1 in Ireland, or if you have custody of, or access in Ireland to, their child, or in particularly difficult circumstances such as domestic violence. Apply on Form EUTR 5 once the divorce is final.
Can I still become an Irish citizen?
The spouse route needs a subsisting marriage and living together, so it closes. Your reckonable residence still counts towards the 5-year route, as long as your permission has no gaps.
Sources
All sources checked on 3 Oct 2026.
- Policy Document on Non-EEA Family Reunification, section 16 (12 June 2026)Immigration Service Delivery
- De facto partner of an Irish or non-EEA nationalImmigration Service Delivery
- EU Treaty Rights (retention, Form EUTR 5)Immigration Service Delivery
- European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015, regulations 9 and 10Irish Statute Book
- Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, section 15A (revised)Law Reform Commission