Spouse or partner of an Irish citizen: getting Stamp 4

The short answer

• What you get: Stamp 4, to live and work in Ireland without an employment permit.
• From abroad: your Irish spouse needs €75,000 gross over the last 3 years. Visa nationals get a free join family visa; others just travel with their spouse.
• Already here on another stamp: change to Stamp 4 as the spouse of an Irish citizen.
• Here on a visit or without permission: ISD’s Spouse of Irish National form, with a €40,000 income test.
• De facto partners: 2 years living together, and they apply from outside Ireland unless they already hold a valid permission.

Find your route

Which route is yours

Whichever route, ISD wants a marriage or civil partnership recognised in Irish law, evidence you’ve met in person before and since, and that you live together. There’s no minimum length of marriage.

Joining from abroad, step by step

1. Check the income: your Irish spouse earned at least €75,000 gross over the 3 years before you apply, not counting State benefits, for example €25,000 a year.
2. Need a visa? Apply on AVATS for a long stay join family (D) visa, choosing to join an Irish national. Spouses of Irish citizens pay no visa fee. Don’t book travel until it’s decided.
3. No visa needed? You don’t need a visa or preclearance to travel with your Irish spouse.
4. At the border, tell the immigration officer you’ve come to join family, and make sure your passport is stamped that way.
5. Register at your local immigration office, with your marriage certificate, both passports and proof of your joint address. There’s no registration fee.

Already in Ireland

On Stamp 1, 2, 3 or 4, or on a join family visa or a “join spouse” or “seek permission” stamp from the border, you and your Irish spouse go to your local immigration office, with your marriage or civil partnership certificate, both passports, proof of your joint address and evidence of your finances. If you already have permission as an Irish citizen’s spouse, you renew it online.

On a C visa, without permission, seeking asylum, or refused registration, you apply to ISD’s Spouse of Irish National unit instead:

1. Check you qualify: both 18 or over, married or in a civil partnership recognised in Irish law, living together, and your Irish spouse earned €40,000 in the last 3 years over and above State benefits.
2. Fill in the Spouse of Irish National form, an editable PDF, and save it.
3. Submit it with your documents through the Customer Service Portal, as PDF, JPEG or PNG files of up to 5MB each.
4. Answer any requests for more documents on the portal.
5. If approved, you get a permission letter, then register.

De facto partners

If you’re not married, ISD treats you as a de facto partner: you need 2 years living together in a relationship like marriage, with proof such as rent or mortgage payments, or joint bills. Visiting each other isn’t enough.

1. From abroad: apply on AVATS for preclearance, or a long stay (D) visa if you need one, choosing “Join Family (De Facto Irish)”. Stay outside Ireland while it’s decided.
2. Already here on a valid permission (not a working holiday): apply on ISD’s online portal, with proof of your relationship, 2 years living together, your finances, police certificates for countries you’ve lived in over the last 5 years, and private medical insurance.
3. Here as a visitor, on a working holiday, without permission or seeking asylum: ISD won’t accept the application. You leave and apply from outside.
4. Register once approved. Your first permission lasts 1 year, and you renew online. The €300 fee applies.

The income test

• Joining from abroad, and de facto partners: at least €75,000 gross over the last 3 years, cumulative, with the expectation it continues.
• The in-country Spouse of Irish National scheme: €40,000 over the last 3 years.
• Only your Irish partner’s income counts, not yours. Savings may help if you’re short.
• Your Irish partner mustn’t have mainly relied on State supports for 2 years or more just before applying.

Once you have Stamp 4

• Work without an employment permit, and study.
• Renew online, with your marriage or civil partnership certificate, proof of your joint current address and your spouse’s Irish passport. Spouses don’t pay the fee.
• It depends on your relationship. If you separate, tell ISD within 21 working days, and see what separation means for your permission.

Becoming an Irish citizen

Spouses and civil partners have their own, shorter route to Irish citizenship: married or in a civil partnership for 3 years and living together, with 1 year of continuous residence on the island of Ireland before you apply, plus 2 years in the 4 before that. Time in Northern Ireland counts on this route. De facto partners use the usual 5-year route.

Common mix-ups

Common questions

Sources