rebeccajo

That's OK, sile. I'm not bothered. The Webmaster asked me to write for him. It was an honor and a privilege to do so.

And I don't think I'm a lawyer, despite your suggestion. You can go through my post history on any number of websites and find my recommendations to many people that they seek competent legal counsel when confused about immigration matters. In fact, I think I've suggested that to you a couple of times in this thread. Whether or not you will do that is strictly up to you.

Bluegrass Lass

Sile, when you arrive at the airport in the UK, and when they ask you how long you intend to stay, what are you going to say? Are you going to say "I'm staying permanently as I'm waiting for my Irish passport."? We can all pretty much say that such an answer will likely get you bounced back to the US.

You cannot arrive as a visitor on a US passport, and then change to a resident without leaving the country. I guess you could say that you are spending several months traveling around the UK..but this is a misrepresentation - and if there's anything that immigration in any country hates, it's misrepresentation. Getting accused of lying is the easiest way to complicate your situation. Simply stated, you are not allowed to enter the UK with the intent to stay without the proper visa in your US passport, regardless of you waiting for an Irish passport. As far as I'm aware, the UK does not allow for a change of status while within the UK.

IF, and I stress IF, you are allowed into the UK on your US passport, you will need to leave the UK and re-enter on your Irish passport. You will need a stamp in your Irish passport proving when you entered the UK on the passport - this will prove the date from which you can officially working in the UK, as well as when your residency begins for citizenship purposes (if that is your goal). It is not as easy as simply going to a Immigration office for this stamp. What you need is an entry stamp, and as far as I understand/know, you can only get this when going through immigration at a Port of Entry.

Your BEST option, to prevent any issues with you entering the UK, and scuppering any of your immigration plans, is to have your Irish passport before entering the UK. This will mitigate any and all complications.

Reading through this thread, it appears that things have been lost in translation. Sometimes its hard to understand immigration. Its often been joked about on here that immigration rules are written in their own language, not English.

Sue

.... and on that excellent note I am going to close this thread.

Question asked and answered.