Shardy

Hello - I wonder if anyone can help. I am considering a move from Malaysia to Ireland. I have a UK passport and so does my daughter but my wife and stepson have Malaysian passports. Would they need a visa to come and live in Ireland or would they be able to just turn up with proof of our marriage to be allowed to stay?

Thanks for any insights!

Moses2013

Other EEA and Swiss citizens

If you are an EEA or Swiss citizen living in Ireland, then you have the right to bring certain family members to live with you here even if they are not themselves EEA or Swiss citizens. The main EU legislation at present is set out in Regulation No 1612/58 and Directive 2004/38/EC (pdf). The 2004 Directive is implemented in Ireland by the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015. You can find more information about these EU Treaty Rights on the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service website.

Most of the EU law on free movement also applies to citizens of the other EEA countries – Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. There are agreements with Switzerland which mean that Swiss nationals are treated in broadly the same way as EU nationals.


Residence rights of family members
Qualifying family members are:

• Spouses
• Registered partners if the host member state treats such partnerships as equivalent to marriages; in Ireland civil partnership is equivalent to marriage for immigration purposes.
• Direct descendants who are aged under 21 or are dependants (of the EU citizen and the spouse or civil partner)
• Direct ancestors who are dependent.

Shardy

Fantastic - thanks very much!