Dual Irish citizen - living or travelling in EU
Feb 13th 2024, 10:31 am
#1
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Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 11
Dual Irish citizen - living or travelling in EU
Hi - I am a dual Irish UK citizen and I am considering the option of either retiring, or doing long term travel for a year or more, in EU countries e.g. France, Spain, Italy.
My wife is a UK citizen.
I posted a question in the overall Europe board and I got a reply which basically recommended I post here in the Irish section for additional responses. The first reply was seemed to be along the lines that as an EU citizen, my wife can join me in any EU country for as long as we like, but we have to cross any borders together and not her separately. Further, if we stay for more than 3 months we have to apply for a resident permit in the country we are staying in, but since I am an EU citizen the permit is granted "automatically" i.e. they can't refuse?
I would guess / assume also that she cannot work in the EU country but I can (not that we would be wanting to work anyway).
My wife is a UK citizen.
I posted a question in the overall Europe board and I got a reply which basically recommended I post here in the Irish section for additional responses. The first reply was seemed to be along the lines that as an EU citizen, my wife can join me in any EU country for as long as we like, but we have to cross any borders together and not her separately. Further, if we stay for more than 3 months we have to apply for a resident permit in the country we are staying in, but since I am an EU citizen the permit is granted "automatically" i.e. they can't refuse?
I would guess / assume also that she cannot work in the EU country but I can (not that we would be wanting to work anyway).
Feb 13th 2024, 7:16 pm
#2
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Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 876
Re: Dual Irish citizen - living or travelling in EU
Greetings from a fellow Irish national with a British partner.
Yes, you can spend as much time in the EU as you like as an EU national and your British wife can piggy back off your EU freedom of movement rights as long as you always travel together. You must always go to a manual booth together on entering and exiting a hard border and you must always carry your marriage certificate with you and present it every time for inspection. This effectively means you wife is not restricted by the dreaded 90/180 day third country national travel rules.
You don't need a residency permit unless you intend to relocate permanently to an EU state. Once you enter the Schengen zone as an EU national, you can travel around the zone as much as you like. If you do intend to stay and work in one particular place , you are automatically entitled to residency and so is your wife as the dependent of an EU national. Your wife would be entitled to work too.
The three month thing is not residency, it's some kind of tourist registration of your presence which is not the same thing but it is not enforced and I have never been through the procedure and I don't know anyone else that has either. A residence permit is not for tourists, it's for people relocating lock, stock and barrel and paying tax in the member state where they have moved.
It would be a good idea to send an email to Europe Direct outlining your particular case and getting clarification in writing to present at borders but make sure you stress that you will be tourists.
I hope that helps.
Yes, you can spend as much time in the EU as you like as an EU national and your British wife can piggy back off your EU freedom of movement rights as long as you always travel together. You must always go to a manual booth together on entering and exiting a hard border and you must always carry your marriage certificate with you and present it every time for inspection. This effectively means you wife is not restricted by the dreaded 90/180 day third country national travel rules.
You don't need a residency permit unless you intend to relocate permanently to an EU state. Once you enter the Schengen zone as an EU national, you can travel around the zone as much as you like. If you do intend to stay and work in one particular place , you are automatically entitled to residency and so is your wife as the dependent of an EU national. Your wife would be entitled to work too.
The three month thing is not residency, it's some kind of tourist registration of your presence which is not the same thing but it is not enforced and I have never been through the procedure and I don't know anyone else that has either. A residence permit is not for tourists, it's for people relocating lock, stock and barrel and paying tax in the member state where they have moved.
It would be a good idea to send an email to Europe Direct outlining your particular case and getting clarification in writing to present at borders but make sure you stress that you will be tourists.
I hope that helps.
