My Wife and I are planning to retire to Spain in 2 years time. I'll be 55 and she 52/3. We'd initially use the Non-Lucrative visa to get a toe in the door as it were - we have the required savings and other stuff.

My Grandmother was Irish - I have all the birth certificates etc to apply for Irish port (but not residency).

I am just wondering if anyone can let me know if they think it is worthwhile applying for it? Will it be any real help when we move? We travel together so me having easier Border age isn't really a benefit (unless I want to get in big trouble, leaving her in the UK queue while I swan through the clear EU path!!)

We aren't sure if we would buy immediately or rent for a year - does the EU port give any advantages in either scenario?

Many thanks in advance.

Phil

If you get your Irish port you become an EU citizen which throws a completely different light on your potential move to Spain (you wont need the NLV), there are plenty of threads already on this topic so its worth a search through.

It's currently taking quite a few months to go through the process of getting an Irish port, my wife has just done hers to give us options once we are both retired. You first need to get yourself ed on the foreign births , which is the time consuming part and then once you have your foreign birth certificate you can apply for a port. You will need all certificates including birth, marriage and any deaths of everyone between you and your grandmother (conclusively showing the descendency, changes of name etc).

It's certainly worth the effort in my opinion as you never know how things will pan out in the future and/or whether Ireland suddenly stop being so generous with their citizenship !

(the only thing you'll miss is Quins )

 

My Wife and I are planning to retire to Spain in 2 years time. I'll be 55 and she 52/3. We'd initially use the Non-Lucrative visa to get a toe in the door as it were - we have the required savings and other stuff.

My Grandmother was Irish - I have all the birth certificates etc to apply for Irish port (but not residency).

I am just wondering if anyone can let me know if they think it is worthwhile applying for it? Will it be any real help when we move? We travel together so me having easier Border age isn't really a benefit (unless I want to get in big trouble, leaving her in the UK queue while I swan through the clear EU path!!)

We aren't sure if we would buy immediately or rent for a year - does the EU port give any advantages in either scenario?

Many thanks in advance.

Phil

welcome!

With an Irish or other EU port you don't need a visa in order to move to, or work in Spain. So that's a huge benefit.

It is also much easier for your wife to move here.

These are the requirements for a non-EU couple - income requirement of 5 X IPREM for a couple - 36,000€ a year amongst other things Non-working residence visa

As an EU citizen, you simply as resident. You do need health insurance & there is a financial requirement, but only 1 X IPREM, so 7200€ a year (plus the same for your wife iirc). Your wife won't need a visa per se, but would apply for residency as your spouse

ing non-EU family - Acquiring residence - Residence - Citizens - Your rights and obligations in the EU - Tu espacio europeo - Punto de General

ing non-EU family : application, deadline and the required documentation

istracion.gob.es

 

Wow - many thanks for thorough, quick replies.

I thought that just having the port isn't the same as "residency" or being a "citizen" - which would require me to live in Ireland for 3 years? So we'd still need Visas.

But - it seems like it's a good idea and worth the leg work. So I guess I'll get the ball rolling. @UKMS -I am concerned about trusting the original documents to our exemplary (cough) Postal service. I did the Irish port website and they confirmed that even if I use a courier - they return them just in the 1st class post. I was wondering about maybe using a 3rd party consultant type of company to help - I know they charge for what in theory is something you can do on your own, but for a £300ish fee I'd be happy to do that. Any thoughts on that would be great.

(I won't miss the Quins - I am sure there will be ways to watch on telly in the sun!!)

Cheers 🍻

 

If / when you have an Irish port, you will be an Irish citizen.

 

The only thing if you go down that route is the lenght of time it will take to processes all the paperwork to get an irish port.

There has been a surge of interest in getting Irish ports, since the catastrophic Brexit decision to leave the EU.