[Irlsa]

Ireland's employment permit system is either employer or employee driven, see here for further details on this.

[Hendie]

Thank you for that first useful posting Irlsa! This is the kind of content which will prove the forum useful. We will probably do things a little differently here, since the forum covers a number of different countries. A prefix with the country that your post relates to (as you did here) will probably have to become the standard way of titling topics.

Enjoy!

[Paisley]

You can also come to Ireland on a work permit if you do not qualify for "green card". I came here in 2001 on a company transfer and change over after 5 years to work permit. I would like to warn people that the work permit only allows you to work for the company that applied on your behalf. If you deicde to leave your new emplyer have to apply all over. They changed it a little but not much. It still opens up loopholes for exploitation. Another thing is that after you are allowed to work in Ireland you have to register as a foreigner at your local police station (Garda). It is the same as the old "passbooks" years ago in SA. Renew it every year and cost €100. As a SA Citizen you are allowed into Ireland without visa for 3 months.
It is not very easy to get information from government officials as they do not always know. I applied for citizenship August 2006 and will be lucky to hear anything until end 2009. Not the fastest civil servants in EU.

[Disting]

Hi guys,
I have not been able tog et any ifno on this from the consulate. My wife is an EU citizen (Portugal). How does this afftec me if I want to work in Ireland?

And then...

Which do you recommend England\Scotland\Ireland?

Thanks

[Dedré]

Disting,

Welcome to the forum. We would like to get to know you better, so please pop something about yourself (an introduction) in the foyer. Hope to see a lot of you here.

Where you want to live depends on what you prefer:
England: population very dense, London pays high salaries, cost of living is higher... Moving into rural areas more quiet.
Scotland: population less dense, much lower salaries and living costs. Small towns, very scenic compared to rural England. Just love the accent!
Ireland: Very much more scenic, don't know about salaries and cost of living, but the accent is just something to die over!!!

Our Host, Paisley will be able to help you more on that one.

[Paisley]

Ireland is very expensive compared to the other Euro-zone countries. Even after the socalled "celtic tiger" you can still get a rural feel. Regarding your status. As far as I know it is not very easy for non-eu spouses to settle here.
I am here on workpermit. Here is a link to an immigrationboard.
Ireland - Non EU Spouse.

Personally I think it will be easier to settle in another EU country on your wife's passport.

[Paisley]

Disting you may have a look at the Justice Department of Ireland.
Ireland Justice To contact them is not best option as they are not very co-operative.

[Paisley]

Disting: I see on your post in the foyer that you are in the IT business. You can apply for a "green card" in Ireland. It is bit different than work permit. It does not tie you to an employer. Ireland is not a bad place to live.

[Paisley]

Update on my Irish Citizen Application:
Applied August 2006.
Received letter today they are in need of a Police Clearance Certificate. So they do work a little as well here.

I would like to hear from any one how I can go about obtaining such a document away from home. If not I will have to wait until I go to SA in September 2008.