American Immigrant in Ireland

Question

Within the next year or so I intend to move to Ireland but I've got some concerns.

1) I've been studying all the immigration requirements and it seems very strict. Do people really manage to wade through all the paper and become citizens?

2) I was just reading some of the answers to Sarah's question about Irish liking Americans... Do any of you find that discrimination against American expats is common? --I am moving because I love everything about Ireland, am of Irish decent, and I find myself increasingly dissatisfied with US culture and government.

3) Other than obvious grammar quirks, what would you say are the biggest differences between American mainstream culture and that found in Ireland?

4) I am a web designer, what are the chances of finding a job that is not in Dublin? Everything I've read generalizes that Dublin in the only place to find decent work in the IT field and I find it a little hard to believe that there are no IT jobs on the rest of the island.

Thank you very much for your time, I appreciate any an all information.

Answer 1

Hi,

I just want to say if you want this bad enough you will find a way through the paperwork and immigration system just try and learn as much about it as you can.  I think being a web designer you have a good chance.  There are lots of computer based jobs in Ireland so I would suggest brushing off your resume and start sending it to some IT firms in Ireland.  If you can find an employer to sponsor you it will make the process a whole lot easier.  When I was trying the same process to get into your country (I am Irish but living in the USA) I went onto Yahoo, found the white pages and e-mailed my resume to every company in my industry that I found in certain cities that I wanted to target on the east coast.  I got a lot of replies and finally found a position and employer in Virginia who sponsored me.

That was quite a few years ago.  Since then I married an American guy and we moved to Ireland for a year.  I have to say he absolutely loved it.  He loved the people, the places, his job and he never encountered anyone that gave him trouble for being American….in fact it was quite the opposite…most people liked the fact he was American as most Irish people have at least one family member or friend in the United States!

I think mainstream culture is fairly similar. We like the same music, movies etc…you will find (obviously) a lot more traditional Irish elements in Ireland…food, dance, music etc but we really aren’t’ too different.

Good luck with your quest!

PS…I don’t know if you are a student or recent graduate but if you are this website might help www.bunac.org

Answer 2

Goodluck on getting over there, do you have a job or any other connection to immgrate? My mom, sister and I were going to move to England but as you said, the immigration requirements are very strict. If you find out any info, let me know, Id like to know as well LoL :). Again, goodluck!

Answer 3

1) If you are not a citizen of an EU country, yes, the rules are strict, however, you said you are of Irish decent. How far back? If one of your grandparents is Irish, you can put your name in the foreign births registry and at that point become an Irish citizen.

2) The only Americans who get trouble are those who ask for it by continually how things are bigger and better back home.

3) Never been to the US so can't comment

4) Until fairly recently, you could have made an income doing that freelance, however, the whole economy has gone belly up so the companies who would previously have wanted a fancy website are all tightening their belts. This means they aren't spending money on what they see as 'optional extras' so web designers are having a hard time getting enough work to make ends meet, so you'd stand a very real chance of ending up homeless and hungry. Even if you are entitled to citizenship from a grandparent, that wouldn't entitle you to welfare assistance of any form since you wouldn't be considered 'habitually resident in Ireland' until you had lived here 2 years.

IT jobs aren't restricted to Dublin by any means, but most big firms are headquartered there. Cork and Waterford are good places to look.

If you aren't entitled to Irish citizenship by descent, you'd have to live here for 7 and a half years to get it. Tehnically it is 5 years, but the waiting list for processing applications is 2 1/2 years.

If I were you, I'd wait a while until the economy improves. Even if you can line up a job here, IT jobs aren't very secure right now.