Irish in the US

[aidan80 9]

Welcome to all the new people! Good luck with all the paperwork, I'm glad mine is over with till next year at least!

Well after going back home and renting from the (con men at) Budget it looks like an of the other big companies would have been just the same price after all. The sheer amount of hidden fees and things that are in the "small print" it ended up costing us the same anyway (over $400, not the $250 they quoted!).. ahh.. thought I'd mention that just in case anyone rents of them!

Another change we've made after returning from our trip back home to Ireland is that.. we've changed our minds about moving back (good god the house prices !!!!) quite a number of reasons lead to this.. least of which is the insane house prices, cost of living and other things... that and I like the idea of my wife being close to her tiny family. My fairly large family will just have to save up them beer tokens and fly over for a visit sometimes!

Sometimes I think if we could both be there and here at the same time we'd be totally happy all the time!

[irishgirl73 0]

Welcome to all the new people! Good luck with all the paperwork, I'm glad mine is over with till next year at least!

Well after going back home and renting from the (con men at) Budget it looks like an of the other big companies would have been just the same price after all. The sheer amount of hidden fees and things that are in the "small print" it ended up costing us the same anyway (over $400, not the $250 they quoted!).. ahh.. thought I'd mention that just in case anyone rents of them!

Another change we've made after returning from our trip back home to Ireland is that.. we've changed our minds about moving back (good god the house prices !!!!) quite a number of reasons lead to this.. least of which is the insane house prices, cost of living and other things... that and I like the idea of my wife being close to her tiny family. My fairly large family will just have to save up them beer tokens and fly over for a visit sometimes!

Sometimes I think if we could both be there and here at the same time we'd be totally happy all the time!

we thought about moving to Dublin but the house prices are just insane at the moment. I mean it isn't that much better here, by my God....it is horrible over there. Cost of living is alos out of control-to be honest I don't know how anyone does it!

I wish we could split our time-have a house here & one there.......a girl can dream

[Mand 1]

My Dublin man got his greencard today................just had to share!

it only took 95 days & we didn't have an interview.

Lucky day!

hope everyone is well

Colleen

I pop in now and then hoping to hear that you lads have had some good news!! Congrats!!! Ye must be over the moon after all the hassle Gavin had moving there, I'm delighted for you both

Colleen, I'll be handing back my Greencard and will need to get a holiday visa to visit with Rob in future as I was also stopped on the visa waiver years ago. I think I remember you said Gavin applied for a holiday visa once too but didn't get it, do you mind me asking how long it took to get an appointment and if you know how long a holiday visa is valid for?

We're doing grand here - and yes house prices are flipping ridiculous here, God we'll be renting forever at this rate but we've great friends and live by beaches and the gorgeous West Cork so we're never short of things to do. Sinéad is crawling, standing, climbing stairs and just being great craic altogether I'll try and post a pic if I can as we think she's such a cutie!! It's only a small one from my mobile as I haven't much uploading space left here and I'm too lazy to do it any other way

Glad to hear ye're all well and Colleen, I hope ye had a good GC celebration!

Mand

[irishgirl73 0]

My Dublin man got his greencard today................just had to share!

it only took 95 days & we didn't have an interview.

Lucky day!

hope everyone is well

Colleen

I pop in now and then hoping to hear that you lads have had some good news!! Congrats!!! Ye must be over the moon after all the hassle Gavin had moving there, I'm delighted for you both

Colleen, I'll be handing back my Greencard and will need to get a holiday visa to visit with Rob in future as I was also stopped on the visa waiver years ago. I think I remember you said Gavin applied for a holiday visa once too but didn't get it, do you mind me asking how long it took to get an appointment and if you know how long a holiday visa is valid for?

We're doing grand here - and yes house prices are flipping ridiculous here, God we'll be renting forever at this rate but we've great friends and live by beaches and the gorgeous West Cork so we're never short of things to do. Sinéad is crawling, standing, climbing stairs and just being great craic altogether I'll try and post a pic if I can as we think she's such a cutie!! It's only a small one from my mobile as I haven't much uploading space left here and I'm too lazy to do it any other way

Glad to hear ye're all well and Colleen, I hope ye had a good GC celebration!

Mand

I was just talking to Gavin about you last nught...your ears must have been ringing!!! I still can't believe he got the greencard so quickly, maybe they took pity on us after all they put is thru with the K-1

anyway...Gav aplied for a B-2 visitor's visa and was denied. I believe he was denied because he could not show strong enough ties to Ireland. You have a house-family & your daughter there...I don't think you wil have any problems at all. just make sure you show plenty of bills & maybe even have a few letters from friends. If I remember correctly-we filled out his forms on the net & then sent them in....I don't remember if he had an appointment or not(God I am losing it all together). I will ask him later & get back to you.

pm me if you need any other info!

so glad to hear from ya.....glad you & Rob are doing so well. Your daughter is getting so big...where does the time go?

Colleen

[Mand 1]

Thanks Colleen, you're a star!

[irishgirl73 0]

Thanks Colleen, you're a star!

ok here goes.....first I think ALL the details are on the US Embassy website(there are also forms to be filled out). He said he went to the Embassy(after calling to make an appointment). He had to hand over a money order for 80 Euro, he had to have a self addressed stamped envelope & then he handed in his paperwork(that we filled out on-line). Then they mailed him an interview letter...he said it was ablut 3-4 weeks after he went in.

Now-he didn't get the visa but I suspect it was b/c of his overstay & b/c he didn't have strong enough ties to Ireland. as long as you have all your paperwork in order-I am sure he will get it.

definetly check out the website-all the instructions are on there. Let me know if you need any more info

Colleen

[Donal78 0]

Hey everyone,

Good to hear that the little one is doing well, glad that things have worked out back in Ireland. I havent been on visajourney in so long myself. My wife is expecting our first child in 7 weeks and counting.

I am in two minds about moving back. Some days i want to and other days i dont. I suppose the main stress in our lives is the small fact is that we are paying two mortgages and have been since Feburary of this year. We have our house in Ireland for sale, no bites so we are going to drop the price. I know " STUPID AND CRAZY" spring to mind but when we originally bought the house in Ireland 2 years it was considered a good investment. Now the housing market has fallen through and prices are decreasing so over the next few years is a good time to buy.

[jazzette 0]

Amanda had started a great list of those of us in the US who have ties to Ireland. I know this thread wasn't getting a ton of use before, but I just wanted to restart it so that we would be aware of who is from where and can help each other out with ideas when we have 'em.

If you are new to this thread, please add you and your SO's name and location!

Name..............County ............ Name........State

Amanda...........Limerick...........Rob............Ohio

Wes.................Londonderry.....Rebecca.....WV

James..............Cork................Julia...........MA

David...............Cork................Erin............NY (Although we are currently living in FL)

Thomas (Theo) ------Meath------Marie Ann (US wife)-------NY

[jazzette 0]

Hi everyone, thank you for letting me join your forum.

My husband is from County Meath Ireland and I am from Queens NY, where we currently reside.

We have had awful luck with immigration!!!!

My husband came on the VISA Waiver Program in Jan of 1992 and left in mid May 1997, when his brother died. Then unfortunately, when he tried to come back he was stopped and fingerprinted in Niagra and then he EWI'ed in July 1997.

That is when we met.

We have been living together since Nov. 1997 and because we had bad advice from a lawyer in the US (he could have filed for I-485 through his work) we waited for his divorce to come though (it took 1.5 years because of another bad lawyer in Ireland) and it did not get processed until May 11, 2001. Then we got married in Sept 2002. We are currently 45 years old and have no children.

Then we got another bad lawyer in Nov. 2005 that told us he could adjusts his status here. We filed I-130 and the Adj of status, got our interveiw Nov 2006 then it was denied on Dec. 23, 2006. Then on July 19, 2007 our ten year first date anniversary we got a notice to appear for removal on Oct 4th 2007.

Now that I have alot more knowledge I feel that we finally have a good lawyer (he represented John Lennon - the Beatle).

We will be asking for Voluntary Departure and then will be re-filing from Ireland and do the 601(hardship Waiver) and possibly the 212 (for possible deportation and misrep).

Our lawyer says it will not be easy, because they claimed that lied about being deported (he never was and never received any papers from the boarder guards) and the old lawyer did not do a Motion to Reconsider within the 30 Days when we were accused of misrep late Dec 2006 and additionally, Ireland is not a third world country.

So far I am getting my arthrites and depression looked into and I have a German USC father who is 82 and I am THE ONLY person in his life and he is my only family since my parents got divorced in 1985.

My father thinks he is a profit and god talks to him, just like Moses. He writes his inlightenments (he keeps copies of them, I beleive he thinks they are an addition to the bible) and sends them to all the tv and radio preachers so he can use them to save the world. He is harmless but won't go to doctors because he beleives that god and a good diet will heal him of his stomach disorders. He is mentally ill but at least he in not as bad (criminal) as my mother and sister was. The fact that there is so much mental illness in my family is very upsetting to me.

We also have a house mortgage, credit card bills, I only have a High School Education and I been working for the city for 23 years doing a city payroll system and have a pension that will suffer, should I leave, not to mention my social security.

The ideas I have about not living in Ireland are: Medical Care, Staff Infections, Money Conversion rate to buy a house there, cold damp weather, US travelers advisory and employement opportunities.

If anyone has more ideas, as to why I would be unable to live in Ireland, I would appreciate it.

Again, Thank You for letting me join and sorry if this was a bit long.

[J&D 0]

A tough one for sure. I think you've covered a lot of reasons why you cannot go to Ireland but maybe you'll need to think of a few for Theo since he is the one being deported.

From what I can see half the people on this thread are either gone back to Ireland, going back, or thinking about going back. Including me.....but only to finish my degree then come back to the US.

[aidan80 9]

Hi everyone, thank you for letting me join your forum.

My husband is from County Meath Ireland and I am from Queens NY, where we currently reside.

We have had awful luck with immigration!!!!

My husband came on the VISA Waiver Program in Jan of 1992 and left in mid May 1997, when his brother died. Then unfortunately, when he tried to come back he was stopped and fingerprinted in Niagra and then he EWI'ed in July 1997.

That is when we met.

We have been living together since Nov. 1997 and because we had bad advice from a lawyer in the US (he could have filed for I-485 through his work) we waited for his divorce to come though (it took 1.5 years because of another bad lawyer in Ireland) and it did not get processed until May 11, 2001. Then we got married in Sept 2002. We are currently 45 years old and have no children.

Then we got another bad lawyer in Nov. 2005 that told us he could adjusts his status here. We filed I-130 and the Adj of status, got our interveiw Nov 2006 then it was denied on Dec. 23, 2006. Then on July 19, 2007 our ten year first date anniversary we got a notice to appear for removal on Oct 4th 2007.

Now that I have alot more knowledge I feel that we finally have a good lawyer (he represented John Lennon - the Beatle).

We will be asking for Voluntary Departure and then will be re-filing from Ireland and do the 601(hardship Waiver) and possibly the 212 (for possible deportation and misrep).

Our lawyer says it will not be easy, because they claimed that lied about being deported (he never was and never received any papers from the boarder guards) and the old lawyer did not do a Motion to Reconsider within the 30 Days when we were accused of misrep late Dec 2006 and additionally, Ireland is not a third world country.

So far I am getting my arthrites and depression looked into and I have a German USC father who is 82 and I am THE ONLY person in his life and he is my only family since my parents got divorced in 1985.

My father thinks he is a profit and god talks to him, just like Moses. He writes his inlightenments (he keeps copies of them, I beleive he thinks they are an addition to the bible) and sends them to all the tv and radio preachers so he can use them to save the world. He is harmless but won't go to doctors because he beleives that god and a good diet will heal him of his stomach disorders. He is mentally ill but at least he in not as bad (criminal) as my mother and sister was. The fact that there is so much mental illness in my family is very upsetting to me.

We also have a house mortgage, credit card bills, I only have a High School Education and I been working for the city for 23 years doing a city payroll system and have a pension that will suffer, should I leave, not to mention my social security.

The ideas I have about not living in Ireland are: Medical Care, Staff Infections, Money Conversion rate to buy a house there, cold damp weather, US travelers advisory and employement opportunities.

If anyone has more ideas, as to why I would be unable to live in Ireland, I would appreciate it.

Again, Thank You for letting me join and sorry if this was a bit long.

That all sounds quite complicated, I hope it all works out for you too!

I have to say that your reasons for not going to Ireland may need updating... The Health Care System in Ireland (North and South) is in my opinion better than that of the private system in the US. That is of course just my opinion and that is based on a number of factors. Least of which is you won't (if your a citizen) be hammered with massive bills, taken to collections and to court if you can't pay. For example you get sick/in an accident and go to hospital by ambulance and don't have health insurance.

Infections? I'm lost on that one?.. Employment opportunities are plentiful if you look in the right areas or have in demand skills. There are always companies looking for good payroll people, least where I used to live! Although you do have a point with the weather, it is mostly cold or cool and damp year round. We do get gale storms during much of the winter that can be annoying if your in bad health. Converting your $$ into Euros will hit you quite hard right now due to the US economy circling the drain. It didn't do me any favors when I recently went back home for a visit. US Travelers advisory? I'm lost on this one what is that?

Good Luck!

[starlarose 1]

Amanda had started a great list of those of us in the US who have ties to Ireland. I know this thread wasn't getting a ton of use before, but I just wanted to restart it so that we would be aware of who is from where and can help each other out with ideas when we have 'em.

If you are new to this thread, please add you and your SO's name and location!

Name..............County ............ Name........State

Amanda...........Limerick...........Rob............Ohio

Wes.................Londonderry.....Rebecca.....WV

James..............Cork................Julia...........MA

David...............Cork................Erin............NY (Although we are currently living in FL)

Thomas (Theo) ------Meath------Marie Ann (US wife)-------NY

Please add us:

Vinny..............Dublin.......Dawn.........VA

[Gallowglass 0]

Hi, please add us:

Patrick..............Dublin (but originally a Corkman).......Mary.........VA

[kayandnigel 0]

Please add us too!

Nigel.....Galway.......Kay.........Minneapolis

Nigels move to the US is only temporary until I can get a job in Ireland because I cannot wait to move to Tuam the best place in the world!

[CJM 0]

Hi all!

I am a South African living in Ireland and have been here for over 8years now Well I am marrying the man of my dreams soon (visa permitting!) and I need to get a police clearance certificate from the Gardai...only when I went to my local station (in Bray, Co.Wicklow) they said that they don't issue them? Can someone please give me some advice?!

Thanks a million

candice