RECENT CHANGES TO THE DE FACTO PARTNERSHIP SCHEME
Under De Facto Partner Immigration Permission, the non-EEA partners of Irish citizens or legal residents on Stamps 1,4 or 5 can apply for permission to remain in the State on the basis of their relationship with the Irish citizen or legally resident person. This permission is conditional on the basis of their continuous relationship with the Irish citizen or legally resident person.
In early 2017 two changes were made to the De Facto Partner Immigration Permission by INIS. These changes were:
- To relax the criteria for couples living with parents
- To reduce the co-habitation requirement down from two years to one year only.
INIS continued to review these changes made to the De Facto Immigration Permission since the changes were made in early 2017. INIS has now decided, as of the 1st September 2017 that the co-habitation requirement will now revert to the original two-year requirement. The INIS state on their website that the purpose of this most recent change is to ensure “consistency” of the De Facto Immigration Permission with other similar permissions, such as the EU Treaty Rights De Facto Scheme. INIS has also stated that the relaxed criteria for couples living with parents will continue to be under review.
This change to the co-habitation requirement is in effect as of the 1st September 2017.
At present the requirements of the De Facto Partner Immigration Permission requires:
- That the Applicant must be in a genuine relationship with an Irish National or an Irish Resident, and in a position to provide evidence of a “durable relationship” with documentary evidence over the two tears immediately prior to the date of application.
- That the De Facto couple presents documentary evidence of cohabitation for at least two years prior to the application. If partners are not cohabiting they will need a compelling reason for this.
There are also financial requirements for the Sponsor as set out in the Policy Document on Non-EEA Family Reunification. The policy document sets out that the sponsor must not have been totally or predominantly reliant on Social Welfare in the two years immediately preceding the date of their application. As well as not being reliant on benefits for the previous two years, the Sponsor must also have earned a cumulative gross income of €40,000.00 in the three years preceding the application.