Hegartyfelds Abroad

Meg jumps for joy after getting her stamp 4 on her passport on the second visit to Dublin.

A major part of our move here involved me getting my spouse visa (stamp 4), which would allow me to stay in the country legally after 90 days. I had read so many stories about how long it was taking to get an appointment in Dublin (since everyone is now required to have their first appointment there), that I hopped online right after we got here to make sure I could get my appointment within the 90 day window. Amazingly, I was able to get an appointment the next week, so I figured I might as well just get it out of the way.

On the day, Brian and I hopped in the car and drove the 3 hours down to Dublin. We got to the immigration office, showed our appointment info and got our number. After an incredibly short wait, our number was called and we got our appointment started. I handed over both our passports, proof of address and our marriage license – things were going great. Then the man behind the counter opened my passport, and suddenly things were not going so great anymore.

To explain, we’ll have to rewind to the day we first landed in Dublin. We had read a lot of information online, so we knew how we needed to proceed. When we got to customs, I went through the EU line with Brian and the boy. They both used their Irish passports and then I gave the customs agent my US passport I told him that I needed a stamp 0 because I was going to be applying for my stamp 4. He gave me a very confused look and said “You have your stamp 0?”. “No,” I said “I need a stamp 0”. He continued to look at me like I was speaking Mandarin, stamped my passport and handed it back. I immediately opened it and saw… a 90-day visitors stamp. I knew it was the wrong one, but I was hopeful that it wouldn’t really matter.

It mattered. After going through all of the paperwork, getting a picture taken and paying a small fee, I was handed a very small slip of paper with an email address on it. I was to send them an email explaining what had happened so I could get the stamp fixed and complete the process. The stickler then handed me another sheet of paper that gave me an open appointment so I could show up on any day during their open hours to get everything finalized.

I immediately sent the email and we went to get some lunch. I communicated with the customs officer throughout our meal, and by the time we were done we knew that we had to go back to the airport to get the stamp fixed. Fun. We headed over to the airport where we learned that there was no cell phone lot, so Brian drove around in circles while I went inside, sent an email saying I was there and waited at the meeting point. The customs officer came out to meet me, all apologies, checked my documents, cancelled the incorrect stamp and gave me the correct one, all while continuing to apologize for the mistake. At the end, he even said that he would speak to the officer who gave me the incorrect stamp to make sure it didn’t happen to someone else.

Then, since we knew the immigration office was closed, we drove the 3 hours back home.

The next week, we picked a day and made the drive back down again. We got in, got our number, and quickly got called to a window. I explained the situation, handed back all our documents and we got started. The agent complimented my tattoos, I complimented his, and after a bit of back and forth it was done. Not only that, but he was giving me the visa for 3 years, so I didn’t have to renew it every year. I’m fairly certain that if he had been our agent the first time around we wouldn’t have had to go back to the airport, but sometimes the “sure look” isn’t in your favor.

After that, I had to get thoroughly fingerprinted, and then we were done. We treated ourselves to a very nice afternoon tea and went back home to wait for my residence card to arrive in the mail.

It wasn’t the smoothest process, but it’s done, and I’m here legally. This week I’ll go to get my PPSN (Irish version of a social security number), and I’ll have what I need to fill out any random form that might come my way.