Dream of moving to Ireland...Anyone else? Advice needed

Hi all,

I am new here and am so happy I have found this forum. I am a 24 year old single female living in Toronto. I have been thinking of moving to Ireland as long as I can remember but everytime I thought about it, it gave me a headache! Where to begin?

I have been reading all the topics here and so far, I haven't seen that anyone lives there or wants to move there. Basically, I need to know what to do! How to start? I need to save money first and I am not sure how much I will need to go with. Anyone know the average cost per month to live there? Rent? Food? I am easy with work....right now, I work at the University of Toronto as an Awards Administrator. I have lots of admin experience. Also, I was thinking of going to Dublin but is there a better area to go to in Ireland rather than Dublin (which I believe is expensive?).

Don't really know what to ask right now but hopefully I will get more questions after reading responses here. I would be moving alone but if there's anyone who is also interested in moving there from Canada, I would be more than happy to join forces with you!

Nadia

Hi there...I'm moving to Ireland next summer....earlier if I can pay off the bills from this trip I'm taking...

I'm going to Ireland in 3 more sleeps!

Dublin is very expensive..but has a great transit system so it's possible to live in the county and travel into the city.

Do you have claims to citizenship? Either in IReland itself or somewhere in the EU? That will be you're easiest route. If not, you have to fulfill a number of requirements to obtain a work visa...a bit more difficult to get. If you can prove you can support yourself you may be able to move there and wait out the required time to apply for residency.

Visa's are a fair bit harder to come by in the Republic than they are in the North...so you may want to look into NI as well...there are a few professions where a visa is relatively easy to get. I'll post some links for you to look into...

[url]http://www.iol.ie/~discover/welcome3.htm[/url] This site is a bit disorganised but has some fantastic links

[url]http://www.jobs.ie/index.php?NXS=fe283c5b13773fa12a93d4a275173c8e[/url] This site is a job search site...I believe for a work visa your employer has to apply on your behalf...stateing that the job cannot be filled from inside the country/EU

[url]http://www.mitglied.lycos.de/vnn/[/url] S page set up by someone who has worked in Ireland...talks about how to obtain the equivalent of our SIN etc...

[url]http://www.finfacts.ie/Private/cars/irishmotortax.htm[/url] Some idea as to what insurance/ taxes amount to...

and last but not least..this site is listed last but is probably where you should start...has info on work visa's, living in Ireland, medical etc....

[url]http://www.oasis.gov.ie/[/url]

Anything else..let me know...I'm still learning myself but perhaps we can share info as we find it.

Good luck and keep in touch!

I think if you go to NI rather than the Republic, you could be eligible for the "working holiday" visa, just like any other part of the UK. These are temporary visas of course, usually valid 1 to 2 years, and I'm not sure if once its expired if you can apply for leave to remain, but perhaps you could have a look at the UK immigration website and so some research.

Also if you have ancestors in the UK, you could be eligible for an Ancestry visa. I think you have to have a direct line from your Grandparents for this, again, check the UK immigration website to be sure.

If you're set on going to Republic of Ireland, search for their immigration website and have a look around there. That should be your first stop when considering immigrating...is to check that country's immigration laws and regulations.

Good luck!