Future Immigration Problems?

Hello all,

I'm hoping one of the well-versed immigration people in here may be able to help me to prevent two and a half years of worrying...

My boyfriend lives in Northern Ireland, and when I go to visit him I fly into Dublin.  This past summer, when my passport was being stamped, that I intended to stay for six weeks.  The man stamped my passport for "30 days".  I didn't actually notice this until quite a few days later.

To add to that issue, due to circumstances at home (my house was without power for two weeks, so my parents urged me to stay in Ireland where it was cool and I could shower, etc.) I ended up extending my stay by an extra week.  In total, my stay ended up being about 42 days, but my original stamp read 30 days.

I understand I didn't go over the six months allowed on a visitor stamp, but I also read in an older thread tonight that this may cause a problem when I attempt to get a fiance/spouse visa in two and a half years.

What do you guys think? Will this come back to bite me in the ars* later?  Is it no big deal?  I'd really prefer not to worry about this for another two and a half years until I apply for my fiance or spouse visa.

Also, this is fairly unrelated, but this coming visit (next week) will be my fourth visit to Ireland to see him.  Previous to this, I haven't felt comfortable saying "I'm here to visit my boyfriend", just because I didn't really know where we stood relationship-wise--NOT for any immigration reasons.  Will this also come back to haunt me?

I hope I'm just being paranoid and over thinking things, but it seems with issues such as immigration, you never know for sure...

Yeow... You have fallen into the black whole of the CTA (Common Travel Area) big time...

I think you are ok, but it is a bit strange the Dublin stamped you in for 30 days.  Did they say anything at the time?  That is somewhat odd.  Maybe garry or Vicky know the answer to this one, but when the ROI gives you a time frame and you leave the ROI but enter the UK by travelling within the CTA, what technically or the conditions of the visit?  Is it 6 months, even if there isn't anyone there to stamp you?

Don't get confused by reading here of people arriving via the Dublin on a Entre Clearnance visa.  They run into trouble later because their Visa hasn't been endorsed by a UK Immigration officer, therefore fixing their entry time in the country properly.

Kitson, she has a 12 day overstay.

Only a British IO can issue a 6 month visa, and the only valid visas are those affixed to the travel document by an IO.  Crossing the NI land border does not somehow grant new conditions, or in some way alter the conditions given by an ROI IO.  It's the type of flaked-out rationale that renders unseemly perceptions about us.

It's not the end of the world though.

\but it is a bit strange the Dublin stamped you in for 30 days.  Did they say anything at the time?  That is somewhat odd. 

The IOs in Dublin like to do this, in my experience.  I have one stamp that is good for only 3 days, because I told them I would be there for 2.  It's a fairly recent thing though - before 2006 I just got a standard Irish "6 months" stamp, but around then they switched to a huge stamp (which takes up most of a passport page) and started writing specific leave terms in with a pen.

I've never had one grant me less leave than I asked for, though.

The IOs in Dublin like to do this, in my experience.  I have one stamp that is good for only 3 days, because I told them I would be there for 2.  It's a fairly recent thing though - before 2006 I just got a standard Irish "6 months" stamp, but around then they switched to a huge stamp (which takes up most of a passport page) and started writing specific leave terms in with a pen.

Hmm, your right, I just noticed that after pulling out my passport.  I went to the ROI (which processes your via immigration even if you are travelling within the CTA) and I said I was there for 5 days and they stamped me in only for 30 days.

So, Garry, what she visitors do if they end up in a situation like the OP?  You come into via the ROI, you transit to the UK and the ROI put 30 days on your passport because you said "I am staying for 3 weeks" but then you end up needing to stay longer, but you are no longer in the ROI to deal with them...

So, Garry, what she visitors do if they end up in a situation like the OP?  You come into via the ROI, you transit to the UK and the ROI put 30 days on your passport because you said "I am staying for 3 weeks" but then you end up needing to stay longer, but you are no longer in the ROI to deal with them...

If you are an overstayer who gets caught and they learn that you entered via the ROI, it's a 10 year ban which includes the right to interfere with family life.  Paragraph 320 (11).  That's the worst case. 

Fortunately, they are not using 320(11) against Americans.  I don't know if that comes from guidance or policy or coincidence.  So in the best case, you'll have a credibility problem in future apps.

UKY advocates that people declare their true intentions at the border because it simplifies things.

Fortunately, they are not using 320(11) against Americans.  I don't know if that comes from guidance or policy or coincidence.  So in the best case, you'll have a credibility problem in future apps.

Sez who?


Vicky

UKY advocates that people declare their true intentions at the border because it simplifies things.

That's hard to do if there isn't a border with any sort of controls though.  I ran into the same problem back in 2004; I flew into Dublin and put on my Irish landing card that I was going to be staying in Northern Ireland.  They stamped my passport with the standard visa waiver and sent me on my merry way. There's no land border checks, and half the time, I only know what side of the border I'm on by checking my cell phone to see what network I'm on. I had no idea the Irish stamp didn't cover me in the North.  I had never travelled outside of North America before, and had never even heard of the CTA.

I would have thought Irish IO's should be pointing this out to people who list that they are staying in the North, but as far as I can tell, that just doesn't happen.

Sez who?

I don't know.  We have only seen them in fewer than a dozen countries, all of which host an awkward consulate.  So my assumption is that it's something they told awkard consulates to do.  I'm the first to admit I don't know.  CCLC has made a formal enquiry, but their results will take about a month to get.