Key Issues
It is increasingly common that those migrating to Ireland for the purpose of employment are being joined by their families. As it currently stands, family migration represents amongst the most prevalent forms of third country nationals* migration in Ireland. And within non-EEA families, it is now increasingly common that both partners/spouses are professionals in search of employment. Yet, immigration permissions in Ireland are always tied to one partner/spouse, allowing only them to work, while the other family members are economically dependent. This approach acts as a block to the mobility of non-EEA workers and integration of non-EEA families in Ireland. At the same time, it is overwhelmingly women who are negatively impacted. Consequently, secondary work permits for partners/spouses are becoming an increasingly important issue for the integration processes in Ireland.
In order to ensure Ireland can continue to attract non-EEA workers, including those with critical skills, it is crucial that there are appropriate measures in place which allow their partners/spouses to work. International employers have reported that barriers to partners/spouses seeking employment have led to employees turning down international opportunities and assignments and have led to employees having to return early from international assignments (Permits Foundation, 2012).
The entitlement to work for partners/spouses also has an important influence on the integration of the families. As will be shown below, however, such integration is difficult in Ireland, where partners/spouses face a number of barriers when attempting to find employment, which creates pressure on families and blocks them from fully integrating into their communities.
This also represents a lost opportunity for further growth in the Irish economy. The ongoing expansion of the economy is dependent on the availability of a trained labour force, which can undoubtedly be helped by granting dependent partners/spouses the ability to work.
* Third country nationals or non-EEA nationals are migrants coming from outside of the European Economic Area.
LEGAL BACKGROUND:
The current immigration system allows, in certain circumstances, for inter alia non-EEA partners/spouses to accompany/join a stamp 1 work permit holder in Ireland, through the existing policy for family reunification*. It is important to highlight that family reunification as a policy is generally seen as a necessary way of making family life possible and further helps to “create socio-cultural stability facilitating the integration of third country nationals … which also serves to promote economic and social cohesion” (Family Reunification Directive, Recital 4). In practice, such results require the integration of all family members, which is dependent on those joining a family member – in particular a partner/spouse – being granted equal rights, including access to employment.
Irish policy regarding family reunification is set out in the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service’s Policy Document on Non-EEA Family Reunification (2016). It covers situations where a partner/spouse is joining a stamp 1 work permit holder, including general work permits and critical skills employment permits. The latter applies to occupations which are deemed to be “critically important to growing Ireland’s economy, are highly demanded and highly skilled, and in significant shortage of supply in our labour market”.**
According to the INIS reunification policy, where the permit holder being joined holds a critical skills employment permit, the right to reunification is immediate. The partner/spouse of a general work permit holder can apply for reunification after 12 months.
In each case, the partner/spouse joining the work permit holder will be granted a stamp 3 permit. Stamp 3 permit holders are not allowed to enter the labour market. They are permitted, however, to seek employment and, in the case of a job offer, can apply for a stamp 1 work permit.
Where the original stamp 1 work permit holder has a critical skills employment permit, the partner/spouse can apply for a dependant/partner/spouse employment permit. Otherwise, the partner/spouse of general permit holders can apply for an individual stamp 1 general work permit. In both circumstances, granting of the permit is contingent on a job offer. There are, however, important distinctions between the two types of family member work permits, whereby the spousal permit in the former case is theoretically much easier to obtain than the general permit in the latter case.
Prospective employers of a general work permit holder must perform a labour needs test, while the job itself must have a minimum annual remuneration above €30,000 and cannot be on the ineligible categories of employment for permit holders list. This list is extensive and precludes the permit holder from being employed in a wide range of areas, and can be accessed here. The costs of a general work permit is €500 for 6 months or less duration or €1,000 for an employment permit from 6 months up to 24 months duration. Therefore dependent spouses in such cases are treated the same as any other third-country national seeking work in Ireland, without any recognition of the fact that their partner/spouse is already employed in Ireland and the family already resides here.
Partners/spouses of a critical skills employment permit holder enjoy seemingly less restrictive access to employment. They can apply for a work permit in respect of almost all occupations, including those with a remuneration of less than €30,000 per annum, while their prospective employer is not required to undertake a labour market needs test. There is no charge for this permit. Yet, in spite of such advantages, designed to ensure Ireland can attract critical skill employees into the country together with their families, in practice it is prohibitively difficult for both types of partners/spouses to get employment in Ireland.
The following table illustrates the differential procedure required in both cases.
The barriers arise from a lack of knowledge amongst employers regarding the ability of dependent family members to seek employment and delays in the current system for granting a stamp 1 permit where there is an offer of employment, which represents an essential disincentive for prospective employers seeking to fill a vacancy. As it currently stands, it takes the Department of Business, Enterprise, and Innovation (DBEI) between six weeks and fifteen weeks to process an application for a work permit. Moreover, the application for a work permit must be received twelve weeks prior to the start of the employment period.***
The approach in Ireland starkly and unfavourably contrasts with the overwhelming majority of European Union Member States, including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom, where the partners/spouses of permit holders do not require additional immigration permission to work (Permits Foundation, 2017).
The difficulties faced by partners/spouses by these additional barriers in Ireland are reflected in the small number of dependent family members who have applied for and received a work permit. In 2017, for example, INIS issued 9024 stamp 3 visas, while the DBEI granted only 677 work permits to stamp 3 holders.****
These figures indicate an enlarging pool of economically inactive migrant residents with hampered integration opportunities, and the loss of professional skills labour market.
* According to the Irish immigration system, the primary non-EEA work permit holder in the family holds Stamp1 in the passport, while the dependent family members hold Stamp 3 respectively.
** Critical Skills Employment Permit accessed 16 August 2018
*** Employment Permits accessed 09 August 2018
**** DBEI and INIS operations teams
BARRIERS TO DEPENDENT PARTNERS / SPOUSES ACCESSING EMPLOYMENT:
Difficulties faced by dependent family members seeking employment can be attributed to a lack of knowledge amongst employers and recruiters regarding the rights of stamp 3 holders to seek employment and problems with the system for applying for a work permit in the case of a job offer.
Lack of awareness of stamp 3 among employers and recruiters
This is reflected in the limitations placed on stamp 3 holders when seeking employment. This is reinforced by the language on the stamp 3 permit which states that the stamp holder is not permitted to work in Ireland. In the first place, many of the recruitment portals used by employers do not include an option for stamp 3 holders seeking employment. Even where the candidates have an option to apply, many employers are not willing to consider an applicant who is on a stamp 3. At the same time, recruitment agencies are already aware of the complicated situation stamp 3 entails and have a general policy to only consider stamp 4 holders and EU candidates. Consequently, agencies such as HAYS, Morgan McKinley and Brightwater refuse to even represent candidates with relevant skills who are in the stamp 3 category.
Work permit processing period
Where a dependent family member is considered for a position, they face significant barriers, in particular, delays in the system for processing work permits. For the majority of employers, it can take up to 3.5 months for the DBEI to process a permit. This is greater than the notice period enshrined in Irish employment law of between 1 week and 1 month, which applies to the majority of candidates. This is as a disincentive to employers hiring dependent family members as they naturally prefer candidates who can take up work in a quicker time frame, even if they have less relevant experience. This is particularly problematic in the case of non-critical skills employment.
Lack of support from DBEI when candidates are on the verge of losing a job offer
There have been instances when candidates who have received an offer letter from an employer have actually lost out on the job as the employer was unable to wait for the period it takes for the DBEI to process a request for a work permit. There is no provision from DBEI to allow the candidates to work while the work permit is being processed. Even in cases when the candidates have presented the situation to DBEI, they have refused to expedite the process or provide a provisional work permit that would allow the candidate to commence employment.
Ambiguity in information on government websites
The possible difficulties faced by dependent family members when seeking employment is not adequately communicated prior to their arrival in Ireland. This is a source of frustration for many partners/spouses who only face such difficulties after they have relocated to Ireland. This is compounded by inaccurate information being provided by DBEI with regards work permits for dependent family members. At the same time, there is confusion regarding the language used on the DBEI website and, for example, the extent that the partners/spouses of critical skills permit holders can accept employment offers with annual remuneration of above €30,000. Currently the relevant section of the website only states that the dependents of critical skills permit holders “can apply for a permit with a remuneration of less than €30,000” per annum.*
Unfavourable conditions
Many of the requirements put to the dependent family members of general permit primary worker are exceptionally hard and are no more favourable to those put to third-country-nationals who are applying from abroad. Thus, the procedure fails to take into account that the potential applicants in many cases have already their families established in Ireland. The conditions in themselves are hard to meet, by requiring for example, a salary level of about €10,000 above the minimum wage. The list of ineligible categories for which employment permit cannot be sought is exhaustive and essentially prohibitive to dependent family members.
Unequal treatment of dependent family members seeking employment
Many stamp 3 holders seeking employment are at a disadvantage when compared to other migrants in Ireland. For example, asylum seekers who are awaiting a first instance decision from the International Protection Office are eligible after 9 months to receive a renewable 6 month work permit, which has only minor limitations. It does not require prospective employers to perform a labour market test, the permit holder can seek employment in almost all sectors, and there are no barriers relating to the amount of remuneration offered. Moreover, the permit allows holders to seek employment and take up employment as soon as there is an offer. This then needs to be notified to INIS. As such, the permit is not tied to any particular employer and does not create additional barriers when there is an offer of employment. This scheme has been welcomed as an important tool for the integration of asylum seekers and their families and clearly has a number of advantages over the general work permit scheme and the scheme applicable to partners/spouses of critical skill permit holders.
CONSEQUENCES:
Lack of integration
The barriers faced by stamp 3 permit holding partner/spouses when attempting to find employment undermines their capacity, and that of their families, to integrate in Ireland and thus the very purpose of a family reunification policy. It is further a policy which overwhelmingly impacts on the integration of migrant women.
Mental well-being
The stamp 3 holding partner/spouse seeking employment must deal with constant rejection which can create feelings of hopelessness and lead to anxiety and depression. The loss of employability blocks their potential for career growth and they further lose financial independence.
Loss of important skills in the Irish economy
There are also economic arguments against the current approach, which can lead to a loss of important skills in the Irish economy. This is with regard the skills of the dependent/spouse and those of their partner, who may not choose to enter the Irish labour market or may have to leave their job in Ireland, owing to the treatment of their partner/spouse.
Loss of taxes
Additional workers can further contribute towards the growth and flexibility of the Irish economy and in so doing contribute in taxes and social contributions and thus positively impact on the public purse.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Short-term
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Employers should be given clear information, including, if required, training so they are aware of the rights of Stamp 3 holders in this area and encouraged to provide a fair opportunity to candidates in this category.
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The INIS and DBEI websites should be edited to clearly explain the State’s policy to facilitate the access to employment of dependent family members residing in Ireland.
Medium-term
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The dependant family members should not require an additional work permit to access the labour market as it creates an additional burden on the jobseeker and on the permit system as a whole. Rather, they should have direct authorization to work and should only be required to register their employment. The time of registration should not exceed 2 weeks, to enable candidates to join an employer within 2-3 weeks of obtaining a formal offer of employment. This can both assist in the integration of workers and their families while reducing the burden on DBEI.
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For those dependent on the general primary work permit, the conditions for obtaining a spousal/family work permit should be more favourable than those for non-EEA individuals with no ties to Ireland. A possible solution is to introduce one type of spousal permit for dependent family members of primary work permit holders, which will be more easily processed.
Long-term
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Ireland should either adopt a system similar to UK or Denmark, or as the rest of the EU Member States adopt the Family Reunification Directive* / the European Blue Card system**.
*The Directive on the right to family reunification establishes common rules for exercising the right to family reunification in 25 EU Member States (excluding the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark). Once admitted in the Member State, family members receive a residence permit and obtain access to education, employment, and vocational training on the same basis as the sponsor.
**The Blue Card system is an immigration permission used by most EU Member States to attract highly skilled workers, which grants them and their families’ equal rights to EU nationals. Thus, it can provide a strong basis for the integration of workers and their families, whilst also ensuring Ireland attracts workers with the necessary skills like in all developed countries.
Valid August 2018 - March 2019
