# Irish passport benefits?



## pedro6

my wife has applied for an Irish passport following Brexit which will provide her with free movement within the EU and residency in Spain (covering me as well)
We are both in receipt of free health care as pensioners under the current UK/Spanish agreement.

Do Irish pensioners receive free healthcare under some Irish/Spanish agreement and if so
since my wife has never lived in Ireland or paid into the Irish social security system would she still be entitled to free healthcare in Spain as an Irish citizen?


----------



## xabiaxica

pedro6 said:


> my wife has applied for an Irish passport following Brexit which will provide her with free movement within the EU and residency in Spain (covering me as well)
> We are both in receipt of free health care as pensioners under the current UK/Spanish agreement.
> 
> Do Irish pensioners receive free healthcare under some Irish/Spanish agreement and if so
> since my wife has never lived in Ireland or paid into the Irish social security system would she still be entitled to free healthcare in Spain as an Irish citizen?


I don't know for certain if Ireland issues an S1 to pensioners, but I would imagine that to be the case.

I don't think that would apply to your wife though, unless somehow she is entitled to a pension from Ireland - since the S1 is attached to the pension.


----------



## Megsmum

pedro6 said:


> my wife has applied for an Irish passport following Brexit which will provide her with free movement within the EU and residency in Spain (covering me as well)
> We are both in receipt of free health care as pensioners under the current UK/Spanish agreement.
> 
> Do Irish pensioners receive free healthcare under some Irish/Spanish agreement and if so
> since my wife has never lived in Ireland or paid into the Irish social security system would she still be entitled to free healthcare in Spain as an Irish citizen?


Firstly has she got it yet if not make sure you complete everything accurately, they send back errors at a drop of a hat. My passport is due back end of March applied October, they have been inundated

Secondly- I'm interested in how your wife's Irish Passport provides you with freedom of movement , residency in Spain etc. I thought it simply covered the passport holder wives etc would be classed as non EU?  I hope your correct

Thirdly. As far as I have been told no. You have to have paid into the system, just like anywhere else. So you will still be dependent on the U.K. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure I'm correct


----------



## xabiaxica

Megsmum said:


> Firstly has she got it yet if not make sure you complete everything accurately, they send back errors at a drop of a hat. My passport is due back end of March applied October, they have been inundated
> 
> Secondly- I'm interested in how your wife's Irish Passport provides you with freedom of movement , residency in Spain etc. I thought it simply covered the passport holder wives etc would be classed as non EU?  I hope your correct
> 
> Thirdly. As far as I have been told no. You have to have paid into the system, just like anywhere else. So you will still be dependent on the U.K. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure I'm correct


It would help him in that as the spouse of an EU citizen, he would be able to apply for residency in any EU as _the spouse of an EU citizen exercising treaty rights_ - as long as his wife was actually exercising those rights, of course (living there & fulfilling whatever requirements that country has for EU citizens, & then being able to 'sponsor' him).

For travelling, if British citizens are eventually treated the same as other non-EU citizens, he'd still have to apply for whatever visitor visas apply at the time.


----------



## Megsmum

xabiachica said:


> It would help him in that as the spouse of an EU citizen, he would be able to apply for residency in any EU as _the spouse of an EU citizen exercising treaty rights_ - as long as his wife was actually exercising those rights, of course (living there & fulfilling whatever requirements that country has for EU citizens, & then being able to 'sponsor' him).
> 
> For travelling, if British citizens are eventually treated the same as other non-EU citizens, he'd still have to apply for whatever visitor visas apply at the time.


That's what I thought, I misinterpreted his post, I thought he was saying it was automatically given

Fingers crossed they don't want the same requirements re figures bandied about:faint2::faint2:


----------



## pedro6

Thank both, I fully expected the problem with regard to medical cover but thought it worth the thread as some might not have considered this aspect.
With regard to residency and travel We applied for my wife's passport as belt and braces in the event of post Brexit problems for UK residents.
We have been physical and Fiscal residents in Spain for over 17 years and I do not foresee a problem but you never know.
We applied for the passport on the 05 October and are still waiting, the papers are all in order but complicated by the fact that my wife's mother was in the care of a convent in Dublin and her christian names were changed meaning the birth certificate is under a different name so our wait might be even longer than normal!!


----------



## 95995

Megsmum said:


> Firstly has she got it yet if not make sure you complete everything accurately, they send back errors at a drop of a hat. My passport is due back end of March applied October, they have been inundated
> 
> *Secondly- I'm interested in how your wife's Irish Passport provides you with freedom of movement , residency in Spain etc. I thought it simply covered the passport holder wives etc would be classed as non EU?  I hope your correct
> *
> Thirdly. As far as I have been told no. You have to have paid into the system, just like anywhere else. So you will still be dependent on the U.K. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure I'm correct


The OP is absolutely correct Registering your non-EU family members in another EU country - Spain


----------



## HKG3

pedro6 said:


> With regard to residency and travel We applied for my wife's passport as belt and braces in the event of post Brexit problems for UK residents.
> We have been physical and Fiscal residents in Spain for over 17 years and I do not foresee a problem but you never know.


If the OP and his wife lived in Spain for over 17 years, why not just apply for a Spanish permanent residence card or even Spanish citizenship?


----------



## 95995

HKG3 said:


> If the OP and his wife lived in Spain for over 17 years, why not just apply for a Spanish permanent residence card or even Spanish citizenship?


Hedging all possible bets I guess. Brexit is making some people *extremely *anxious.


----------



## Megsmum

pedro6 said:


> Thank both, I fully expected the problem with regard to medical cover but thought it worth the thread as some might not have considered this aspect.
> With regard to residency and travel We applied for my wife's passport as belt and braces in the event of post Brexit problems for UK residents.
> We have been physical and Fiscal residents in Spain for over 17 years and I do not foresee a problem but you never know.
> We applied for the passport on the 05 October and are still waiting, the papers are all in order but complicated by the fact that my wife's mother was in the care of a convent in Dublin and her christian names were changed meaning the birth certificate is under a different name so our wait might be even longer than normal!!



There is a 7/8 month turn around, it'll come




EverHopeful said:


> The OP is absolutely correct Registering your non-EU family members in another EU country - Spain


I'm glad, other half of me will now have to rely on my goodwill LOL



EverHopeful said:


> Hedging all possible bets I guess. Brexit is making some people *extremely *anxious.


Yep. We too hedging bets


----------



## pedro6

we have Spanish permanent residence (5 years+ in Spain) but this is no guarantee as we all know the goal posts change. 
With regard to citizenship you cannot have dual citizenship with Spain/UK but can with Irish citizenship and we want to retain a UK passport and status together with as many EU benefits as possible.
Whilst we obviously enjoy living in Spain we are not prepared to give up our UK status as you never know whats around the corner.
Yes we are hedging as many bets as possible as none of us know (particularly the politicians) the final outcome of Brexit.


----------



## Pazcat

I can apply for French citizenship due to marriage but I'm also 90% sure I could probably apply for Irish too via my Grandad except trying to get info like birth certificates and such that is needed from my family is like trying to get blood from a stone(to be honest though I think they just don't know).
The Irish one looks much easier to get than the French one.
Maybe one day I will dig a little deeper on the issue.


----------



## pedro6

I had to research my wife's family and went back as far as her grandparents on both sides.
There are plenty of free sites and the Irish census of 1911 is really helpful National Archives: Census of Ireland 1911
Once you have the info apply online for the birth and marriage certificate at Certificates.ie - Save time buying online - HSE.ie
Good luck


----------



## Pazcat

Good links.;
I'll have to keep them in mind if I ever get serious about it.


----------



## Megsmum

I'm lucky my mother and father both Irish. My own daughters, will, once I gave my citizenship, apply to go on the foreign register births and then apply for their passports given them freedom of movement.


----------



## Rabbitcat

Benefits of being Irish-jeez where do I start!!!

We are generally liked the world over, can hold our drink ( take note footie fans -English 2 beers wanna fight/Irish drink away all day and bother no one) we can dance without moving our arms,we have a "sexy" accent, we can tell lies and make it sound plausible, we can tarmac your entire driveway using only a teaspoon of tarmac, we have the best Guinness, and we can say [email protected]@k in an un offensive and amusing manner 

It's cool being Irish


----------



## pedro6

if my wife inherits all those characteristics when the Irish passport arrives I better start saving as it is going to cost me a fortune in the bar.
Joking aside, My original question in this thread with regard to health cover appears to be inadvertently answered under a different thread ( Brexit and UK nationals living in Spain)

It seems to me that the April law/directive will apply to Irish nationals in any event still being an EU member.
If following Brexit there is a disaster and the UK are treated as non EU as far as health is concerned, having an Irish passport would appear to cover you.
However, will the 5 years start when you re-register with your Irish passport, I suspect knowing the Spanish system they will probably just change the nationality and not the date you became resident and voila you will presumably be covered.
We wait and see.


----------



## Megsmum

pedro6 said:


> if my wife inherits all those characteristics when the Irish passport arrives I better start saving as it is going to cost me a fortune in the bar.
> Joking aside, My original question in this thread with regard to health cover appears to be inadvertently answered under a different thread ( Brexit and UK nationals living in Spain)
> 
> It seems to me that the April law/directive will apply to Irish nationals in any event still being an EU member.
> If following Brexit there is a disaster and the UK are treated as non EU as far as health is concerned, having an Irish passport would appear to cover you.
> However, will the 5 years start when you re-register with your Irish passport, I suspect knowing the Spanish system they will probably just change the nationality and not the date you became resident and voila you will presumably be covered.
> We wait and see.


Are you saying Irish citizens get healthcare in Spain, even if you've not paid into the Irish system?


----------



## pedro6

I hope so but no guarantees as it appears from a post under the other thread that since April 2012 EU citizens with more than 5 years residency in Spain are entitled to health care under the Spanish system, 
I do not think it will be necessary to prove the requirements for residency and health care when changing your nationality once in receipt of the Irish passport if you are already resident, I think they will merely alter the residency certificate from UK to Irish but I may be wrong and will let you know when the passport arrives and we change my wife's nationality to Irish.

If I am correct I am hoping that our existing SIP card will continue as is but like everything else at the moment nothing is a certainty but hope springs eternal.


----------



## Megsmum

pedro6 said:


> I hope so but no guarantees as it appears from a post under the other thread that since April 2012 EU citizens with more than 5 years residency in Spain are entitled to health care under the Spanish system,
> I do not think it will be necessary to prove the requirements for residency and health care when changing your nationality once in receipt of the Irish passport if you are already resident, I think they will merely alter the residency certificate from UK to Irish but I may be wrong and will let you know when the passport arrives and we change my wife's nationality to Irish.
> 
> If I am correct I am hoping that our existing SIP card will continue as is but like everything else at the moment nothing is a certainty but hope springs eternal.


Ah I misunderstood you. It's under the 2012 rule.


----------



## xabiaxica

pedro6 said:


> I hope so but no guarantees as it appears from a post under the other thread that *since April 2012 EU citizens with more than 5 years residency in Spain are entitled to health care under the Spanish system, *
> I do not think it will be necessary to prove the requirements for residency and health care when changing your nationality once in receipt of the Irish passport if you are already resident, I think they will merely alter the residency certificate from UK to Irish but I may be wrong and will let you know when the passport arrives and we change my wife's nationality to Irish.
> 
> If I am correct I am hoping that our existing SIP card will continue as is but like everything else at the moment nothing is a certainty but hope springs eternal.


No, you've misunderstood.

Any EU citizen who was registered as resident before April 24 2012 is entitled to Spanish healthcare - even if they only registered the day before that, on April 23 2012, which is still less than 5 years ago.

It has nothing to do with the 5 years permanent resident rule.


----------



## pedro6

Yes, it seems a possibility to me.


----------

