11/365

Yahoo! We went to the GNIB to get me registered and all legal-like. For those of you dealing with the UK immigration process you may want to stop reading here because it will annoy you!

Due to my being a US citizen (and my lack of a criminal record) I am able to enter Ireland without getting an entry visa. When we arrived in Dublin on the 13th Wes came through the immigration line with me. We told the IO that we were married in the US. He took our address details, took my picture, looked at our marriage certificate, then stamped my passport with a stamp stating that I had to register with the GNIB within 30 days of arrival into Ireland. He told us that along with our passports and marriage certificate that we needed to take something with Wes's name and our address on it (like a utility bill) and bank statements proving that he could support me. He told us to plan on being there a while because it's a really busy office. I had also heard this from some other people, so we were prepared! Then he congratulated us on our wedding and sent us on our merry way. We tried to go the next day after I arrived. Closed. So we went again today. We arrived around 10:30 this morning. We stood in a queue for about 20 minutes to get our number and the form we needed to fill out (which was just my basic details). We sat down and they were on number 100. We were 123. I didn't even have time to read more than 5 pages in my book before we were called up. The guy looked at the form, passports, and marriage certificates. He never looked at any of the supporting documents, just asked if we were indeed living in Dublin. He took my picture and told us they would stamp my passport and give me an identification card. It was supposed to be a stamp for 5 years, but my passport expires before that so they could only stamp it for as long as my passport is valid, then I'll have to go back with my new passport to get the remaining time. I ask the guy if we pay then or if we pay when we pick up the documents, and he said that it's free because I married an Irishman! That was Wes' favorite part of the whole day! We had to wait around for the passport and card, then boom...we were done by 12:15! We couldn't believe how absolutely painless the entire experience was! We went and had a nice lunch in Temple Bar and tonight we'll have celebratory beers! :-D