Green Card
by Debbie McGoldrickRSS 
Recent Posts
- Extending your stay with a 90 day holiday waiver - is it possible?
- Renewing my Irish child’s US passport without getting her American Dad involved
- Having divorced my American wife can I get my new Irish girlfriend a visa?
- I-94 arrival and departure cards in United States will soon be obsolete
- Can I reclaim an old Green Card and move back to the US?
Archives
“I was 10 years of age when my parents won Morrison visa green cards in 1994. We moved to Florida for two years at that time and then we returned to Ireland. I moved back to Florida in 2008 and entered the U.S. on a tourist visa as I thought my green card was out of date. I did not think I would stay here, but I started to work and then I applied for a renewal of my green card. I was successful and now have a new card.
“I want to go home on a visit, but I am a little apprehensive as the only stamp I have in my passport is the one entering the U.S. with a tourist visa in 2008. I am afraid that if I went home and came back to the U.S., I wouldn’t be allowed to re-enter even though I have a valid green card. What do you think I should do?”
It depends on what your long-term intentions are, and judging from your letter, it seems as if you want to make the U.S. your permanent base.
You likely realize that you are lucky to have had your green card renewed (green cards expire every 10 years and have to be replaced with the current model), given the many years you spent outside the country. Given this reality, it is important to exercise great caution when it comes to travel.
“I remember reading a while ago, maybe a couple of years ago, that Americans without any family connections to Ireland could travel there and work if they apply for a special visa exchange program between our country and Ireland. Is this still in effect, given that Ireland’s economy is so bad? I am Irish American with an Irish passport, and a friend and I were thinking of moving to Ireland to check out our opportunities there. I guess it would be very helpful if she had a working visa as I assume it would be hard if not impossible for her to get a job otherwise.”
The information you read in 2008 still stands today, even though the Irish economy has taken an almighty battering since that time. In 2008 Ireland and the U.S. signed a reciprocal visa agreement that allows citizens from both countries to travel to Ireland or the U.S. for 12 months on a working holiday visa.
Ireland has similar working holiday authorizations with a number of other countries, including Argentina, Japan, Canada and New Zealand.
