Marriage to irish citizen

[charlie23]

Hallo all
Can someone please help me.
Im a south african and my boyfriend is Irish.
If we get married here in SA will I Be able to go back with him to Ireland and live there with him as his wife.
I realy need help, I couldnt find any info on this so far

[scrudu]

Yes you can, but this question has been answered in detail many many times on this forum. Check out the many posts about non-EU marriages to Irish citizens. Main differentiator is whether S.Africans require a visa to enter Ireland or not. If no, then you will be treated similarly to US citizens (plenty of posts on this). If not, then you'll be treated similarly to most other non-EU citizens (plenty of posts about Indonesians, filipinos, Indians etc.)

[charlie23]

What bothers me though, is that our relationship is internet based-already sounds like a scam doesnt it.lol
But weve been chatting,texting,emailing for two years now and in my heart i know he is my soulmate.
I was thinking of going over to Ireland for 3mnths and marry him there,bt that has a 3mnth waiting period. What if SA mariage isnt recognised by Eire or they think its a scam?

[scrudu]

Ireland will recognise any marriage that is officially recognised by the State it was officiated/celebrated in. e.g. a muslim marriage is not recognised by the Indonesian authorities, but an Indonesian civil one is. If it is so recognised, then Ireland will recognise it. So you shouldn't have a problem with Ireland recognising your marriage.

What you may have a problem with is proving your relationship. Marriage alone is not enough. From checking the DoFA Website, as a South African you do not need a visa to enter Ireland so it should be simple enough. Read posts on this site by American spouses of Irish citizens as their experiences will relate to you. As a non-visa required individual it will be a lot simpler for you. If you were from a visa required nation, you'd be in a much more difficult situation as you'd have to "prove" your relationship.

[charlie23]

That is what bothered me most-proving that we do have a relationship and that the marriage is not for immigration purpose or anything like that but because we love each other. Ive been on numerous websites and most of them explainded that you will have to provide fotos, letters, plane tickets etc as proof and you will have to get a spouse visa,if you live in a country requiring a visa but I could find very little info for countries that do not require one - on the marriage subject that is. Do you think if I write to the Irish Embassy over here in Pretoria that they will give me any information on the subject.
I will definately read the posts, since the rules for America are similar to the ones for SA it will make it a lot easier.
Thankyou for the advice so far, I appreciate it very much!!!
PS: If my boyfriend comes over and we decide not to get married, is there a way that I will still be able to go back to Ireland with him and stay for longer than 90 days?