3 MONTHS INITIAL PERIOD OF ENTRY .

[OLUMUYIWA]

I need explanation on the above please.

[IntegratedMigrant]

You have to wait until she is registered as self employed Olumuyiwa!, Its common sense really, they wont approve your EUFAM4 application unless you meet all the requirements which includes your wife registering as self employed.

[Brigid from Ireland]

You should get your pps number now, before the three months has expired.

Regarding self employment for the EU citizen, it is simply a matter of completing the paperwork and sending it to Revenue. Then she is self employed.

[dalebutt]

I really do not think it is that straight forward to being self employed in Ireland, you can make registration as self employed fairly easily, but may be required to show proof of income from self employment.

[Brigid from Ireland]

Yes, this is also needed.

You keep record of work completed on a self employed basis, list of costs and income received, so you can calculate profit. Then complete all necessary paperwork with revenue. You need to show a profit of at least 5 thousand euro per year, in my view, if you are a single person, perhaps more if you have dependents.

Many people open a business bank account, so that there is paperwork showing money earned and money spent on costs.

Self employed people should also investigate to see if there is any grant money available for their area of work, or perhaps free training in their area of work. Some do voluntary work also, and in some cases get expenses in respect of the voluntary work.

[Latintraveller]

I am a bit confused about the €5000 a year profit. Surely one would had been trading only a few months when the application is made so therefore after the purchase of equipment, a car or van, car insurance and other things used by the business one would be still making an overall loss. Only after perhaps a year or more a business may be making a profit.

[Brigid from Ireland]

I picked five thousand a year for two reasons.

1. This is the amount you need to earn/declare as profit (last time I checked) in order to be eligible to pay PRSI class S contributions. It is these contributions that provide cover for maternity benefit, widows and old age payments. Maternity in particular is often a major source of income to younger immigrants who are coming to Ireland as the female spouse of a young married couple. Also if you don't earn enough/draw enough income to make the class S prsi payments there is little official paperwork to show you are self employed, so that can cause problems if you need to access social welfare means tested payments or to get a medical card.
2. The social welfare rate of payment for young unemployed is 100 euro per week, (5000 per year) so if you earn this amount you are making an amount that the Irish government has stated is sufficient for a young single person to live on. So if you earn this amount it is hard for the government to say your employment is not sufficient to support yourself.

I am not suggesting that overall income minus major expenses such as the cost of a car should be 5000 - just that this is the minimum amount you should draw as income for the year. So for example you have expense of car (some don't, they just sell knitted baby blankets at craft fairs/doortodoor, so don't need a car) but you borrow the money for the car, so your weekly expense is the loan repayment. So you earn 300 euro, pay 100 car loan, pay 100 for your construction materials, have 100 drawings for yourself. Hope that makes sense. In this example your income is 100 euro for that week. So at the end of the financial year you still have a car loan, but you have taken out 5000 for yourself as income and paid your car loan and the cost of your materials.

(In your case the position is different, as your wife is working,so her income is also counted as means for the family, and in addition your are possibly eligible for means tested social welfare anyway as you lived in Ireland previously. The case is different for someone who has just arrived in Ireland for the first time and badly needs PRSI contributions to show they are working here. They definitely need to declare 5 thousand a year income if self employment is their only income for the household, in my view, as it is this declaration of income from self employment that triggers many rights.)

[OLUMUYIWA]

Thanks everyone.