How to apply for IRELAND student visa properly-Irish Student Visa Requirements

Ireland Student Visa

Applying for an Irish student visa allows a foreign national the opportunity to immigrate to Ireland on a temporary basis in order to undertake a course of study in the country.

In Ireland, visas of this kind are issued as either a "C visa" for those applicants whose courses will last less than three months or "D visas" for those who wish to study in Ireland for longer than three months.


Whilst in Ireland, study visa status is not in its own right a route to permanent settlement in Ireland, the Graduate Programme will in some circumstance enable students to switch to an Irish work visa.


This may, in time, lead to the opportunity to apply for permanent residence and naturalisation as an Irish citizen.


Ireland also permits foreign nationals studying in the country to undertake a limited amount of work in order to help support themselves and any dependents.


In Ireland, immigration for candidates wishing to apply for an Irish student visa requires that the following criteria be met.


* A letter of acceptance must be provided demonstrating that an applicant has been offered a place on a full time course of study at a recognised Irish educational institution. The course must involve at least fifteen hours of study per week.
* Candidates must be able to demonstrate evidence of enough funds to support themselves and any dependents joining them in the country.
* It must be shown that the course fees have been paid in full.
* Private medical insurance must be arranged and documentary evidence of this must be provided.
* It must be the candidate's demonstrable intention to return to their own country at the end of their period of study.


In addition, although English is described in the Irish constitution as the second official language, the first being Irish Gaelic, it is nonetheless spoken far more widely and is the primary language in which tuition will be given.


As a result, candidates applying for an Irish study visa must be able to show proficiency in the English language to a sufficient degree to allow them to successfully pursue the course.


Successful applicants in possession of an Irish study permit are permitted to work in Ireland part time in order to supplement their income. Students may work part-time up to a maximum of 20 hours per week.
Spouse and Dependent Immigration:


In Ireland, visa applications for students may result in a successful candidate being in the country for a period of several years.


As a result, family immigration is permitted for the spouse and/or dependents of the primary applicant. Dependents entering the country under a family visa service of this kind will be permitted to reside in the country for as long as the principle applicant's course of study in Ireland.


Student visa holder's dependents will only be permitted to work full time with a valid Irish Work Permit.
Additional Information - The Graduate Scheme:


In Ireland, student visas are accompanied by the Graduate Scheme, which allows those candidates who successfully obtain a degree form a tertiary educational institution in Ireland to extend their stay by an additional six months.


Applicants may approach the Irish Naturalization and Immigration Service to obtain this extended grant of which the crucial benefit is the ability to seek and undertake employment.


If a candidate successfully finds an appropriate position, they may be able to apply to live and work in Ireland under an Irish work permit or by applying for an Irish Green Card.

I’m Gonna Be Sick

My email inbox is full of stories sent by friends and colleagues who share my interests in higher education and public policy. I open dozens of links each day, and once in awhile I'll pause, laugh, or stop and think. Rarely, however, do I find myself suddenly overcome with nausea.

Of course, there's a first time for everything. Business Week reports: "The boom in for-profit education, driven by a political consensus that all Americans need more than a high school diploma, has intensified efforts to recruit the homeless." No, I'm not kidding. The article goes on: "Chancellor University in Cleveland....explicitly focused recruiting efforts on local shelters after it realized that Phoenix, owned by Apollo Group was doing so."

What world are we living in? So-called educators are hitting the homeless shelters in search of financial aid-eligible students to enroll in college? And they feel good about it? Says one recruiter: "I feel the homeless are a real population that can't be ignored." If I thought him possibly pure of heart and well-equipped with a battery of successful methods to academically and socially support these folks, I might be a little ambivalent. But come on, this is much simpler-- let's find them, enroll them, and allow them to fail out of colleges into a long debt-laden life.

Not how he sees it--says the recruiter, "borrowing by the homeless to pay tuition "is no different from a middle-class student who has to take out a loan."" Huh?

Seriously, what has this world come to? Something is plain wrong. Government must intervene. Go, Department of Ed-GO!

California Knocks Down Data Firewall

California is adept at building firebreaks to stop advancing wildfires throughout the state. The inferno that is the student-teacher firewall issue was apparently doused yesterday when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that eliminates a statutory ban on using student achievement data to evaluate teachers. The existence of such a restriction would have deemed California ineligible for a federal Race to the Top competitive grant award.

Here is the Governor's press release.

Here, here and here are background posts on the student-teacher data firewall issue in California.

Is California's "Firewall" Penetrable?

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell countered criticism by Education Secretary Arne Duncan about a state law restricting the use of student assessment data in teacher evaluations. As reported in today's Los Angeles Times, O'Connell highlighted Long Beach Unified as a school district that does exactly that.

California's top education official sought Tuesday to counter federal criticism of the state's reluctance to use student test scores to evaluate teachers, paying a visit to Long Beach to highlight one of the few California school districts to make extensive use of such data.

The Long Beach Unified School District's use of student scores to assess the effectiveness of programs, instructional strategies and teachers is a rarity in California, and state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell called it a model for other California school districts during a hastily arranged round-table discussion.

At issue is a 2006 California law that prohibits use of student data to evaluate teachers at the state level. O'Connell said Obama and Duncan misunderstand the law, which does not bar local districts from using the information.

O'Connell also released a statement on this issue last week.

Long Beach Unified is a 2009 finalist for the Broad Prize and was recently profiled by TIME magazine as one of the top urban school systems in the nation.

Where's That Dutch Kid?

Gotham Schools reports that some in New York State don't believe that the state's law that restricts student assessment data from being used in teacher tenure decisions will hamper the state from securing Race To The Top funding. Is this just wishful thinking or is this whole issue being oversimplified by proposed federal RTTT regulations?

New York State’s tenure law, passed last year under pressure from teachers unions, says student test score data can’t be the sole determinant of whether a teacher gets tenure. But three top officials — teachers union president Randi Weingarten, Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, and incoming State Education Commissioner David Steiner — are arguing that the law will not disqualify New York from the fund.

“It is our firm belief that the language of Race to the Top funding does not preclude New York,” Steiner said today. “New York has a law on the books that relates strictly to tenure.”

Weingarten noted that a second section of the same law explicitly requires teachers’ annual evaluations, which take place even after they receive tenure, to be based in part on how they use test score data to improve their instruction.

“The way in which teachers use data in their classroom instruction is specifically included in the definition of what confers tenure onto a classroom teacher,” she said. ”How teachers use data is one of the criteria for getting tenure. Just not the data in and of itself.”

NY UPDATE: Charlie Barone says BS.

Likewise, in Wisconsin -- another state singled out by Education Secretary Arne Duncan for having a "ridiculous" law that restricts the use of student assessment data in teacher evaluations -- the Governor's office says that the law only applies to data from the state assessment. Assumedly, other assessment data could be used instead, although that creates costs and logistical hurdles for school districts, some very small. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

According to Chapter 118.30(2)(c) of the Wisconsin State Statutes, "the results of examinations to pupils enrolled in public schools, including charter schools, may not be used to evaluate teacher performance, to discharge, suspend or formally discipline a teacher, or as the reason for the nonrenewal of a teacher's contract."

By Friday afternoon, state Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) and Rep. Brett Davis (R-Oregon) had announced plans to introduce legislation that would change Chapter 118.30(2)(c) to eliminate the prohibition on using state testing in teacher evaluations.

But according to Gov. Jim Doyle's office, the Wisconsin statute is not at odds with the state's Race to the Top eligibility.

"Our reading of the current law is that it only prohibits the use of the WKCE (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination) in evaluating teachers, and that other student assessments may be used to evaluate teachers," said Lee Sensenbrenner, a spokesman for Doyle's office.

Sensenbrenner said the governor will be putting together a comprehensive application for the Race to the Top competition that puts the state in a position to succeed.

As part of that, he said, the state would "review the existing law to see if any changes need to be made to strengthen our competitive position."

UPDATE: On Teacher Beat, Stephen Sawchuk has a pithy update on this issue -- and the pleadings of California, New York and Wisconsin about how this really isn't a problem. Really, it isn't!

Cal Grants: Spared From Termination?

The San Francisco Chronicle reports ("Cal Grants may be spared from budget cuts") that a key legislative committee in California has rejected the Terminator's budget proposal to eliminate Cal Grants.

The Conference Committee on the Budget, which has been wading through Schwarzenegger's budget plan that makes drastic spending cuts across the board, voted to reject his Cal Grants proposal in a 6-4 party-line vote with Democrats in the majority.

Cal Grants are state-funded monetary grants that help eligible students pay for college expenses, up to $9,700 per year.

BACKGROUND: Cal Grant on the Chopping Block

Speaking Of Colleges...

President Obama weighed in on the issue of college affordability and making universities more efficient on Friday, as reported by the New York Times's Caucus Blog ("Obama Chides Colleges To Curb Spiraling Tuition").

President Obama challenged college and university officials on Friday “to put affordability front and center as they chart a path forward.” The president’s not-so-subtle message was that America’s system of higher education should cut waste and inefficiency, just as he has urged America’s government to do, to counter spiraling tuition costs.

Mr. Obama also promised to keep battling to do away with a long-standing federal student-loan subsidy program that he said “lines the pockets of the banks” while costing American taxpayers billions of dollars a year that could otherwise go to direct student aid. His plan has run into serious opposition in Congress, with both Republicans and some Democrats concerned about its ramifications.

The president spoke after meeting with Stephanie Stevenson of Baltimore, a University of Maryland junior, and her mother, Yvonne Thomas. The university of Maryland, the president noted pointedly, has been able to freeze tuition by cutting energy costs and streamlining administrative functions, among other measures. He called on other places of higher learning to do the same.

Photo: Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images

5 Ways To Improve Your Memory - For Students

"Oh God, tomorrow is exam! Will I remember what I have studied?" This fear haunts many students. Now, don’t fear friend. You can remember what you study.

Provided, you use those study methods that help your brain to remember better.

Here are five ‘Brain-friendly’ study methods that help to improve your memory and remember your study lessons easily:

1. Study with short breaks

Take short breaks while studying. Do not study continuously for more than 30 to 45 minutes.
Give a break of five to ten minutes in between two sessions.

Such short breaks give rest to your brain and help it to reinforce what you are learning. This will make it easy for you to understand more and remember better.

Do not read any new information during these short breaks. Just relax or walk around.

2. Explain to yourself

Explain what you study to yourself. Pretend you are both the student and the teacher, and try to explain the chapter or study topic to yourself.

This kind of ‘explaining’ automatically helps you to learn the subject in detail. Hence you will remember it clearly.

3. Discuss

Discuss important study topics with a willing classmate. Holding such discussion will jog your memory. This is like another form of revision.

Also, you will become aware of important points about those study topics. This will help both you and your classmate to learn more and remember more.

4. Sleep well

Yes, sleep cosily. Good sleep is essential for good memory.

Recent research has shown that lack of sufficient sleep interferes with memory function. Because during sleep and rest period, our brain processes and consolidates information which it records during the day.

So do not skip sleep; especially during the exam days. Sleep for at least six hours. Eight hours is best.

5. Eat Well

Now what has eating got to do with remembering more? Simple. What we eat affects our brain’s performance. Poor nutrition leads to learning and memory problems.

So make sure you include nutrient-rich food items like--whole grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and milk in your diet. This will keep your brain healthy and happy.

The above five remedies are easy to follow. They definitely help to strengthen your memory and achieve more success in your studies.

Author: Navi Arora