Q. I want to live in Ireland for four to six months a year. I am very unhappy with what is happening in my country. It is no longer America. We currently have a very depraved government. I am saddened and angry about what is happening. Where I live it is getting hotter every summer, too. As I am older, I just cannot tolerate the heat. I love Ireland and it is the perfect place for summer, which is about five months long here – but I know there is only a three-month visitor visa. I am 72 and I can support myself financially. What can I do?US citizens are moving to Ireland in record numbers. Nearly 10,000 Americans moved here last year, up from 4,900 in 2024, according to Central Statistics Office (CSO) data. The number of those seeking Irish citizenship has surged, too.A record 18,910 US applicants sought citizenship here in 2025 through having a parent or grandparent born here. That’s more than double the 7,726 US citizens who sought an Irish passport in 2023.But, what if, like our reader, you want to spend six months of the year here?US citizens can visit Ireland without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, immigration solicitor Maura Kavanagh of Gibson & Associates says.[ ‘I have been left a property with a sibling. They want to keep it, I want to sell’ ]“In any 365-day period, you can do two sets of 90-days, but it would have to be at opposite ends of the year,” Kavanagh says.So you can’t do two back-to-back 90-day stints: there must be a 180-day gap. To stay longer than 90 days, you need Department of Justice permission.US citizens wanting to retire here can apply for Stamp 0 permission, which allows those of sufficient means to reside here on a non-permanent basis, Kavanagh says. A condition of this is “continuous residency”, which limits the amount of time you can spend outside Ireland to 90 days in a 12-month period. So, the reader’s desire to stay here for four to six months a year falls a little bit between stools. “Her options are either to visit Ireland for up to 90 days or to live here for nine months,” Kavanagh says. Go the latter Stamp 0 route and you aren’t permitted to work here – that will suit a retiree just fine. You’ll need to get an accountant in Ireland to verify you have income of €50,000 a year as well as access to enough money to buy a home here should you need to, Kavanagh says.Your US home or other assets would be accepted as evidence of this. You’ll need to declare you’re not at risk of being a financial burden on the State due to your health and you’ll need to show evidence of full medical insurance cover in private hospitals for the duration of your stay, Kavanagh says.Applicants must also satisfy a “good character”’ requirement by providing police clearance certificates from addresses over the previous five years.If your application is successful, you will be issued with a “conditional letter of offer” and can enter the State, Kavanagh says.You must sign a form agreeing to the Stamp 0 conditions and send it along with a copy of your health insurance and your passport to the Department of Justice, which will then return your passport with the appropriate stamp. Once you have a permission to stay in Ireland, you must register the permission with the Immigration Service Delivery within 90 days.This entails a visit to the Registration Office at Burgh Quay, Dublin, where you will be fingerprinted. Expect to provide proof of address here, too, Kavanagh says. Then you will receive your Irish residence permit. Stamp 0 permission can be renewed annually, provided you continue to meet the criteria.Visitors who come here for 90 days and then decide they’d like to stay longer should know they will need to make their Stamp 0 application from outside the State.Average processing time for a Stamp 0 application is four months. By applying now, our 72-year-old reader could be in her favoured destination of Killarney by October. Please send your legal queries to Joanne Hunt, Ask the Lawyer, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2, or by email to joanne.hunt@irishtimes.com with a contact phone number. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice