Work & family4 min readReviewed

Changing employer on a permit

After 9 months on your first permit, you can move to a new employer. For the same kind of work, DETE now reissues your existing permit through a change of employer application; for a different job, your new employer applies for a new permit. Either way, you can't start until the permit is issued.

Plan my move Read the guide
9 months
With your first employer before you can move
2 months
Left on your permit, at least, when you apply to change employer
3 changes
Of employer, at most, through DETE's change of employer process
Plan my move

The short answer

  • You can move after 9 months from when you first started work on a permit in Ireland, or sooner if you’re made redundant.
  • Same kind of work: you and your new employer apply to DETE to change the employer on your permit. No labour market test, no new permit.
  • Different kind of work: your new employer applies for a new permit, at least 12 weeks before you start.
  • You can’t start the new job until DETE issues the permit. Your Stamp 1 stays the same; tell ISD about the new job within 7 days.

Plan your move

Enter your permit and its dates to see when you can move and what to do, in order.

Change of employer planner

When you can move, which application you need, and the steps in order.

Your permit
The new job is

Both dates are on your employment permit. Your start date is also on Revenue’s Employment Detail Summary in myAccount.

Worked out in your browser: nothing you enter is sent to us or saved. Based on DETE’s change of employer, permit and processing pages, ISD’s Stamp 4 rules and the Immigration Act; DETE decides each application.

Two ways to change employer

Change of employer New permit
When The new job is the same kind of work The new job is a different kind of work
General permit The same occupation (4-digit occupation code) Any job a General permit allows
Critical Skills The same group of jobs (3-digit code), for example between engineering roles Any job a Critical Skills or General permit allows
Labour market test Not needed Usually needed for a General permit
Timing Your permit must have at least 2 months left At least 12 weeks before the start date
Your permit Reissued with the new employer; same expiry date A new permit with its own dates
Limit At most 3 changes None stated
How A joint application on Employment Permits Online A new application on Employment Permits Online, €1,000 for up to 2 years

The 9-month rule

On your first employment permit in Ireland, you’re expected to stay with the employer for 9 months from when you started work. Before then, DETE can’t consider a permit for a different employer, unless:

  • you’re made redundant; or
  • something you couldn’t have foreseen fundamentally changes the job, for example the business moving a long way away.

The change of employer process

Since the Employment Permits Act 2024, DETE can move your existing Critical Skills or General permit to a new employer:

  1. Agree the job. It must be the same kind of work: the same occupation on a General permit, or the same group of jobs on Critical Skills.
  2. Apply together. Your new employer usually starts the application on Employment Permits Online, and you both e-sign it. Upload the new contract, signed by both of you, and a Revenue statement of the employer’s monthly returns from the last 3 months. Restaurants need extra papers.
  3. Apply in time. Your permit must be in force and have at least 2 months left.
  4. Keep working for your current employer until DETE reissues the permit.
  5. Start within 1 month of the reissued permit. Its expiry date doesn’t change.

When you need a new permit

For a different kind of work, your new employer applies for a new permit, as for any job: Critical Skills if the job qualifies, otherwise General, usually with a labour market needs test first. DETE needs the application at least 12 weeks before the start date. When you leave, your old permit goes back to DETE within 4 weeks.

What happens to your stamp

  • Your Stamp 1 stays the same. Your next renewal uses your new or reissued permit.
  • Tell ISD within 7 days. The Immigration Act requires you to report changes to your registration details, such as your job.
  • Your Stamp 4 clock keeps running on the same kind of permit: 21 months on Critical Skills, 57 on General. The two don’t mix, so moving from General to Critical Skills starts a new 21 months.
  • On Stamp 4, you don’t need a permit at all, so you can change job freely.

If your employer is taken over

If your job moves to a new owner under a transfer of undertakings, your employer sends DETE a transfer of undertaking form, and DETE issues a new permit in the new employer’s name, as long as the job, terms and location stay the same.

Common mix-ups

Common questions

Can I change employer on an employment permit?

Yes, after 9 months since you first started work on a permit in Ireland. For the same kind of work, you and your new employer apply to DETE to change the employer on your permit. For a different job, your new employer applies for a new permit.

Can I change employer before 9 months?

Only in exceptional cases, such as redundancy or a fundamental change to the job, for example the business moving a long way away.

Do I need a new employment permit to change employer?

Not for the same kind of work. Since the Employment Permits Act 2024, DETE can reissue your Critical Skills or General permit with the new employer. A General permit holder must stay in the same occupation; a Critical Skills holder can move within the same group of jobs. Anything else needs a new permit.

Can I start working for my new employer while DETE processes the change?

No. You can't start the new job until DETE has issued the updated permit. Then you must start within one month.

Does changing employer reset my 21 months for Stamp 4?

No, not if you stay on a Critical Skills permit. ISD counts the months from when you started work on that kind of permit. Time on a General permit doesn't count towards the 21 months.

Do I need to tell ISD that I changed job?

Yes. The Immigration Act requires you to report changes to your registration details, such as your job, within 7 days. Your Stamp 1 stays the same.

Does my new employer need to run a labour market test?

Not for a change of employer in the same kind of work. A new General permit for a different job usually needs one.

Sources

All sources checked on 3 Oct 2026.

  1. Changing employerDepartment of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
  2. Change of employer, practical steps (PDF)Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
  3. Employment permits FAQs (PDF)Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
  4. General Employment PermitDepartment of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
  5. Critical Skills Employment PermitDepartment of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
  6. Current processing datesDepartment of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
  7. Information on Stamp 4 upgradesImmigration Service Delivery
  8. Immigration Act 2004, section 9 (revised)Law Reform Commission
Guidance, not advice. This guide explains the published rules in plain English. Rules and processing differ by case, so always check the current official instructions before you apply. On Path is not affiliated with Immigration Service Delivery or the Department of Justice.

Plan your move.

When you can move, which application you need, and the steps in order.

Plan my move