Coming to Ireland to work: the permission basics

Who needs permission to work

EEA, Swiss and UK citizens can work in Ireland without any permit. Everyone else needs permission to work before they travel. ISD names three things to sort out, in this order:

1. Permission to work, usually an employment permit from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE). A few routes use permission from the Department of Justice instead (more below).
2. A visa, if your nationality needs one. You apply for it only after the permit is granted.
3. Registration, if you’re staying more than 90 days: you get Stamp 1 and an IRP card.

ISD says first-time applicants for an employment permit apply while living outside Ireland. And once you’re here, you can only do the job you were approved for.

Check your job

Choose the kind of job, your qualification, the length of the offer and the salary. You’ll see which permit the job looks eligible for, and your salary against every minimum.

The two main permits

Most people coming to work get one of two permits. Both are tied to one employer and one job.

If a permit is refused, 90% of the fee is refunded to whoever applied.

Critical Skills Employment Permit

For highly skilled jobs that are hard to fill. The Critical Skills Occupations List includes software developers and other ICT professionals, engineers, doctors, registered nurses and midwives, pharmacists, physiotherapists, accountants and architects. It’s short, specific and updated from time to time, so check your exact job title on DETE’s list.

You qualify if you have a 2-year job offer and either:

• a job on the list, a relevant degree or higher, and a salary of at least €40,904 (or €36,848 if you got the qualification in the 12 months before applying), or
• any job not on the Ineligible List paying at least €68,911. Without a degree, you need the level of experience the job requires.

Nurses and midwives need a qualification that the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland accepts for registration. Public sector jobs covered by a public sector pay agreement use that agreement’s rate.

General Employment Permit

For most other jobs. Any job is eligible unless it’s on the Ineligible Occupations List, which includes jobs such as sales and retail assistants, cleaners, security guards, kitchen and catering assistants and most administrative roles. Some entries have exceptions: experienced chefs working outside fast food, for example.

The usual minimum is €36,605. It’s lower in two cases:

• €32,691 for horticulture workers, meat processing operatives, healthcare assistants and home support workers (with at least €16.12 an hour);
• €34,009 if you have a relevant degree from an Irish college, awarded in the previous 12 months.

Some jobs also have a quota: a set number of permits. When a quota fills, applications still waiting are rejected. On 26 August 2026, for example, DETE asked employers not to send new applications for meat processing operatives, because that quota was almost full. Check DETE’s latest updates before you apply.

Both lists are reviewed regularly. The latest review, announced on 29 May 2026, made 32 changes to the jobs that can get a permit.

The salary minimums in 2026

The minimums rose on 1 March 2026, the first step of a roadmap that runs to 2030:

Further increases are planned through to 2030, and the roadmap phases out the lowest minimums for care and agri-food jobs. The minimums assume a 39-hour week: €36,605 works out at about €18.05 an hour.

Only basic pay and health insurance your employer pays count towards the minimum. Bonuses don’t.

From job offer to arrival, step by step

1. Get a job offer from an employer registered with Revenue and trading in Ireland.
2. The employer advertises the job first, if the Labour Market Needs Test applies: for 28 days with the Department of Social Protection’s JobsIreland and EURES, and on one other online jobs platform.
3. Apply for the permit on Employment Permits Online, at least 12 weeks before the start date. You or your employer can apply.
4. Wait for a decision. DETE handles applications in date order. On 2 October 2026, it was processing Critical Skills applications received on 25 September 2026, and new General Employment Permit applications received on 26 August 2026.
5. Apply for a visa, if you need one: a long stay (D) employment visa, from the country you live in, up to 3 months before you travel. ISD says it will refuse a work visa if you haven’t got the permit.
6. Travel. An immigration officer at the border decides whether to let you in and stamps your passport. Have your permit with you.
7. Register within 90 days. You get Stamp 1 and your IRP card.

What your employer has to show

The permit is for a job with a specific employer, so DETE checks the employer as well as you:

• A real employer, registered with Revenue (and the Companies Registration Office, if relevant), and trading in Ireland. You’re employed and paid directly by them.
• The 50:50 rule. At least half the employer’s staff must be EEA nationals when the application is made. It can be waived for start-ups in their first 2 years with support from Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland, and for a General Employment Permit where you’ll be the employer’s only employee.
• The Labour Market Needs Test, for most General Employment Permits. It doesn’t apply to jobs on the Critical Skills list, jobs paying €68,911 or more, and a few other cases, such as a job recommended by Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland.

Your first 9 months, and after

You’re expected to stay with your first employer for 9 months. DETE can’t consider a permit for a new employer before then, except in limited cases such as redundancy, or circumstances you couldn’t foresee that fundamentally change the job. After 9 months you can move, with a new permit for the new job.

A General Employment Permit is issued for up to 2 years, then renewed for up to 3 more. After enough time working on permits, you can apply to move to Stamp 4 and work without a permit: after 21 months on a Critical Skills permit, or 57 months on a General Employment Permit.

Your family

Family rules differ between the two permits:

• Critical Skills: your partner and children can apply to join you straight away, and travel with you. Your partner gets Stamp 1G and can work without a permit.
• General Employment Permit: you can apply for your partner and children after 12 months in Ireland on your permit, if you earned more than €30,000 gross last year (more for children). Under ISD’s June 2026 family reunification policy, your partner gets Stamp 1G and can work without a permit. DETE’s permit page still says partners need a permit of their own: that predates the policy.

Other ways to come and work

An employment permit isn’t the only route. ISD and DETE also list:

• Intra-Company Transfer permits, if your employer is moving you to its Irish branch for a time;
• Internship permits, for full-time students abroad in a field on the Critical Skills list;
• Researchers on a hosting agreement with an accredited research institution;
• the Working Holiday Authorisation, for young people of certain nationalities;
• the Atypical Working Scheme, for example for nurses doing the Clinical Adaptation and Assessment Programme, and locum hospital doctors;
• the Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP), to set up and run your own business;
• the Van der Elst process, if you work legally for a company in another EU country that’s sending you to provide services here.

Each has its own rules.

Common mix-ups

Common questions

Sources