Temporary protection in Ireland, and the Transition Scheme

The short answer

• Temporary protection lets people who fled Ukraine live, work and get support here, without claiming asylum.
• How long: Ireland has extended it to 4 March 2027. The EU Directive runs to 4 March 2028.
• To stay longer: the Temporary Protection Transition Scheme gives you Stamp 4 for two years, renewable. Apply online by 30 March 2027.
• The conditions: a year here on temporary protection by 30 September 2026, six months’ continuous work paying €29,432 a year or more, and your own home, not State-supported accommodation.
• Not eligible? You keep temporary protection while it lasts.

Check if you qualify

Who gets temporary protection

Temporary protection covers people who fled Ukraine because of Russia’s invasion:

• Ukrainian nationals living in Ukraine before 24 February 2022;
• non-Ukrainians and stateless people who had international protection in Ukraine, or a permanent Ukrainian residence permit and can’t safely return home;
• their family: a spouse or partner, unmarried children under 18, and close dependent relatives who lived with them.

Since 5 August 2026, new applicants must show they were allowed to leave Ukraine under Ukrainian law. You can’t get it here if you already have it in another EU country. These changes don’t affect people granted temporary protection before then.

Ukrainians don’t need a visa to come to Ireland. Family members from other visa-required countries do.

Your rights on temporary protection

• Work or be self-employed, without an employment permit.
• Social welfare, including Child Benefit for children under 18.
• Health care on the same basis as an Irish citizen.
• School for children under 18.
• A PPS number, given at Citywest or your local Intreo office. Don’t apply for it online.

You can’t hold temporary protection and an asylum (international protection) claim at the same time: one has to be withdrawn.

Your certificate and IRP card

Your Temporary Protection Certificate (the yellow paper) and your IRP card, on Stamp 4, prove your status. Ireland has extended permissions to 4 March 2027 for people whose certificate ran to 4 March 2026:

• you don’t need a new certificate: the old one still proves your status;
• you do need to renew your IRP card online. There’s no registration fee for temporary protection.

Accommodation is changing

• State-contracted accommodation, such as hotels, is being phased out, ending by March 2027. The Department aims to give at least three months’ notice.
• People who couldn’t manage on their own could apply for ongoing accommodation in a designated centre (applications closed on 11 September 2026). There, the weekly payment is €38.80 per adult and €29.80 per child, because meals and utilities are provided.
• The Accommodation Recognition Payment for hosts fell to €400 a month from 1 September 2026, and ends on 31 March 2027.
• New arrivals may get 30 days in a designated centre if they ask.

Moving out matters for the Transition Scheme: you can’t apply from State-supported accommodation, but you can apply on the day you move into your own place.

The Transition Scheme

The Temporary Protection Transition Scheme opened on 30 September 2026 and closes on 30 March 2027. You apply on ISD’s online application portal. Applications sent in time are decided even after the deadline.

The main applicant

Your family

The main applicant applies first, says it’s a family application and gets a Family Identifier. Each family member then sends their own application with it, and the main applicant applies for children under 18.

• Spouse, civil or de facto partner: lived with the main applicant on temporary protection for the year before 30 September 2026, in independent accommodation.
• Children under 18: here on temporary protection before 30 September 2026, living with the main applicant.
• Unmarried children aged 18 to 23: lived with the main applicant for that year. Over 23, only with a disability that makes independent living impossible.
• Parents, grandparents and married children apply in their own right.

The main applicant’s work and pay cover the family. If the main applicant is refused, the whole family is.

What to send

• ID: a passport (even expired), travel document, driving licence, Public Services Card or national ID.
• Your Temporary Protection Certificate and IRP card (16 and over).
• Two proofs of the six months’ work: four or more payslips, your contract or an employer’s letter, Revenue records or bank statements.
• Two proofs you lived here for the year: an IRP card, welfare statements, bills, an Employment Detail Summary, school or GP letters, bank statements.
• Proof of your home.
• Family documents: marriage or civil partnership certificates, birth certificates, custody papers or the other parent’s consent.
• Translations of anything not in English, by a qualified translator.

If you’re approved

• You get Stamp 4 for two years, renewable for two years at a time. You can work without a permit, run a business, and the time counts towards citizenship.
• Your temporary protection ends. Register within 90 days (16 and over), paying €300 for each person over 18.
• A Ukrainian driving licence is no longer recognised here. You’ll need an Irish or EU licence.
• The scheme gives no new right to bring family from abroad.
• You can go back to temporary protection while it lasts, at Citywest, but not to State accommodation.

If you’re refused

You keep temporary protection. You can appeal by email within 30 working days of the decision, with reasons and any new evidence. A different officer decides.

Common mix-ups

Common questions

Sources