Work Permit in Ireland

Employment permits in Ireland

Starting with 2014, Ireland issues 9 types of employment permits. Among these the most important and the most employed ones are the critical skills work permit which is applicable in case of skilled foreign citizens and the general employment permit which replaces the Green Card. However, not only the applicants are subject to eligibility criteria, but Irish companies must also fulfill certain conditions in order to hire foreign citizens. A special requirement for companies refers to their obligation of employing the foreign worker directly and not through Irish recruitment agencies.

Our Irish specialists may provide you with the necessary information for hiring foreign personnel.

The general work permit in Ireland

General work permits are issued by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in Ireland. Foreign citizens may apply for an Irish general work permit based on a concrete employment offer and will have the same rights as any Irish citizen for the duration of the permit. The conditions for obtaining a general work permit in Ireland are:

• - the minimum annual wage of the applicant must be 30,000 euros and includes the salary and health insurance provided by the Irish company,
• - non-EU students who have graduated in the last calendar year from an Irish university, have been offered a position from the Highly Skilled Occupation List and earn 27,000 euros per year,
• - non-EU graduate students qualifying for the ICT professional scheme.

Applicants for specialist language, technical and sales support proficient in foreign languages for Irish companies also benefit from special condition when applying for a general work permit.

Other types of work permits in Ireland

The new Irish Employment Permits Act also contains provisions about other types of work licenses. These are:

• - the contract for services work permit which allows foreign citizens to provide services to an Irish company and refer to foreign employees coming to work in Ireland for short amount of time,
• - intra-company transfer employment permits for senior management positions within an Irish branch office,
• - internship work permits,
• - sport and cultural work permits,
• - exchange agreement work permits for researchers.

For detailed information about the documents required when applying for an employment permit, please contact our agents in Ireland.