The Irish authorities are moving towards digitalisation. This was spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic but continues to be a focus. The “Justice Plan 2023” set out the focus on delivering a digital immigration system. This includes the implementation of Ireland’s online renewal portal for residency permission in Dublin, which has now extended to Meath, Kildare, Wicklow, Cork and Limerick. This has seen a decrease in the administrative burden on Burgh Quay (Dublin’s local registration office) and the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) offices as in-person appointments are no longer required for individuals who have previously registered with the authorities.

There is also an increased focus on reviewing entry visa-required countries and aligning the Irish regime to those in the UK and Schengen area.

There has been a marked increase in applications for international protection in Ireland. In addition, the Department of Justice has also maintained its pledge to provide a safe haven to Ukrainian nationals who have fled Ukraine due to the invasion of Russia and has extended the Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainians until March 2025. As a result, additional resourcing has been required by the Irish government to manage this significant increase in applications.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Strategy 2023–2025 sets out the focus on managing an efficient employment permit system. In December 2023, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment announced an extensive update to the employment permits regime, which reviewed the occupation lists, quotas, salary thresholds and labour market testing.

Employment Permits Act 2024 (Act No 17 of 2024)

The Employment Permits Bill 2022 is a revised Immigration Bill that was recently signed into law by President Michael D Higgins on 25 June 2024. The commencement date and the underlying regulations are still awaited as of 4 July 2024 to bring it into effect.

The Bill will consolidate the existing legislation to make it a more accessible statutory basis for the Irish economic migration system. Some of the most notable changes are as follows:

• the introduction of a seasonal employment permit;
• extensive revision of the labour market needs test;
• the introduction of a scheme to deal with occasional exceptional circumstances where an employment permit may be granted;
• a number of housekeeping changes – clarifications of particular provisions, moving of operational criteria to Regulations, and the streamlining of a number of requirements to make the approval process more efficient; and
• providing for additional conditions for the granting of an employment permit, such as training or accommodation support for migrant workers in some circumstances, or making innovation or upskilling a condition of approval, where this may decrease future reliance on economic migration.

Digitalisation

Digitalisation of immigration technology and processes is expected to continue. This was confirmed in Goal 4 of the Department of Justice’s Statement of Strategy for 2021–23, which aims to “deliver a fair immigration system for a digital age”.

The Department of Justice aims to modernise the immigration environment by:

• developing a fully digital customer-centric immigration service;
• protecting the fairness and enhancing the efficiency of its immigration system through new strategic policies and legislative proposals;
• communicating effectively with its service users, recognising and understanding the diversity and uniqueness of each individual circumstance;
• restructuring the current immigration service to better serve its customers; and

• ensuring that effective controls are exercised at Ireland’s borders (in line with international obligations); and eliminating processing backlogs across all immigration application types.

Examples of the expansion of digitalisation in the past 12 months include:

• expansion of the online IRP renewals process to Meath, Wicklow, Kildare, Cork and Limerick;
• citizenship applications can now be submitted online; and
• de facto partnership applications can now be submitted online.

Single Application Procedure

The Irish government has agreed in principle to develop a single application process which would consolidate the current employment permit and entry visa process. Although a timeframe for development/implementation has not been agreed, the aims are to:

• address shortcomings of the existing Directive and further simplify the procedure; and
• strengthen the safeguards and equality of treatment of foreign nationals in Ireland.

An Inter-Departmental Working Group has been established to develop an implemental plan for the single application route.

In Ireland there are various options available for sponsor-based employment permits.

• Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP) – for highly skilled roles.
• General Employment Permit (GEP) – for roles not able to be filled within the EEA market.
• Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit (ICT) – for employees who currently work for an overseas “linked entity” of the Irish company.
• Internship Employment Permit – for interns who are studying abroad.
• Atypical Working Scheme (AWS) – a short-term work authorisation.

Ireland offers a number of unsponsored work and investment immigration routes, depending on the circumstances of the applicant.

Unsponsored work routes include the following.

• Stamp 4 permission – this permission can be obtained via a number of routes and allows employees to work without sponsorship of their employer. The most common routes are:
1. after two years on a CSEP;
2. after five years on a GEP; and
3. Turkish nationals can apply after four years on an employment permit.
• Stamp 4 EU Fam/Stamp 4D – these permissions are issued on the basis of a relationship with an EU/UK family member.
• Stamp 1G permission – this can be obtained as a graduate of a university in Ireland. It can also be obtained as the spouse/de facto partner of a CSEP/GEP/ICT and Hosting Agreement holder.
• Working Holiday Authorisation – up to two-year permission for those aged 18–30 from certain countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
• Start-Up Entrepreneur Programme – aimed at those wishing to set up their business in Ireland, with EUR50,000 funding available.

There is no clear definition of business activities. However, it is our understanding that a business visitor can:

• attend business meetings or conferences;
• visit or conduct fact-finding missions at an affiliated branch office or subsidiary or a current project site; and
• attend contract negotiations and business transactions.

A business visitor can undertake these activities for the duration of the permission provided. This will be no longer than 90 days but is at the discretion of the immigration officer at entry.

Individuals can carry out productive work activities for 14 days or less (but this can be requested only once every 90 days).

There is currently no remote work or nomad visa category in Ireland. However, remote work is currently being considered in Ireland and the government may consider bringing out an immigration permission to support it in the future.

Prerequisite language requirements occur only where the specific role sought for sponsorship has a language-based requirement or the applicant is seeking to avail of an exemption or a permit application under a specific occupation classification code.

There are no requirements for medical certificates or vaccinations.

There are a number of sponsor-based employment visas in Ireland, covering a variety of scenarios. Please note that the salary thresholds listed below are anticipated to increase in January 2025.

Critical Skills Employment Permit

The salary must be at least EUR38,000. Where the salary on offer is less than EUR64,000, the applicant must be hired into a role on the Critical Skills Occupation List and the applicant must hold a relevant third-level degree. If the salary is over EUR64,000, all job positions are eligible, other than those on the Ineligible List of Occupations. The contract must be issued for at least 24 months.

General Employment Permit

The salary must be at least EUR34,000 (certain exceptions apply for specific positions). There is no education requirement and the role on offer must be at least 91 days to qualify for an employment permit (certain exemptions apply).

Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit

The total remuneration must be at least EUR46,000 (lowered to EUR34,000 for trainees). The base salary component of the remuneration must be paid by the foreign employer.

The individual must remain on foreign entity payroll and headcount during the assignment. Prior to transferring to Ireland, the employee must have been employed for at least six months in the home company (unless a trainee, where the minimum employment period is lowered to one month). The employee must be “Senior Management”, “Key Personnel” or “Trainee” and the Irish company must have a direct link to the sending company (parent, subsidiary, etc). There is no education requirement.

The maximum duration of the Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit is five years (one year for trainees).

Internship Employment Permit

The applicant should be a full-time student (seeking a third-level degree or higher qualification), and seeking experience in the role must be an integral component for the completion of the course of study. The proposed salary must meet the national minimum wage (currently EUR12.70 per hour) and the applicant must be hired into a role on the Critical Skills Occupation List. At the end of the internship, the employee must leave the State, and it is expected that they will return to the third-level institution to complete the course of study.

Atypical Working Scheme

The proposed salary must be at least EUR34,000 (in line with that of General Employment Permits) and the assignment in Ireland must be between 15 and 90 days and be for a role classed “specialised” or “highly skilled”. An Atypical Working Scheme permission is issued on the presumption that a foreign national will depart Ireland after completing the assignment. There is no education requirement, but there are specific documentary requirements to be met.

An employment permit issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) is linked to the employer listed on the application. Should an employee wish to change employer, the employee is required to have completed 12 months on their initial employment permit subject to certain exceptions. Should an employee wish to change employer, a separate employment permit application would be required.

Foreign nationals who hold any of the following permissions are free to change employers without any additional immigration requirements:

• Stamp 2 – student permission (restrictions around working hours apply);
• Stamp 1G – recent graduate or spouse/de facto partner of a CSEP/GEP/ICT and Hosting Agreement holder;
• Stamp 4 – issued for a number of reasons; and
• Stamp 4 EU Fam/Stamp 4D – family member of EU/UK national.

The timeline usually depends on whether the employer has Trusted Partner status. The Trusted Partner Initiative (TPI) is aimed at employers that are high-volume users of employment permits. Once TPI status is granted, employment permit applications made by TPI members will be processed within approximately two to four weeks, although in practice this time can vary throughout the year.

The Department of Justice processes the AWS applications and takes 20 working days to do so. Once the employment permit/work authorisation is approved, some nationalities also require an entry visa. Entry visa processing is dependent on the location of filing but generally takes two to ten weeks to process.

Employment Permit

If the applicant is outside Ireland at the point of submission, it is expected that any unnecessary travel to Ireland be avoided until such time that a decision has been reached by the authorities. Once the employment permit is approved, the applicant should aim to enter Ireland and commence employment within 90 days to avoid complications at renewal. Should the applicant require an entry visa to Ireland, no travel should be arranged until the entry visa is secured.

Entry Visa

An applicant should not travel to Ireland until the authorities have approved the Irish visa. The entry visa is issued with a validity period (usually between three and six months) and therefore the applicant is required to enter Ireland within this timeframe. For individuals already in Ireland, the applicant can travel freely so long as their Irish permission (IRP card) and passport are valid for the full duration of the return trip.

The list of countries for which an entry visa is required to enter Ireland has been amended; citizens of Dominica, Honduras and Vanuatu must now apply for entry visas before entering Ireland.

There is a fast-track process for employment permits. The Trusted Partner Initiative (TPI) has been in operation in Ireland since 2015 and is aimed primarily at employers that are high-volume users of employment permits. Applications to join the TPI take approximately two to four weeks to process. With TPI status, the Irish employer is exempted from submitting some of the employer details on the application form, as well as signing the application form.

In addition, there are very limited circumstances to request support in times of emergency or business criticality.

For entry visas, it is not possible to request expedited processing; however, some visa processing centres allow one to book immediate appointments to facilitate the quickest processing of entry visas. In addition, there are very limited circumstances to request support in times of emergency or business criticality.

Once in the country and planning to reside for over 90 days, all foreign nationals will submit their biometrics as part of the residence registration (IRP) process. The process varies depending on the location of residence (see below).

Where individuals are residing in Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath, Cork and Limerick, they are required to make an appointment to go to the registration office in Burgh Quay for their first registration. It is understood that a regional hub model will be implemented for those outside Dublin in the future.

Individuals residing outside Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath, Cork and Limerick are required to make an appointment by contacting their local immigration office. This can be done by searching the list of immigration offices here.

A cost of EUR300.00 is applicable for each IRP card unless exempt from this fee. An IRP card is required only for people aged over 16. A list of documents required at the appointment can be found here.

IRP renewals for those who are resident in the Dublin metropolitan area, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath, Cork and Limerick can be completed online. Regional renewals will need to be completed via attendance at the local immigration office.

Typical costs are as follows.

• A General Employment Permit costs EUR1,000 for up to 24 months and EUR500 for six months or less, with a renewal fee of EUR750 for six months or less and EUR1,500 for up to 36 months.
• A Critical Skills Employment Permit costs EUR1,000 for up to 24 months and cannot be renewed.
• An Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit costs EUR1,000 for up to 24 months and EUR500 for six months or less, with a renewal fee of EUR500 for six months or less, EUR1,000 for up to 24 months and EUR1,500 for up to 36 months.
• An Atypical Working Scheme costs EUR250.
• Entry visa processing fees for Ireland vary depending on the type of visa being sought (approximately EUR100). See further information here.

If the individual employee is making the employment permit application, they are able to pay for the government fee. If the employer or authorised agent is making the application, the employer can pay for the application.

Please note all entry visa fees are payable in the currency of the jurisdiction where the application is made.

Employment permit legislation provides that where a person enters the service of an employer in Ireland or is in employment in Ireland or where an employer employs a non-national in Ireland except in accordance with an employment permit, the person and the employer shall be guilty of an offence. They shall be liable (i) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding EUR3,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both, or (ii) if the offence is by the employer, on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding EUR 250,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or both. Penalties can extend to the members of the body corporate (shareholders) where the body corporate is managed by its members.

For offences under the Immigration Act 2004, please note: (i) a person guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding EUR3,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both (this would include failure to comply with the requirements in relation to registration); (ii) a member of the Garda Síochána may arrest without warrant a person whom they reasonably suspect to have committed an offence under this Act (other than Section 10) or Section 2(1) of the Employment Permits Act 2003.

An employer needs to ascertain in advance whether potential employees have permission to work. The Employment Permit Acts, 2003–2014 (the “Employment Permits legislation”) confirm it is an offence to employ a non-EU/EEA/Swiss national who does not have permission to work in Ireland.

To apply for an employment permit, companies must be registered with the Company Registration Office and with the Revenue Commissioners. A company must have obtained an Employer Registered Number (ERN).

An employer employing foreign nationals must adhere to various reporting duties and compliance obligations, including:

• ensuring foreign nationals have the necessary skills, qualifications or professional accreditations to do their job, and that only suitable roles are sponsored;
• ensuring the company has HR systems in place to monitor and track foreign nationals and report any changes in circumstance; and
• reporting any changes to the sponsoring company’s business, for example, if the company stops trading, or is involved in a merger or takeover.

An employer should confirm its employees hold valid permission to work, taking the following actions.

• Review a copy of passport photo page.
• Hold an employer copy of the employment permit (where an employment permit is required). The Employment Permits legislation provides that the employer shall keep the following for a period of five years, or for the duration of the relevant employee’s employment:
1. a record of the employment concerned and the economic sector in which it is being performed;
2. the duration of the employment; and
3. particulars of the employment permit.
• Hold a copy of the IRP card.

Regarding retention of documentation, the employer will need to comply with its statutory obligations under the Data Protection Acts, 1988–2018 (there are increasing obligations on employers in Ireland in terms of the retention and storage of employees’ sensitive personal data).

Dependants are:

• a dependant partner (husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner); or
• children under 18 (in some cases, children up until 23 if in full-time education).

Partners must be in a marriage or civil partnership that is recognised in Ireland. Unmarried partners must have been living together in a relationship for at least two years.

Dependants of CSEP/GEP/ICT and Hosting Agreement holders are permitted to work or study (excluding self-employment or setting up their own business). Dependants of remaining employment permit types are not permitted to work in Ireland unless they obtain independent work permission.