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Irish visas and employment permits in 2026 – who needs what to live and work in Ireland

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

An EU passport gives you a right that nobody stamps, and a UK passport gives you the Common Travel Area. Most other newcomers need a Critical Skills or General Employment Permit, a student permission or a family route – and the salary thresholds, family rules and asylum procedure all changed in 2026.

Woman at a cafe table looking at a visa application form and holding a passport
Photo: sisterspro/Adobe Stock

Ireland has rewritten much of its immigration rulebook since 2024. EU citizens and, under the Common Travel Area, UK citizens are barely affected; for everyone else – a Critical Skills Employment Permit applicant, a joining spouse, an asylum seeker – these dates matter.

DateWhat changed
2 September 2024Employment Permits Act 2024: nine permit types, 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, change of employer after 9 months
13 January 2025First-time immigration registrations moved to ISD (Immigration Service Delivery) at Burgh Quay, Dublin; renewals online
17 January 2025Healthcare assistants and home carers: salary floor €30,000; other rises postponed
8 December 2025Refugees need 5 years of residence, not 3, for citizenship
1 March 2026Permit thresholds: Critical Skills €40,904, General Employment Permit €36,605
12 June 2026New family reunification policy; International Protection Act 2026 commences

Source: the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and Immigration Service Delivery, read 24 September 2026.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: a right, not a permit

Ireland is not in the Schengen Area, so you show a passport or national identity card on arrival, but that is the end of the paperwork. You can stay three months without restriction, six months if you are looking for work; beyond that you must be working or self-employed, have enough money and sickness insurance, be a student, or be the family member of someone who is. You do not register with the immigration authorities, need no residence card, and take up work without any employment permit. After five years of continuous legal residence your right becomes permanent.

Because Ireland does not take part in the EU's Entry/Exit System, travellers coming directly to Ireland are not bound by it, ISD says – but an Irish Residence Permit does not exempt its holder from EES unless they are the immediate family of an EU or Schengen citizen. Non-EEA family members apply only after arrival; a decision can take up to six months, and success brings up to five years' residence with Stamp 4EUFAM, fee waived.

What does the Common Travel Area give UK citizens?

The Common Travel Area covers the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Ireland. Its rights belong only to Irish and UK citizens: a UK citizen enters without a visa, works without an employment permit, uses the public healthcare system, votes in general and local elections and never registers with immigration. There are no routine passport controls between the two countries, but carriers require ID and an immigration officer may ask you to prove citizenship, so carry a passport.

The rights do not extend to family. A non-EEA spouse or partner of a UK citizen who moved here after 31 December 2020 applies under a separate preclearance or visa scheme before travelling, with a €60 fee and a sponsor income test – at least €20,000 a year for a couple without children, in each of the previous three years – and then registers for Stamp 4D at €300.

Critical Skills Employment Permit or General Employment Permit: the 2026 thresholds

Other non-EEA nationals need an employment permit before working, unless their immigration stamp already allows it, and first-time applicants must be outside Ireland when they apply. Increases planned for January 2025 were postponed pending a review – only the healthcare assistant and home carer floor rose, to €30,000 on 17 January 2025 – and the roadmap of 2 December 2025 then raised everything from 1 March 2026, with further steps phased in to 2030.

PermitMinimum annual salary from 1 March 2026Condition
Critical Skills, occupation on the Critical Skills Occupations List€40,904 (was €38,000)Degree or higher; job offer of at least 2 years
Critical Skills, qualification obtained in the previous 12 months€36,848Same list
Critical Skills, any occupation not on the Ineligible List€68,911Degree or equivalent experience
General Employment Permit€36,605 (was €34,000)Labour Market Needs Test unless the job is on the Critical Skills list or pays at least €68,911
General: horticulture, meat processing, healthcare assistant, home support€32,691, at least €16.12 an hourQuotas apply to some roles
General, Irish third-level degree in the previous 12 months€34,009Relevant degree

Source: the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, read 24 September 2026.

The employer applies on Employment Permits Online at least 12 weeks before the start date. A Critical Skills permit costs €1,000 for up to 24 months, a General Employment Permit €500 for six months or less and €1,000 for up to 24 months; under section 55 of the 2024 Act the employer may not recover the fee from you. You are expected to stay nine months with the first employer; after that you can move within the same occupation without a new permit. The prize is Stamp 4 – work without any permit – after 21 months on a Critical Skills permit or 57 months on a General one.

Family, students, researchers and the other routes

The family reunification policy of 12 June 2026 sets the income tests. An Irish citizen sponsoring a spouse or child must show €75,000 gross over the three years before applying, about €25,000 a year, up from €40,000. Critical Skills holders and hosting-agreement researchers face no separate income test and can be joined at once. General Employment Permit holders can be joined after 12 months of legal work if they earned over €30,000 in the previous year and can show suitable accommodation.

RoutePermissionKey conditions
Student, non-EEAStamp 2, €300 to register, maximum 7 yearsFull-time course on the Interim List of Eligible Programmes; access to €10,000; private medical insurance; work 20 hours a week in term
Graduate of an Irish collegeStamp 1G: 12 months after a level 8 award, 12 plus 12 after level 9 or aboveApply within six months of the award; no self-employment
Researcher on a hosting agreementStamp 1, no employment permitAccredited organisation, 3 months to 5 years; Stamp 4 after 21 months
Spouse or child of an Irish citizenStamp 4, no registration feeSponsor income of €75,000 over three years
Spouse or partner of a permit holder or researcherStamp 1G, work without a permitDe facto partners need 2 years together

Source: Immigration Service Delivery and Citizens Information, read 24 September 2026.

Asylum and temporary protection after 12 June 2026

The International Protection Act 2026 commenced on 12 June 2026 and gives effect to the EU Migration and Asylum Pact. You apply at the port of entry or at the International Protection Office at the Citywest Reception Centre in Dublin 24. Applicants from countries with a recognition rate of 20 per cent or lower go into a border procedure with a three-month deadline, others into the ordinary procedure, where a decision generally comes within six months and never later than 21 months. While you wait you get accommodation, meals, a weekly allowance and a medical card, and after five months you can apply for Labour Market Access Permission, valid 12 months, though you may not work before you have waited six months for a first decision. If protection is granted you register for Stamp 4 free of charge; since 8 December 2025 you need five years of residence from the grant before applying for citizenship.

People from Ukraine under temporary protection have permission to 4 March 2027 and immediate access to work and welfare; since 5 August 2026 new grants go only to people who can show they were authorised to leave Ukraine.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Find your row: EU/EEA/Swiss, UK, or everyone elseBefore anything else
2Outside the EU: compare the job offer with €40,904 or €36,605 and check the occupation listsBefore the employer applies
3Have the employer lodge the permit on Employment Permits OnlineAt least 12 weeks before the start date
4Visa-required: apply for the long-stay D visa once the permit issuesBefore you travel
5Sponsors: check the income test in the 12 June 2026 policyBefore the family applies
6Register with ISD within 90 days of arrival (part 3)After you land

Source: the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and Immigration Service Delivery, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.