Coming to work in Ireland (2024)

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Introduction
Immigration rules in Ireland
Immigration stamps and the right to work
How to find work
Finding somewhere to live
Information about working inIreland
Further information and contacts

Introduction

Citizens of the EEA (the EU, plus Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein),Switzerland and the UK, can live and work in Ireland without an employmentpermit.

If you are from a country outside of the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, youneed permission to live and work in Ireland.

If you want to come to work in Ireland you may have to:

Apply for an employment permit
Apply for a visa to enter Ireland

Some people can work in Ireland without an employment permit.

Immigration rules in Ireland

If you are from the EEA (the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein),Switzerland or the UK, you can come to Ireland to work without a visa oremployment permit. If you are bringing familymembers to live in Ireland who are from outside the EEA, Switzerland or theUK, they may have to apply for a visa or preclearance to enter Ireland.

If you are from outside the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, you should checkif you need a visa to come to Ireland. You have to apply for anemployment permit to work in Ireland. Non EEA citizens who already live inIreland and have certain types of immigration permission can work without anemployment permit. You also might not need an employment permit if you arejoining your family in Ireland. See ‘Immigration stamps and the right towork’ below.

Working holidays

If you are from one of the following countries you may be able to apply fora WorkingHoliday Authorisation through the Irish embassy in your country. Thisallows you to come to Ireland to work for a certain period and is onlyavailable to applicants who are under a certain age:

International protection applicants

If you have applied for internationalprotection (also called ‘claiming asylum’) you can apply for permissionto work if are still waiting for the first decision on your application after 5months. You have to apply for LabourMarket Access Permission.

Immigration stamps and the right to work

If you are not from the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, you must havepermission to live in Ireland. To get permission to come to Ireland to work,you have to apply for anemployment permit. In general, you must get your employment permit beforeyou come to Ireland. You can apply for an employment permit when you have beenoffered a job. This means that you have to find a job and then apply for anemployment permit. When you have the employment permit, you can applyfor a visa to come to Ireland (if you need a visa).

Some people do not need an employment permit to work and can get permissionto work through the immigration system.

Non-EEA family members

If you are coming to Ireland to join a family member who already lives here,or you are moving to Ireland with a family member who already has a right towork in Ireland, you might not have to apply for an employment permit to work.Different rules apply depending on the type of relationship you have with thefamily member. For example, spouses generally have stronger rights to jointheir husbands or wives in Ireland than other types of relationships.

Family members of EU/EEA citizens can apply for a residence card under EU regulations. If the application is successful, you can get an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) with a Stamp 4EUFAM, which gives you the right to work without an employment permit.
Family members of UK citizens who move to Ireland after 1 January 2021 can apply for residency and permission to work.
Family members of people who have been granted refugee or subsidiary protection status following an application for international protection can apply to come to Ireland through family reunification. If successful, you can get a Stamp 4 IRP which allows you to work without an employment permit.
Family members of Critical Skills Employment Permit holders can get a Stamp 1G which allows you to work without an employment permit.
Family members of Irish citizens can apply for residence in Ireland. If successful, you will get a Stamp 4 IRP which allows you to work without an employment permit.

International students and graduates

If you have permission to study in Ireland and have an IRP with Stamp 2, youcan work part-time (20 hours) during college terms and full time during collegeholidays. You cannot work if you have an IRP with Stamp 2A.

The holiday periods are:

June, July and September
From 15 December to 15 January

If you graduate from an Irish college or university with a qualification atlevel 8 or above (honours degree level or above), you may be able to apply forthe ThirdLevel Graduate Scheme. You can get an IRP card with Stamp 1G which allowsyou to work without an employment permit for the duration of the scheme.

People with Stamp 4

If you have an IRP with Stamp 4, then you can work without an employmentpermit. You get Stamp 4 if you have been given permission to live inIreland:

As a refugee, following an application for international protection
With subsidiary protection, following an application for international protection
With leave to remain, following an application for international protection
As the spouse, partner or dependent family member of an Irish citizen
As the parent of an Irish citizen child
As the family member of an EEA citizen
Because you have long term residency
Following an appeal against a decision to deport you (under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999)

You may also get a Stamp 4 for another reason not listed above.

How to find work

If you want to come to Ireland to work, you have to find a job before youcan apply for an employment permit. There are a number of different types ofemployment permit, depending on the type of work you are qualified todo.

You can find work in a number of ways:

Online at websites like JobsIreland. There are also lots of private recruitment agencies online
On social media
On company websites

You can read more about lookingfor work in Ireland.

Finding somewhere to live

You may find that the cost of living in Ireland is high. You should look ataccommodation websites like Daft.ie and MyHome.ie to find out how much you will haveto pay for rent, and how much it costs to buy a place to live.

Socialhousing is available, but it can take a long time to be offered somewhereto live by a local authority or voluntary housing body.

Some people live outside of the main cities and commute to work.

Information about working inIreland

Ireland has a minimumwage and many lawsto protect workers.

If you lose your job or become sick and unable to work, you may be able toget socialwelfare payments.

If you have children, you can claim ChildBenefit to help with the extra costs of raising children.

Primaryand secondary school is free in Ireland. Thirdlevel education is funded by the State, but you normally have to pay somefees for going to third level.

The retirement age is 66 for men and women.

Further information and contacts

You can read more about:

Page edited: 16 January 2023

Contact Us

If you have a question about this topic you can contact the Citizens Information Phone Service on 0818 07 4000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm).

You can also contact your local Citizens Information Centre.