Rule changes
- Since 30 September 2026: Ireland opens Temporary Protection Transition Scheme applications.
- Announced on 22 May 2026: Ireland updates employment permit occupation lists and quotas (S.I. 213/2026).
Looking for an investment-based route? Ireland doesn't run one — its routes require either a job offer or proof of independent income, not a capital placement. See other countries' guides
Working in Ireland: do you qualify?
An English-speaking EU economy with skills-led work permits and a separate track for people living on independent means.
When rules change mid-way, the date your application is filed is what often decides which rules apply to you. Where are you right now?
Two ways in, and Ireland checks them differently
An employer, a government nomination or an approved body puts its name behind the application.
- Critical Skills Employment Permit
- General Employment Permit€36,605
You qualify on your own record — skills, points or capital — with no sponsor standing behind you.
- Ireland — Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP)€50,000
- Stamp 0 Permission for Persons of Independent Means€50,000
The conditions behind the routes above
Your degree, work experience or occupation has to clear a bar set for that specific route.
Pick a route, see the real commitment
Every official figure below is what Immimaps has verified for that route against Ireland's official programme rules — not a marketing minimum. Service fees are what independent firms publish for the route, shown only once five or more are on file.
For occupations Ireland has flagged as in shortage — the fastest of the employment routes, with a shorter runway to long-term status than the general permit.
The broader employment route, open to occupations outside the shortage list, with a longer path to eventual settlement.
€49,523 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
€49,523 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
€28,696.20 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
€50,000 placed as capital, exposed until the residency conditions are met.
Built for people who won't work in Ireland — retirees or others supporting themselves from outside income, renewed annually rather than tied to an employer.
What each route costs, stage by stage
Added up from the official figures on file for each route — split into money spent for good, money locked and returned later, and money shown but never transferred. Not a modelled estimate.
Critical Skills Employment Permit▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: €300 – €1,300, paid to the government for the initial application.
General Employment Permit▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: €300 – €1,300, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you€36,605 shown as proof of means every year — nothing is transferred.
Ireland — Contract for Services Employment Permit▾
At application
- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: €300, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you€49,523 shown as proof of means every year — nothing is transferred.
At renewal
Renewal — reported: 3 years.- Shown, never leaves you€49,523 — the same proof is shown again.
Ireland — Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit▾
At application
- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: €300, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you€49,523 shown as proof of means every year — nothing is transferred.
At renewal
Renewal — reported: 3 years.- Shown, never leaves you€49,523 — the same proof is shown again.
Ireland — Reactivation Employment Permit▾
At application
- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: €300 – €1,300, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you€28,696.20 shown as proof of means every year — nothing is transferred.
At renewal
Renewal — reported: 3 years.- Shown, never leaves you€28,696.20 — the same proof is shown again.
Ireland — Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP)▾
At application
- Spent for goodOfficial fees: €650, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked€50,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Stamp 0 Permission for Persons of Independent Means▾
At application
Decision — reported: 4 months.- Spent for goodEstimated government fees, shown not graded: €300, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you€50,000 shown as proof of means every year — nothing is transferred.
The order Critical Skills Employment Permit follows
- 2026-03-01Ireland raised the minimum salary an employer must pay to sponsor a General Employment Permit, part of a phased set of increases across all employment permit categories running through 2030. source
Strategy Path takes your occupation, your situation and whether you have an employer, and lays the route out step by step — cost, milestone and wait on each leg.
Upload it and Immimaps checks it against what Ireland's official programme actually requires, and reads the contract clause by clause. Free, no account.
Check my documentEvery official figure on this page is checked against Ireland's official immigration sources. Service fees are what independent firms publish for a route — not an official figure, and never any one firm's price. Immimaps does not publish success rates, approval odds or any probability score — here or anywhere else.
Don’t take a life-changing move on someone else’s word.
Immimaps is not an agency and takes no placement fees. We show the real figures on every route, show the working, and tell you what it actually costs.
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