Moving to Ireland for work runs on a two-step system, and understanding that shape early saves a lot of stress later. You need two separate approvals from two different bodies: an employment permit from the Department of Enterprise, and an immigration permission from the Department of Justice. The Government has agreed to merge these into a single application procedure, but until that is built, the two-step journey below is what applies.
Step one: the employment permit
Almost everyone starts with an employment permit from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE). The two most common types are the General Employment Permit and the faster Critical Skills Employment Permit, which is aimed at in-demand roles.
DETE works through applications in strict date order, and it publishes the current processing dates so you can gauge the wait. We keep a running read on those dates in our processing-times update. The single biggest thing within your control is submitting a complete application the first time, because every missing document sends you to the back of the queue.
Step two: the entry visa, if you need one
Whether you need a visa to travel to Ireland depends on your nationality. Around sixty nationalities are non-visa-required, including Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, and those travellers do not apply for an entry visa in advance. Everyone else applies for an entry visa through the Irish immigration service once the permit is in hand. At the time the single-procedure reform was announced, these employment and study visas were averaging around eight weeks, so this step often sets the overall timeline.
Step three: landing and registration
A permit and a visa let you travel, but they are not the end of the process. When you arrive, an immigration officer grants a landing permission, and if you are staying more than ninety days you must register your immigration permission and receive your Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card.
Registration is done in person. In Dublin it is handled at the Burgh Quay Registration Office by appointment; outside Dublin it is done at your local immigration registration office, usually run by An Garda Síochána. The registration fee is currently €300 in most cases. Work-permit holders are registered under Stamp 1, which ties your right to work to the permit and the employer named on it. We walk through every stamp and what it allows in our arrival guide for every stamp.
Why it feels like a lot
The reason the process can feel heavy is structural: two departments, each with its own application, fee and timeline, that all have to line up before you can start work. That is precisely the friction the proposed single application procedure is designed to remove. For now, though, the two steps are separate, so the key is to sequence them properly and not assume one is finished when the other is.
Our practical advice
- Sequence it correctly. The employment permit comes first, then the visa and registration follow.
- Check the visa question early. Confirm whether your nationality is visa-required before you plan travel dates.
- Apply for the permit in good time. DETE asks for applications at least twelve weeks before the intended start date.
- Register promptly on arrival. Book your registration appointment in the first weeks, not the final ones.
- Get your stamp right. Your IRP stamp decides what you may do, so do not assume a work right you may not have.
Our take
Once you see the process as three clean steps rather than one vague journey, it becomes far more manageable. A single application procedure would genuinely simplify things, and we are glad it is on the way, but the applicants who sail through today are the ones who respect the current order: permit, then visa where needed, then registration. If you would like us to map that sequence around a specific role and start date, that is one of the most useful things we can do before you file.