Long-Term Residency is an administrative scheme run by ISD, the immigration side of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. It rewards five years of playing by the rules on work permits with something valuable: a Stamp 4 granted in one 5-year block. On it you can work for any employer, change jobs freely and stop renewing employment permits altogether, while your reckonable residence keeps building towards citizenship.
Here is the honest part. It is not the only door to Stamp 4, and often not the best one. Critical Skills permit holders reach Stamp 4 after just 21 months, and General Employment Permit holders qualify for a Stamp 4 upgrade at 57 months, three months sooner than this scheme and without the €500 fee. Where Long-Term Residency earns its keep is the 5-year stamp itself, and cases where a mixed permit history fits this scheme more cleanly. We help you count your months properly and pick the route that actually gets you there fastest.
This page also covers Stamp 5, the other long-term option. Where Long-Term Residency rewards 60 months on employment permits with a 5-year Stamp 4, Stamp 5 rewards 8 years, 96 months, of legal residence with permission that carries no expiry date at all, granted without condition as to time and with no application fee. Crucially, Stamp 5 counts a wider set of stamps, including Stamp 1G and dependant Stamp 3 time that the Long-Term Residency scheme ignores, so for mixed histories it is often the cleaner route. We weigh both against your record.
Made for people like you
Permit holders with mixed histories
You have moved between permits, employers or permit types over five years and want your registered Stamp 1 time assessed as one 60-month block.
People who want a 5-year stamp
The Stamp 4 upgrade routes issue shorter registrations. Long-Term Residency gives you Stamp 4 for five years in one grant, with fewer renewals to manage.
General permit holders near 5 years
You are approaching the 57 or 60 month mark and want a clear-eyed comparison of the two Stamp 4 routes before committing to either.
Families planning the next step
Once you hold Long-Term Residency, a spouse or dependant with their own 60 months of legal residence can apply for a matching 5-year permission.
Residents heading for Stamp 5
You are approaching 8 years of legal residence and want permission without condition as to time, which counts the Stamp 1G and Stamp 3 years that Long-Term Residency does not.
Do you qualify?
ISD counts your time from the immigration stamps in your passport and the validity dates of your IRP cards, not from the start and end dates on your employment permits. Unregistered gaps do not count, and overlapping stamps count once.
You will need
- 60 months of legal residence on Stamp 1 held on foot of a DETE employment permit, or Stamp 4 held on foot of a Critical Skills permit
- To be legally resident in Ireland and in employment on the date you apply
- Good character and a clean record of complying with your immigration conditions
- No reliance on means-tested social welfare payments, so you are not an undue burden on the State
- A fully completed paper application with every document included, because incomplete forms are simply posted back
This route is not for you if
- Your five years relies on Stamp 1G, Stamp 2, Stamp 3, Stamp 0 or an Intra-Company Transfer Stamp 1, none of which qualify for this scheme
- You are self-employed, as the scheme only accepts people in employment
- You hold a Critical Skills permit, because the 21-month Stamp 4 upgrade will get you there years earlier
- Unregistered gaps between permissions pull your registered time under 60 months
Long-Term Residency vs the Stamp 4 upgrade routes
Long-Term Residency (ISD scheme)
This page- Residence needed
- 60 months of registered stamps
- Stamp 4 issued for
- 5 years in one grant
- Fee
- €500 on approval, plus €300 IRP
- What counts
- Stamp 1 on DETE permits (and CSEP Stamp 4)
- How you apply
- Paper form by post to Burgh Quay
Stamp 4 upgrade (21 / 57 months)
- Residence needed
- 21 months (CSEP) or 57 months (GEP, ICT)
- Stamp 4 issued for
- 24 months (CSEP basis) or 12 months (GEP basis)
- Fee
- €300 IRP registration only
- What counts
- Months of employment, shown by Revenue records
- How you apply
- Through ISD at registration renewal
How the journey works
- 01
Count your stamps, properly
Day 1We go through every passport and IRP card you have held and total the qualifying Stamp 1 and Stamp 4 time by registration dates, not permit dates. This is where most surprises live: unregistered weeks between permits, student stamps and graduate Stamp 1G time that simply do not count.
- 02
Check the other conditions
You must be in employment on the date of application, of good character, free of breaches of your permission conditions and not reliant on means-tested welfare. If anything needs explaining, better to address it up front than have ISD find it.
- 03
Build the evidence pack
Week 1-2Full-colour copies of every passport page with a stamp, every IRP card, every DETE employment permit, plus your current employment evidence and proof of continuous residence. ISD returns incomplete applications, so we check the pack line by line before it goes anywhere.
- 04
Post the application to Burgh Quay
Long-Term Residency is still a paper scheme. The completed form and documents go by post to the Long Term Residence Section, Unit C, Domestic Residence and Permissions Division, ISD, 13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2, D02 XK70.
- 05
Keep your permission valid while you wait
There is no published processing time and the division reports very high volumes. Your application does not protect your status, so you keep renewing your employment permit and IRP registration as normal until the decision arrives.
- 06
Pay €500 within 28 days of approval
28 daysIf approved, ISD sends a letter asking for the €500 fee by bank transfer. You have 28 days to pay; miss it and the application is closed. Once paid, your 5-year permission letter issues.
- 07
Register your 5-year Stamp 4
You register the new permission on the ISD portal and pay the standard €300 IRP fee. Your card then shows Stamp 4, and you can work for any employer with no employment permit for the next five years.
- 08
Prefer the 8-year route? Consider Stamp 5
If your history does not fit the Long-Term Residency scheme, or you would rather hold permission with no time limit at all, Stamp 5 is the alternative. After 8 years, 96 months, of legal residence on qualifying stamps, including Stamp 1, 1G, 3 and 4, you apply to ISD with no application fee, pay only the €300 registration on approval, and hold a stamp that stays valid to your passport expiry and is simply re-endorsed each time you renew it. We assess both routes side by side before you commit to either.
What to gather
Start collecting these early. Weak or missing documents are the most common avoidable cause of delays and refusals.
Completed application form
Paper only. Incomplete forms are returned unprocessed
All passports, in full colour
Every page showing an immigration stamp, current and expired passports
Current IRP card
Both sides, in colour
Expired IRP cards
They evidence the registered periods that make up your 60 months
All DETE employment permits
Colour copies of every permit you have held
Employment contract or employer letter
Confirming your start date and current terms
Tenancy or mortgage evidence
Part of your continuous-residence proof
Bank statements
Showing day-to-day life in Ireland across the period
State-issued correspondence
Revenue or other official documents linking you to an Irish address
A short cover note
Setting out your stamp history clearly saves the caseworker guesswork. We draft this with you
Every case is different. We confirm your exact list at consultation.
What it costs
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application | No fee | Nothing is paid when you post the form. |
| Long-Term Residency fee | €500 | Payable by bank transfer within 28 days of the approval letter. The application is closed if unpaid. |
| IRP registration | €300 | Standard registration fee when your new 5-year Stamp 4 is put on a card. |
| Our consultation | Fixed fee | Agreed up front at booking, no surprises. |
Total cost to the State is €800, and only if you are approved. One more thing worth knowing: ISD corresponds only with you or a legal representative on this scheme, so our role is to build and check the application with you, in your name.
How long it takes
Guide figures from current official processing information. Individual cases vary.
ISD decision
Not published
The Domestic Residence and Permissions Division reports very high volumes. Expect a long wait and keep your permit and IRP valid throughout.
Fee payment window
28 days
From the date of the approval letter. Miss it and the application is closed.
Registering the new stamp
A few weeks
Portal registration plus card delivery once the permission letter issues.
Stamp 4 validity
5 years
Renewable at your local immigration office with evidence of living and working in Ireland for the previous five years.
Why applications get refused
Most refusals are preventable. These are the patterns we see and design out of every application.
Short of 60 qualifying months
ISD counts registered stamp time, not permit dates. Gaps between registrations, late renewals and overlapping stamps counted twice all shrink your real total.
Avoid it: Total your time from IRP validity dates before applying, and wait the extra weeks if you are marginal. We do this calculation as step one.
Counting stamps that do not qualify
Stamp 1G graduate time, student Stamp 2, dependant Stamp 3, Stamp 0 and Intra-Company Transfer Stamp 1 do not count for this scheme, even though some of them count for naturalisation and Stamp 5.
Avoid it: Build the 60 months only from Stamp 1 held on DETE permits, or Stamp 4 held on a Critical Skills basis. Check every stamp against the scheme list.
Not in employment at the date of application
The scheme requires you to be legally resident and in employment when you apply. Self-employed applicants are not accepted, and a recent redundancy can sink the timing.
Avoid it: Apply while employed, with a fresh employer letter or contract in the pack. If you are between jobs, wait until you are back in employment.
Reliance on means-tested welfare
Receiving non-contributory, means-tested payments can mean you are treated as an undue burden on the State, which is a ground for refusal.
Avoid it: If you have claimed a means-tested payment, take advice before filing so the circumstances can be explained honestly.
An incomplete pack
This is a paper scheme and ISD returns incomplete applications rather than chasing missing pages, which costs you months in a queue with no published timeframe.
Avoid it: Copy every stamp page and every permit in colour, include current employment evidence, and have a second pair of eyes check the pack. That is part of our standard review.
Breaches of your permission conditions
Working without a valid permit, overstaying between registrations or other breaches count against you, and character issues can also lead to refusal.
Avoid it: Deal with any wrinkle in your history openly. There is no appeal, but you can reapply once the issue is resolved, and a refusal letter sets out the reasons.
Common questions
Is this the same as the Stamp 4 I can get after 57 months on a General Employment Permit?+
No, they are separate routes to the same stamp. The 57-month Stamp 4 upgrade runs through ISD at registration renewal, counts months of employment shown by Revenue records, costs only the €300 registration fee, and issues Stamp 4 for 12 months at a time. Long-Term Residency needs 60 months of registered stamps, costs €500 plus the €300 registration, and issues Stamp 4 for a full 5 years.
Which route should I use at the five-year mark?+
For most General Employment Permit holders with a clean history, the 57-month upgrade is three months sooner and €500 cheaper, so it usually wins. Long-Term Residency makes sense if you want five years of Stamp 4 in one grant rather than annual renewals, or if your history fits this scheme's counting rules more cleanly. Critical Skills holders should almost always take the 21-month upgrade instead.
Does my student or graduate time count towards the 60 months?+
Not for this scheme. Stamp 2 student time and Stamp 1G graduate time do not qualify, and neither do Stamp 3 dependant time, Stamp 0 or Intra-Company Transfer Stamp 1. Only Stamp 1 held on a DETE employment permit, and Stamp 4 held on a Critical Skills basis, count. Confusingly, Stamp 1G does count for naturalisation and for Stamp 5, just not here.
How much does it cost altogether?+
Nothing when you apply. If approved, you pay €500 by bank transfer within 28 days of the approval letter, then the standard €300 IRP fee to register the new stamp, so €800 in total to the State. If the fee is not paid within the 28 days, the application is closed.
How long is ISD taking to decide these?+
There is no officially published timeframe, and the Domestic Residence and Permissions Division has a standing notice about very high volumes. In practice you should plan for a wait of many months and keep renewing your employment permit and IRP registration as normal, because the pending application does not protect your status.
What happens if I am refused?+
You get a letter setting out the reasons where possible. There is no appeal, but you can reapply at any time, and if you still qualify for your previous permission you may simply continue on it. Because most refusals come down to counting or paperwork, a properly prepared reapplication is usually the practical fix.
Can my spouse and children benefit?+
Once you hold Long-Term Residency, a spouse or dependant who has their own 60 months of legal residence can apply too. They are granted a 5-year Stamp 1G with the right to work if you held a Critical Skills permit, or a 5-year Stamp 3 without work rights if you held a General Employment Permit.
How does this compare with Stamp 5 and with citizenship?+
Stamp 5 needs 8 years of legal residence and lasts until your passport expires, and it counts Stamp 1G and Stamp 3 time that this scheme ignores. Naturalisation needs 5 years of reckonable residence in the last 9 and costs €175 to apply plus €950 on approval. Many permit holders skip Long-Term Residency entirely and apply straight for citizenship at the five-year mark, and we can map which combination fits your history.
How do I qualify for Stamp 5, and is it better than this scheme?+
Stamp 5, permission without condition as to time, needs 8 years, 96 months, of legal residence on qualifying stamps, and it counts a wider set than Long-Term Residency, including Stamp 1G graduate time and dependant Stamp 3 time. There is no application fee, only the €300 registration on approval, and once granted it has no time limit, staying valid until your passport expires and re-endorsed each time you renew your passport. It takes three more years than the 5-year Long-Term Residency scheme, but for mixed histories, or if you simply want no expiry date, it is often the better fit. We map both against your exact stamp record.
Grounded in official sources
Ready to talk through your next step?
Book a consultation with our team and leave with a clear, personal plan grounded in the official rules.
Related services