Redundancy on a work permit sets two clocks running at once. The first is the employment-law clock every worker in Ireland shares: notice, the statutory lump sum, jobseeker's benefit. The second is the immigration clock that is yours alone: a 28-day deadline to notify the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, and a 6-month window to find a new job before your permission to stay runs out of road.
The single most important step is the first one. File the Redundancy Notification with DETE within 4 weeks of your dismissal and the system works with you: you may remain in the State for up to 6 months to seek work, and your next permit application skips the labour market needs test, even if your job title has since been removed from the eligible lists, an application for the same title will still be considered. Miss the notification and you lose those protections. Everything on this page flows from getting that one form in on time.
Made for people like you
GEP holders losing a role
Your employer is restructuring or closing and your General Employment Permit is tied to that job. Notify in time and your next application skips the labour market needs test entirely.
CSEP holders caught mid-pathway
Redundancy does not delete the time you have built up on your Critical Skills permit. The priority is a fast, clean move to the next role so your Stamp 4 trajectory stays intact.
Anyone inside their first 9 months
Redundancy is one of the few exceptions to the 9-month wait before changing employer. Even very new permit holders have a route; the sequencing just matters more.
Families on dependant permissions
Your spouse's and children's permissions are linked to yours. Planning the 6-month window properly protects the whole household, not just your own status.
Do you qualify?
The protections in this process attach to a genuine dismissal by reason of redundancy, notified on time. Three questions decide where you stand.
The process covers you if
- You held a valid employment permit on the date you were dismissed
- The dismissal was by reason of redundancy: the job ceased to exist
- You raise a Redundancy Request on EPOS, with Form NOR002/18, within 28 days of the dismissal
- You remain genuinely seeking employment during the 6-month window
- Any new role you take is covered by a new permit before you start work
Different rules apply if
- You resigned voluntarily, which is not a redundancy, so the 6-month window does not arise
- Your fixed-term contract simply ended on its natural expiry date
- You were dismissed for conduct or performance, in which case unfair-dismissal rights may apply instead
- Your permit had already expired before the dismissal, so the Reactivation permit may be the route back
Notified within 28 days vs missed the deadline
Notification filed on time
Protected- Stay in Ireland
- Up to 6 months to seek a new role
- Labour market test
- Waived on the new application
- Ineligible job titles
- Same title still considered, even if delisted
- DETE's view
- You are inside the system, on record
- Cost
- €0 to notify
No notification filed
- Stay in Ireland
- No formal job-seeking window
- Labour market test
- Full 28-day advertising applies again
- Ineligible job titles
- No protection, delisted means refused
- DETE's view
- Out of the system and harder to fix
- Fixing it later
- Often means the Reactivation route
How the new EPOS process works
Since the portal moved online, redundancy is notified inside EPOS rather than by paper form. Here is the sequence, deadline by deadline.
- 01
Secure your employment-law entitlements
Day 1Before anything immigration-related, get the redundancy in writing, check your notice period, and confirm the statutory lump sum of 2 weeks' gross pay per year of service plus a bonus week, capped at €600 a week and tax-free. Every one of those rights applies to permit holders in full, and our Redundancy: Your Rights page walks through each figure.
- 02
Raise the Redundancy Request in EPOS
Within 28 daysLog into the Employment Permits Online portal, open the permit that has ended and select Redundancy Request. Download the Redundancy Form (NOR002/18) from the link on that page, complete it, and upload it together with a letter from the employer named on your permit, then submit. The request goes straight to DETE. This is your notification, and it must reach the Department within 4 weeks of your dismissal, because the 6-month window, the labour market test waiver and the protection for delisted job titles all hinge on it.
- 03
Sign on and stabilise the finances
Week 1Jobseeker's Benefit is PRSI-based, so your permit years count. Apply from your first day out of work, because receiving it does not damage your immigration position or a future permit application. This is the breathing room that lets you search properly instead of grabbing the first offer.
- 04
Run a focused 6-month search
Months 1-5The window is 6 months from the redundancy date, and a new permit application needs time to be decided inside it. Target roles that fit your permit type and salary floor, and remember the redundancy exception means even applicants inside their first 9 months can move. We help you shortlist employers who already hold permits and know the process.
- 05
Apply for the new permit with the waivers
On offerOnce you have a signed offer, the new application goes in on EPOS with the labour market needs test waived. If your old job title has been removed from the eligible lists since, an application for the same title is still considered. Standard fees apply, at €1,000 for most GEP and CSEP applications of up to 2 years, with 90% refunded if refused.
- 06
Do not start until the permit issues
The waivers speed up the paperwork, but the golden rule is unchanged: no work for the new employer until the permit is granted. CSEP decisions are currently running at about 2 weeks and GEP at about 6, so a complete application filed early sits comfortably inside the window.
- 07
No job by month 6? Move before the deadline
If the search has not landed by month 5, contact Immigration Service Delivery about your status beyond the window rather than letting it lapse. Options range from a change of permission to leaving and returning later on a fresh permit, and a lapsed status forecloses them all, so the timing of this call matters.
What to gather
Start collecting these early. Weak or missing documents are the most common avoidable cause of delays and refusals.
Redundancy Form NOR002/18
Downloaded and submitted inside EPOS as a Redundancy Request, within 28 days
Employer letter confirming the redundancy
From the employer named on your permit, uploaded with the form
Your employment permit
The permit held on the date of dismissal
Current IRP card
Keep your registration valid right through the search window
Passport bio page
Valid, and matching your permit details
Final payslips and lump-sum statement
Evidence for your statutory entitlements and benefit claims
New signed job offer or contract
Salary meeting the current minimum for your permit type
Proof of your job search
Applications and interviews, useful if ISD asks about the window
Every case is different. We confirm your exact list at consultation.
What it costs
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Redundancy Notification to DETE | €0 | Notifying the Employment Permits Section of your redundancy is free. |
| New employment permit application | €1,000 | GEP or CSEP for up to 24 months. 90% refunded if the application is refused or withdrawn. |
| IRP registration renewal, when due | €300 | Per adult. Keep it current during the search; an expired IRP compounds every other problem. |
| Our consultation | Fixed fee | Notification filed, entitlements checked, search plan and application sequenced, agreed up front. |
Your statutory redundancy lump sum from the employer is tax-free and completely separate from these State fees. Under section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024, no permit cost may ever be recovered from you by an employer.
How long it takes
Guide figures from current official processing information. Individual cases vary.
Notify DETE
28 days
Four weeks from the date of dismissal. File it in week one; nothing is gained by waiting.
Job-search window
6 months
Counted from the redundancy date, not from your notification. The permit application must fit inside it.
New permit decision
2-6 weeks
New CSEP applications are currently decided in about 2 weeks and GEP applications in about 6; file early in the window.
If nothing lands
Before month 6
Contact ISD about your status beyond the window before it closes, not after. Timing is everything here.
Where permit holders lose out
The redundancy protections are generous, but they are procedural: each one can be forfeited by a missed step rather than a bad case.
Missing the 28-day notification
Every protection in this process (the 6-month window, the labour market test waiver, the delisted-title concession) is anchored to the Redundancy Request reaching DETE via EPOS within 4 weeks of dismissal. Late means none of it applies.
Avoid it: File it in the first week, while you are still gathering everything else. It is free, and there is no advantage whatsoever in waiting.
Confusing resignation with redundancy
Accepting a 'resignation package' or resigning ahead of an expected restructure can mean there is no dismissal by reason of redundancy at all, and with it no 6-month window and no waivers.
Avoid it: Before signing anything that says 'resignation' or 'mutual agreement', get the document reviewed. The label on the paperwork drives your immigration position.
Starting the new job before the permit issues
The waivers accelerate the application; they do not remove the need for one. Working for the new employer while the application is pending is a breach that can poison the application itself and your record.
Avoid it: Hold the start date until the permit is granted. At current processing speeds, a complete application filed promptly usually means weeks, not months.
Letting the IRP lapse mid-search
Your registration runs on its own schedule regardless of the redundancy. An expired IRP during the search window turns a manageable situation into an undocumented one.
Avoid it: Check the expiry date on day one. If renewal falls due inside the window, renew on time; €300 spent here protects the entire plan.
Running the search to the last week
An offer in month 6 sounds like success, but the permit application still needs to be decided, and if the window closes first, your status question lands with ISD anyway, now under pressure.
Avoid it: Treat month 5 as the real deadline for offers. If the search is not converging by then, open the conversation with ISD early rather than late.
Leaving statutory money on the table
In the scramble over immigration status, permit holders routinely walk away from the lump sum, notice pay and jobseeker's benefit they are legally owed, money that funds the search itself.
Avoid it: Claim everything: 2 weeks per year plus one, notice or pay in lieu, untaken leave and PRSI-based benefits. None of it hurts your next application.
Common questions
Do I get statutory redundancy pay as a permit holder?+
Yes, on exactly the same terms as any other worker in Ireland: 2 weeks' gross pay per complete year of service plus one bonus week, capped at €600 a week, fully tax-free, after 104 weeks of insurable service. Your nationality and permit status are irrelevant to the entitlement. Our Redundancy: Your Rights page covers the calculation, the notice ladder and what to do if the employer will not pay.
Can I claim Jobseeker's Benefit on a Stamp 1?+
Yes. Jobseeker's Benefit is based on your PRSI contributions, which you have been paying throughout your permit employment, and claiming it does not count against you in a future permit application. Apply from your first day out of work. Means-tested payments are a different matter, but the contribution-based benefit is yours.
Do I have to leave Ireland when my job ends?+
No. Once you file the Redundancy Notification within 28 days, you may remain in the State for up to 6 months from the redundancy date to seek alternative employment. The purpose of the window is precisely so you can search from inside Ireland rather than from abroad.
My job title was removed from the eligible lists since I got my permit. Am I stuck?+
No, this is one of the strongest protections in the process. Provided you notified DETE within the 4 weeks, a new application for the same job title will still be considered even though the title has become ineligible, and without a labour market needs test. It is also the clearest illustration of why the notification deadline matters so much.
Does the 6-month window pause my Stamp 4 or citizenship clock?+
Your reckonable residence continues while you hold a valid permission, which is one more reason to keep your IRP current during the search. The practical priority is landing the next role quickly so the gap in permit employment stays short; we map the knock-on timing for Stamp 4 and naturalisation as part of the plan.
What happens to my spouse and children's permissions?+
Dependant permissions are linked to yours, so the household's status follows the plan you run in these 6 months. Nothing collapses on day one, but the family's registrations, school enrolments and any dependant work rights all ride on you either securing the next permit or agreeing a status with ISD before the window closes. Bring the whole picture to the consultation.
I'm still inside my first 9 months. Can I really move?+
Yes. Redundancy is an explicit exception to the 9-month rule that normally locks new permit holders to their first employer. Your route is a new permit application with the redundancy waivers rather than the standard change-of-employer process, and the notification deadline applies exactly as it does for everyone else.
What if I can't find anything within the 6 months?+
Contact Immigration Service Delivery before the window closes to establish your status beyond it; options are wider while you are still in-status. If you choose to leave Ireland and later receive a new job offer, you can apply for a fresh permit from abroad under the rules in force at that time, and in some cases the Reactivation permit route can bring a lapsed situation back into the system.
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.
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