Critical Skills Employment Permit
- What is a Critical Skills Employment Permit?
- Who is eligible for a Critical Skills Employment Permit?
- How to apply
- Immigration and registration
- Your family
- Applying for a Stamp 4 after 21 months
- Changing or losing your job
- Fee
- Where to apply
What is a Critical Skills Employment Permit?
If you are from a country that is outside the European Economic Area (the EU, plus Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein), the UK or Switzerland, you need permission to work in Ireland. In most cases, this means you have to apply for an employment permit.
The Critical Skills Employment Permit is for skilled workers who are qualified in professions where there is a shortage of skills in Ireland. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) has a Critical Skills Occupation List.
You apply for it before you come to Ireland in most cases. You may also need to apply for a visa to come to Ireland.
Once you have arrived in Ireland, you have to register and get an Irish Residence Permit.
There are other types of employment permit issued by DETE.
The employment permits scheme is governed by the Employment Permits Acts. On 2 September 2024, the Employment Permits Act 2024 comes into effect and introduces some changes to employment permits law in Ireland.
Who is eligible for a Critical Skills Employment Permit?
You (or the employer) can apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit if you are offered a job that has either:
- An annual salary of at least €38,000 a year (from 17 January 2024) in an occupation that is on the Critical Skills Occupation List
- An annual salary of €64,000 a year in an occupation that is not on the list of ineligible occupations
You cannot get a permit to work for a company where more than 50% of the employees are non-EEA nationals. This requirement may be waived in the case of start-up companies which are supported by Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland.
You must apply for the permit before you come to Ireland. If you already live in Ireland and have a valid Irish Residence Permit (IRP) with stamp 1, 1G, 2, 2A or 3 permission, you can apply for the permit if you satisfy the criteria.
Qualifications
You must have the relevant qualifications, skills and experience needed for the job.
For eligible jobs in the €38,000 or more salary range you must have a degree or higher qualification.
For eligible jobs with an annual salary of €64,000 or over, you must have a degree or equivalent experience.
For nurses and midwives, you must have a qualification that is recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland for registration to work in Ireland.
Job offer
You must have a job offer from a company or employer who is registered with Revenue, trading in Ireland and registered with the Companies Registration Office.
You must be directly employed and paid by your employer in Ireland. Job offers from recruitment agencies and other intermediaries are not acceptable for this permit.
The job offer must be for 2 years or more.
Labour market needs test
A labour market needs test is not required for a Critical Skills Employment Permit. This means that the employer does not need to advertise the job with the Department of Social Protection, European Employment Service (EURES) or in newspapers.
Coming to Ireland for a job interview
If you have been invited to come to Ireland for an interview for a job on the Critical Skills Occupations List, you can apply for a Highly Skilled Job Interview Authorisation. This allows you to remain in Ireland for a maximum of 90 days.
How to apply
Either you or the employer can apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit to the Employment Permits Section of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
You apply online with the required documentation, using the Employment Permits Online System (EPOS). You can use the Critical Skills Employment Permit checklist to help you apply.
Either you or your employer must pay a fee of €1,000. If your application is refused you will get 90% of your application fee back.
After you have applied
The application processing times are on the Department’s website. If your application is refused, you must be given the specific reasons it was refused. You can appeal this decision within 28 days, using the form to submit a decision for review.
Immigration and registration
If your application is successful and you live outside of Ireland, you still have to apply for a visa to enter Ireland if you are from a country whose citizens need a visa to enter Ireland. You must present your employment permit to the immigration officer in the airport or port of entry to Ireland.
You must register with your local registration office in the area where you intend to live when you arrive in Ireland. Once you are registered, you will get an Irish Residence Permit (IRP).
If you are already living in Ireland on another immigration permission, you must go to your local registration office to change your registration permission.
Your family
People who have a Critical Skills Employment Permit can bring their family to live with them in Ireland.
Family are from a country whose citizens need a visa to enter Ireland: they must all apply for separate visas.
Family are from a country whose citizens do not need a visa to enter Ireland: they must show proof that they are the family members of a Critical Skills Employment Permit holder to an immigration officer in the airport or port where they enter Ireland.
Preclearance for de-facto partners
A de-facto partner is someone who you are in a committed relationship with that is like a marriage, but you are not married to each other. If your de-facto partner is joining you in Ireland, they must apply for either:
- A visa if they are from a country whose citizens need a visa to enter Ireland
- Preclearance if they are from a country whose citizens do not need a visa to enter Ireland
Your children must also apply the same way as your de-facto partner.
Registration and work
Your spouse or de-facto partner and any child aged 16 and over must register and get an IRP.
Your spouse or partner can get a Stamp 1G IRP which gives them the right to work without a work permit. Other family members can apply for a Dependent/Spouse/Partner Employment Permit.
Applying for a Stamp 4 after 21 months
The Critical Skills Employment Permit is issued for 2 years.
21 months after you started work in Ireland, you can apply for a Stamp 4 permission to live and work in Ireland without an employment permit.
If you are granted a Stamp 4 permission, it will be issued for 2 years and can be renewed provided you continue to satisfy the criteria. When you have been legally resident for 5 years, you can apply for citizenship by naturalisation.
If you are not eligible for a Stamp 4, you will continue to need an employment permit to work in Ireland.
Changing or losing your job
Changing your job
From 2 September 2024, if this is your first employment permit in Ireland, then you must stay with your employer for 9 months (previously 12 months), unless there are exceptional circumstances. After that, you can change employer.
From 2 September 2024, you no longer have to make a new application for a Critical Skills Employment Permit if you want to change jobs. However, you can only change to a job within the same occupation or occupation classification on your original permit, for example, different engineering roles.
The following conditions apply:
- As the permit holder, you can make a maximum of 3 applications for a change of employer.
- A new contract of employment signed by both you and your new employer must be submitted.
- You must start employment with your new employer within 1 month of the new permit being issued.
You cannot start your new employment until the employment permit has been reissued. From 2 September 2024, you can be promoted or move internally within the same company if you will be using the same skills, and the job is still eligible.
If you qualify for a Stamp 4 after 21 months, you can change jobs without needing to apply for an employment permit.
Losing your job
If you are made redundant you should notify the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment using the redundancy notification form within 28 days of dismissal. The Department will allow you 6 months to find another job. When you find another job, you can apply for a new Critical Skills Employment Permit.
If you are made redundant in a job title that is no longer eligible for a Critical Skills Employment Permit, your application will still be considered if you get a 2-year job offer with the same job title.
You must contact your local immigration registration office to confirm your immigration status. If you have more than 6 months before your immigration permission expires, you can reside in Ireland for 6 months. If you have less than 6 months' immigration permission you can have your immigration permission extended to 6 months which means you will have to pay for a new IRP. If you have not found a new job after 6 months you may have to leave Ireland.
Fee
The fee for a Critical Skills Employment Permit must be paid by the applicant. The applicant can be the employer, the employee, a connected person or contractor, or an authorised agent. Payments from businesses are made by electronic fund transfer (EFT).
Permit | Fee | Duration |
New | €1,000 | Up to 2 years |
If an application is refused or withdrawn, 90% of the fee will be refunded to the applicant.
The fee for registering with immigration and getting an IRP is €300.
You can read more about fees for employment permits on enterprise.gov.ie.