Do I need a work permit?


The Department of Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation is the responsible authority for Employment or Work Permit Schemes. The Department has provided information in relation to the following key schemes:

For further information, you should visit the website of the Department of Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation.

EU Nationals

With some exceptions which are set out below, nationals of EU countries do not require employment permits.

On 17 December 2008, the Government announced its decision that, from 1 January 2009, it would continue to restrict access to the Irish labour market for nationals of Bulgaria and Romania. This decision will be kept under on-going review and will be assessed comprehensively before the end of 2011.

Accordingly, Bulgarian and Romanian nationals will continue to require an employment permit to take up employment in Ireland and the job will continue to be subject to the current requirement for a labour market test. However, these employment permit requirements apply only to the first continuous twelve months of employment in the State. At the end of this twelve month period a Bulgarian or Romanian national will be free to work in Ireland without any further need for an employment permit.

Non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals

A non-EEA national, except in the cases listed below, requires an employment permit to take up employment in Ireland (the EEA comprises the Member States of the European Union together with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein).

Citizens of non-EEA countries who do not require Employment Permits include:

•a non-EEA national who has obtained explicit permission from the Department of Justice and Equality to remain resident and employed in Ireland.
•a non-EEA national who has been granted refugee status.
•a non-EEA national who holds appropriate business permission to operate a business in the State.
•a non-EEA national who is a registered student working less than 20 hours a week.
•Swiss nationals.

Tables showing the breakdown of employment permits by nationality are available at this page of the Department of Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation website.



^ Back to top

ireland