Immigration Pathways to Ireland
Are you a non-EU citizen looking to move to Ireland? These are high-level categories that may apply to your situation. Whether you are from the US to Uganda, Lesotho to Laos, if you lack an Irish, European Union or United Kingdom passport, you must have one of the following permissions in place before you travel to Ireland. You cannot seek employment while visiting Ireland as a tourist.
01
Employment Permits: Critical Skills vs General Employment
The Critical Skills Employment Permit pathway allows for immediate family reunification, and includes the opportunity to apply for citizenship after 5 years in the Irish state. You must have a job offer and a company willing to sponsor you; in most cases, this will be with a major multinational offering a relatively senior role in sectors such as tech, finance or pharma. Even if your profession appears on the Critical Skills List, there is no guarantee that your prospective company will be successful in sponsoring your application. The General Employment Permit offers the opportunity to apply for a Stamp 4 after 57 months, and is more restrictive overall. Find out more details here.
02
Citizenship by Descent or Marriage
If your parent or grandparent was born on the island of Ireland, you may already be a citizen or eligible to be added to the Foreign Births Register. If this is your situation, you can find the relevant documentation and apply yourself. The process can take several years from start to finish. By contrast, you can apply for naturalisation via marriage (or civil partnership) to an Irish citizen after 3 years in the State. You can get more information on these processes here.
03
Short-term Options
Time spent on study visas does not count toward reckonable residence to later apply for naturalisation in Ireland. Nor does the Working Holiday Authorization programme for young adults. Intra-company transfer employment permits similarly do not count toward long-term residency or eventual citizenship, but may well be appropriate for someone looking for a 2-3 year stint in an Irish office, with their employer’s support. See if this is right for you here. The Stamp 0 ‘retirement’ permission also falls under the ‘temporary’ status – it is not a guaranteed path to eventual citizenship.
