Ireland · Work authorisation

Critical Skills Employment Permit

Issued by Employment Permits section, Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE). It is checked against conditions rather than scored, so the question is whether you meet each one, not how many points you gather.

Basis
Checklist
Steps
4
Possible outcomes
3
Last checked
2026-08-09

Conditions

What this permit
asks of you.

Which desk decides

The authority, exactly

DETE's own guidance states that, following a successful application, a visa-required national still has to apply to the Irish embassy or consulate responsible for their country for an entry visa before travelling, and points to the Department of Foreign Affairs for the list of visa-required countries. Once in the State, every employment permit holder must register their immigration permission with the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

2026 figure

Salary floor

EUR 40,904 a year

Effective from 1 March 2026, per the salary-threshold roadmap DETE announced in December 2025. This is the floor for a role on the Critical Skills Occupations List that requires a relevant degree. Two other figures apply on the same permit: €68,911 a year for a role where the necessary experience can stand in for the degree, and €36,848 a year for the Graduate Critical Skills Employment Permit, open where the applicant graduated with a relevant Level 8 (or higher) degree within the 12 months before applying. DETE's roadmap phases in further increases through 2030 — confirm the figure in force on the date you apply.

A figure without the year it belongs to and the condition attached to it is how someone rules themselves out of a permit they qualify for. Both are above.

Qualification

What it wants from your degree

A relevant degree or higher, where the role is on the Critical Skills Occupations List and pays a minimum of €40,904 a year; the necessary level of experience can stand in for a degree where the role pays a minimum of €68,911 a year and is not on the Ineligible List of Occupations for Employment Permits.

The procedure

4 steps,
in the order they happen.

Prepare your documents

  1. Secure a job offer of at least two years for a role on the Critical Skills Occupations List, or one that meets the higher salary floor of €68,911 a year.Submit your application at least 12 weeks before the proposed start date; once you start an online application you have 28 days to submit it before the system deletes it.
  2. Gather evidence of the qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience the role calls for, and of your own. DETE's application checklist does not list a QQI/NARIC Ireland comparability statement as a required document for this permit — only your own qualification details and, where the role itself has to be registered with a regulatory body, that registration number.Where your qualification is hard to verify against the Irish National Framework of Qualifications, a NARIC Ireland comparability statement can still support your case; it addresses academic comparability only, not any separate professional-recognition question.

Get your qualification assessed

  1. Apply online through the Employment Permits Online System, as either the employer or the employee. The employer also has to show that at least half of the firm's employees are EEA nationals, unless the firm is a start-up within two years of establishment and backed by IDA Ireland or Enterprise Ireland.

Register and start working

  1. If you are a visa-required national, apply for an entry visa at the Irish embassy or consulate responsible for your country once the permit is granted. Once in the State, register your immigration permission with the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

Cost and time

What it costs,
and how long the authority says it takes.

Fees

Employment permit application fee
€1,000, of which 90% is refunded if the application is refused

Timeframes

Minimum notice before the proposed start date
At least 12 weeks
Processing, published and updated by DETE
As of 7 August 2026, DETE was deciding Critical Skills applications received on 28 July 2026 — check the department's current processing-dates page for the queue on the day you apply

Published processing times, not a prediction about your case.

Both halves together

Guides that use this permit.

Each one takes a profession into Ireland and runs the recognition branch and the authorisation branch side by side, including what your country of qualification adds.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

6 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest is 2026-08-09, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

Is this the right permit for you?

That depends on where you qualified.

The planner compares every route Ireland opens to your country of qualification, and adds the recognition branch when your profession has one.

Check my path →All Ireland permits