Ireland · Work authorisation

General 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. Once in the State, every employment permit holder must register their immigration permission with the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

2026 figure

Salary floor

EUR 36,605 a year

Effective from 1 March 2026. A lower floor of €34,009 a year applies to the Graduate General Employment Permit, open where the applicant graduated with a relevant Level 8 (or higher) degree within the 12 months before applying. DETE also publishes a separate, lower floor for a short list of named occupations outside these two categories — check the department's current schedule if you are unsure which floor applies to your role. The roadmap phases in further increases across all of these thresholds through 2030, so 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

The qualifications, skills or experience the specific role requires. The permit covers any occupation not on the Ineligible List of Occupations for Employment Permits, so what counts as sufficient depends on the job, not on one bar set for every applicant.

The procedure

4 steps,
in the order they happen.

Prepare your documents

  1. Secure a job offer that is not on the Ineligible List of Occupations for Employment Permits, at the applicable salary floor.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. Run the Labour Market Needs Test, unless the role is on the Critical Skills Occupations List, pays at least €68,911 a year, is backed by IDA Ireland or Enterprise Ireland, or fits one of the scheme's other exemptions. Advertise the vacancy on the Department of Social Protection's Employment Services/EURES network (JobsIreland.ie) for 28 continuous, unaltered days, and on one further online platform for the same period, then apply within 90 days of the first publication.Every advertisement has to state the job, the employer's name, the location, the weekly hours and the minimum annual remuneration.

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, with the same start-up exemption as the Critical Skills permit, plus a further one where the applicant would be the firm's sole employee.

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, up to 24 months
€1,000, of which 90% is refunded if the application is refused
Employment permit application fee, six months or less
€500
Renewal, up to 36 months
€1,500

Timeframes

Minimum notice before the proposed start date
At least 12 weeks
Labour Market Needs Test advertising period
28 continuous days on each of two platforms, then apply within 90 days of the first publication
Permit granted
Up to 24 months in the first instance, renewable for up to a further three years
Processing, published and updated by DETE
As of 7 August 2026, DETE was deciding new General Employment Permit applications received on 6 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.

7 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.

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