Do you need a visa to move to Ireland?
Whether you need a visa depends entirely on your nationality. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not need a visa or employment permit — they have the right to live and work in Ireland under EU free movement rules. British citizens also do not need a visa or permit, under the Common Travel Area arrangements between Ireland and the UK. Citizens of around 30 other countries — including the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea — do not need a visa for short visits, but do need an employment permit and a long-stay visa to work. Citizens of most other countries need a visa even for short visits.
Working in Ireland: employment permits
If you are from outside the EU/EEA and want to work, your Irish employer usually applies for an employment permit on your behalf (you cannot apply yourself in most cases). The two main permits in 2026 are the Critical Skills Employment Permit, for highly skilled roles on the Critical Skills Occupations List (ICT, engineering, science, healthcare and finance roles feature heavily), and the General Employment Permit, for other roles where the employer has demonstrated a labour market need. Critical Skills permits lead to a Stamp 4 immigration permission after 2 years, which allows you to work for any employer without a permit. The Employment Permits Act 2024 also introduced new permit categories, including permits for the dependants and partners of certain permit holders.
Visas and immigration stamps
If you need a visa, you apply for a long-stay 'D' visa at your nearest Irish embassy or consulate (or online through the Irish visa system) before you travel. On arrival, you register your permission with immigration — in Dublin this is done online through ISD (Immigration Service Delivery), and outside Dublin at your local immigration office. You receive an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card which proves your permission. The main permission types are Stamp 1 (employment permit holder — tied to your employer), Stamp 1G (third-level graduate seeking work), Stamp 2 (student), Stamp 3 (dependent of a permit holder, not allowed to work) and Stamp 4 (long-term residency — work without a permit).
Family members
Spouses, civil partners and de facto partners of EU/EEA citizens can join them in Ireland under EU free movement rules. Spouses and partners of employment permit holders can apply for a Stamp 3 (no work) or, where eligible, their own employment permit under the 2024 Act. Children of permit holders can join the family and attend school. For EU citizens' family members from outside the EU/EEA, a residence card (Stamp 4 EU Fam) can be applied for once in Ireland.
Naturalisation and long-term residency
After 5 years of legal residence (and in some cases less for EU citizens' family members), you can apply for long-term residency or Irish citizenship through naturalisation. Since 2024, reckonable residence for naturalisation was extended to include certain immigration permission types, and applications are made online through ISD. Citizenship requires meeting residence, good character and (since 2019) language requirements — details are on the ISD website.
Action steps
- Check your nationality's requirements on the Irish immigration website (irishimmigration.ie) before booking anything.
- For work: confirm with your employer that an employment permit has been approved before you resign from your current job.
- Apply for your D-visa as early as possible — processing can take 8 weeks or more.
- Register with immigration and get your IRP card as soon as possible after arrival — you will need it to open a bank account and rent.
- Never overstay your permission — it can jeopardise future visa applications.
Stamp 0 and other permissions
Beyond the work and study stamps, Stamp 0 covers people who do not intend to work — retirees with sufficient means, non-EEA parents of Irish citizen children, and certain visitors on long stays. It carries a condition that you do not rely on public funds. If you are the non-EEA parent of an Irish citizen child born in Ireland, you may qualify for Stamp 4 based on parentage — one of the most common routes to residency. EU citizens' non-EEA family members can apply for a Stamp 4 EU Fam residence card after arrival. Each permission has its own conditions, so check the ISD website or get immigration advice before planning around a particular stamp.
From permit to citizenship
The path to permanence: after 2 years on a Critical Skills permit (or 5 years on a General permit), you can apply for Stamp 4 — permission to work without a permit, renewable without employment. After 5 years of reckonable residence, you can apply for long-term residency or Irish citizenship by naturalisation (the latter also requires good character and, since 2019, a language requirement). Citizenship applications are processed online through ISD and currently take a year or more. Irish citizenship brings an Irish passport, the right to live and work anywhere in the EU/EEA, and the right to vote — and it does not require you to renounce your existing nationality (Ireland allows dual citizenship). Keep records of every permission and renewal; gaps in your immigration history reset the clock.