Residency in Ireland

If you have been legally living in Ireland for at least 5 years, you may be eligible for long-term residency. This permission allows you to live and work in Ireland for 5 years without needing to obtain a Work permit. Once these 5 years expire, you can apply to renew your permission.

You can also apply for long-term residency as the spouse or dependant of someone with long-term residency, provided that you also satisfy the 5-year residence requirement.

If you are a UK or an EU citizen, you will not need to become an Irish permanent residence holder in order to live in Ireland full-time. Your EU or UK citizenship status already allows you to settle in Ireland.

Note that long-term residency is not the same thing as Irish citizenship. You will have to meet different eligibility criteria in order to qualify for Irish citizenship. Irish citizenship allows you to vote in Irish elections and to apply for an Irish passport, whereas long-term residence status does not.

Page Contents

• Getting permanent residency in Ireland
• Eligibility criteria to obtain residency in Ireland
• How to apply for long-term residency in Ireland?
• What documents are required for an Ireland residency application?
• Is there a fee for applying for Long Term Residency in Ireland?
• Can Hosting Agreement holders apply for Long Term Residency?
• Understanding Stamp 4 permission
• Conditions of Long Term Residency
• Renewal process for Long Term Residency permission
• What if my permission is refused?
• Route to Citizenship in Ireland
• How Can Total Law Help?
• Frequently Asked Questions

In order to qualify for Irish long-term residency, there are a number of eligibility criteria which you will need to satisfy. These are generally as follows:

• You have been legally resident in Ireland for at least 5 years (60 months), with eligible stamps or Irish Residence Permit cards. The qualifying stamps are as follows:
• • Stamp 1: granted when you have a valid Work permit/Critical Skills permit from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
  • Stamp 4: granted when you have a valid Green Card/Critical Skills Employment permit from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
• You have not been ‘an undue burden on the state’, – i.e. have not received social welfare payments outside of your Pay Related Social Insurance contributions – during your time in Ireland
• You are of good character, i.e. have not been involved in any criminal activity during your time in Ireland
• You still have valid immigration status in Ireland at the time of application, i.e. still have valid immigration stamps in your passport or a valid Irish Residence Permit card
• You are employed at the point when you submit your application, and expect to still be in employment once your application has been submitted (note that applications from self-employed applicants are not accepted)

After living in Ireland legally for 5 years, some residents are also eligible to apply for citizenship status. However, the eligibility criteria are different for citizenship, as outlined later in this article.

When applying for long-term residency status, there are a number of steps which you will need to complete:

Step 1: Gather the necessary documents which you will need to submit in support of your application (listed in the following section of this article).

Step 2: Complete the ‘Application for permission to remain in the State on Long Term Residency’. This form can be found on the Irish government website.

Step 3: Submit the completed application form, along with the other supporting documentation, to the following address:

Long Term Residence Section

Unit C – Domestic Residence and Permissions Division

Immigration Service Delivery

Department of Justice

13-14 Burgh Quay

Dublin 2, DO2 XK70

Ireland

Note that, if your application form is incomplete, your application will be returned to you unprocessed.

Step 4: If your application is successful, you will receive an approval letter instructing you to pay the application fee. You will have 28 days in which to do so.

Step 5: Once you have paid the fee, you will receive a letter which confirms your long-term residence permission. You will then need to register this permission via the Irish Immigration Service Online and pay an additional registration fee.

In the event that your application is unsuccessful, you have the option of applying again or contacting your local immigration office in order to return to your previous permission, assuming that you still satisfy the eligibility criteria.

There are a number of documents which you will need to provide when applying for Irish long-term residency. These are generally as follows:

• Completed application form
• Colour copies of your passport and any previous passports containing the immigration stamps which contribute to your 5-year residency period
• A copy of your current Irish Residence Permit
• A copy of your employment contract (or a letter from your employer) which states when you starting working at your place of work and the details of your role
• Colour copies of each Employment permit which you have been issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
• Proof of your continuous residence in Ireland, e.g. tenancy agreements, bank statements, letters from official government bodies, etc.

If the copies which you submit are poor quality then they will not be accepted and this will cause delays to your application.

Yes, there is a €500 fee for applying for long-term residency. If you successfully qualify for long-term residency permission, you will be sent an approval letter which contains instructions on how to pay the fee. You will have 28 days in which to do so.

Once you have provided evidence that you have paid the fee, you will receive a letter confirming your Long Term Residency status. You will then need to register this permission via the ISD Online Registration Portal, after which you will be authorised to work in Ireland without needing an Employment permit.

Note that failure to pay the application fee within 28 days will result in your application being closed. You will be able to reapply, however.

Yes, if you are a Hosting Agreement holder, you will generally be able to apply for long-term residency. In order to be eligible, you will need to satisfy one of the following conditions:

• You have held Hosting Agreements for at least 5 years
• You have held a combination of Hosting Agreements and Employment permits for at least 5 years
• You have held 2 years of Hosting Agreements and 3 years on Stamp 4
• Hosting Agreements are granted to scientific researchers working within Ireland. Researchers must work for an accredited research organisation, which will act as their ‘host’ during their time in the country.

Stamp 4 permission allows the holder to live and work in Ireland without requiring an Employment permit. It is granted for a specific period of time. It can be used to count towards your residence period when applying for permanent residence and citizenship.

Stamp 4 may be granted after you have held the following permissions:

• A Critical Skills Employment permit for 2 years
• An Employment permit for 5 years
• A researcher with a Hosting Agreement for 2 years

It may also be granted in the following circumstances:

• You are joining your Irish spouse or partner in Ireland
• You have refugee status or are joining your close family member who has refugee status
• To allow you to remain in Ireland with your Irish citizen child
• You are in Ireland under either the Investor or Entrepreneur Programme (spouses/partners and minor/dependant children are also eligible through this route)
• Long-term residence

Note that Stamp 4 is distinct from Stamp 4D, which is intended for the non-EEA family members of UK citizens wishing to live in Ireland after 01.01.21, as part of Ireland’s Brexit policy.

Once you obtain long-term residency permission within Ireland, there are a number of conditions which you will need to satisfy. These are generally as follows:

• You must obey Irish law
• You must not become involved in any criminal activity
• You must reside permanently in Ireland (i.e. live in Ireland full-time)
• • You can only leave the country for specific reasons, such as going on holiday, family emergencies, and overseas work commitments. In general, your time outside of the country should not exceed 90 days per year; exceeding the 90-day mark may interfere with your ability to apply successfully for Irish citizenship

Note that failure to adhere to the long-term residency conditions can lead to your permission being revoked. Your permission may also be revoked in the event that you are found to have submitted incorrect or misleading information during the application process, or if you did not register your permission with your local immigration office.

Once your long-term residency permission expires after 5 years, you can renew it via your local immigration office.

When attending the immigration office, you will be expected to provide evidence that you have been living and working in Ireland for the past 5 years. One means of doing so is providing P60s which show your employment history in the country.

You will have to complete the form ‘Application for permission to remain in the State on Long Term Residency’. Note that decisions are made on a case by case basis and the amount of means-tested social welfare payments which you have received during the past 5 years will be taken into account. As such, it is advisable to minimise the amount of welfare benefits you apply for during your time in Ireland with permanent settlement status, as this could impact your ability to renew your status or to eventually apply for citizenship.

If your application for long-term residence is unsuccessful, you will receive a letter explaining why. Note that there is no appeal process for long-term residence applications. However, you can re-apply for long-term residence, making sure to address the reasons that your initial application was unsuccessful.

In the meantime, you should generally be able to return to your previous immigration status, provided that you still meet the eligibility criteria. In order to do so, you should visit your local immigration office.

If your previous status has already expired, you will need to write to the Irish Immigration Service in order to request the renewal of your previous status.

While there are some similarities between Irish citizenship and permanent settlement status, there are also a number of differences. While the period of minimum residence is 5 years in both cases, for example, there are stricter requirements in the case of citizenship for how much time the applicant can have spent outside of Ireland during their minimum residency period.The eligibility criteria when applying for Irish citizenship via naturalisation are as follows:

• You can verify your identity
• You satisfy the residency criteria:
• • You were living continuously in Ireland for at least 1 year in the period immediately before your application, during which time you spent no more than 70 days outside of the country (with an additional 30 days allowed in the case of exceptional circumstances)
  • In addition to this 1-year period, you also resided in Ireland for at least 4 of the 8 years prior to that year
• You are able to provide evidence for each of your 5 years of Irish residence
• You plan to continue residing in Ireland after obtaining citizenship
• In the event that you successfully obtain Irish citizenship, you are willing to attend a citizenship ceremony and to declare fealty to Ireland
• You are of good character (i.e. haven’t been involved in criminal activity during your time in Ireland)

These requirements vary slightly between different routes. If you are applying for citizenship via naturalisation on the basis of marriage to an Irish citizen, for example, the minimum residency period reduces to 3 years.

While the residency periods are similar for permanent settlement and citizenship, it is worth noting that Irish citizenship may not be an option for all applicants. If you spend long stretches of each year away from Ireland, for example, this could impact your eligibility for Irish citizenship. Additionally, if your country of origin does not allow dual citizenship then you may choose not to apply for Irish citizenship.