General Employment Permit
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | General Employment Permit as of 2026-08-11[1][4] Commonly abbreviated GEP. It replaced the old Work Permit employment permit. English is an official language of Ireland; no Irish-language official name appears in the sources read. |
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| Official name (English) | General Employment Permit as of 2026-08-11[1][4] |
| Legal basis | Employment Permits Act 2024, as amended; Employment Permits Regulations 2024 as of 2026-08-11[1][4][5] |
| Instrument type | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-08-11[1][4] |
Who can apply
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 24 months as of 2026-08-11[4] "Applications may be granted for a maximum period of up to 24 months in the first instance." DETE also states that the duration of the permit is the defined period requested, so 24 months is a ceiling on the first grant rather than a fixed term; the permit may be obtained in respect of a 12-month contract of employment. |
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| How the initial term is set | matches the contract |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-11[4] A renewal application may be made on Employment Permits Online within four months before the existing permit expires. |
| Renewal duration | 3 years as of 2026-08-11[4] "[M]ay be extended upon application by a further 3 years after which it is envisaged that a holder would apply for long-term residency from the Department of Justice." Where the holder has been in continuous employment with the same employer for five years or more but does not qualify for a Stamp 4, DETE states a renewal permit of unlimited duration may issue with no fee; where they have not been with the same employer for five years, a maximum renewal of three years applies. |
| Work rights | employment only as of 2026-08-11[1][4] Employment in the State by the named employer in the occupation and location(s) specified on the permit. All occupations are eligible unless excluded by the Ineligible List of Occupations for Employment Permits. A new employment permit for a different employer cannot be considered until nine months have elapsed since the holder first commenced employment in the State under an employment permit (Employment Permits Regulations 2024, s. 18), except on redundancy or where unforeseen circumstances fundamentally change the employment relationship. Citizens Information records that since 2 September 2024 a change of employer after nine months does not require a new permit but must be within the profession. Medical doctors on six-month rotations are a further exception to the nine-month rule. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2026-08-11[1][4] A job offer from a bona fide employer registered with the Revenue Commissioners and, if applicable, the Companies Registration Office, and currently trading in the State, with the prospective employee employed, salaried and paid directly by that employer. |
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| Salary threshold |
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| Labour-market test | Yes as of 2026-08-11[1][4] Required in most cases. The employer must advertise on DSP Employment Services/EURES and place an additional advertisement on an online platform; Citizens Information records 28 days on EURES/DSP plus three days in a national publication and three days in a local publication or online recruitment agency, and that since 2 September 2024 publication may be online rather than print. Waived where the occupation is on the Critical Skills Occupations List, where remuneration is at least EUR 68,911, on an Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland recommendation, for a carer of a person with exceptional medical needs already cared for by the applicant, and for a former General Employment Permit holder made redundant within the previous six months where the redundancy was notified within four weeks. |
| Qualification requirement | equivalent experience as of 2026-08-11[4] |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2026-08-11[1][4] Either the foreign national or the prospective employer may apply, but the permit is tied to the named employer, occupation and location(s). An employment permit will not issue unless at least 50% of the employees in the firm are EEA nationals at the time of application (the 50:50 rule). It is waived for start-ups registered as an employer with Revenue within the last two years and supported by Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland, and where the foreign national will be the employer's sole employee. At renewal a start-up that has not reached 50:50 may receive a one-year permit on evidence of significant progress, with the rule to be met at the end of that year. |
| Job-search route | No as of 2026-08-11[4] Not a job-search instrument: a job offer is a condition of the permit. |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-08-11[1][4] |
|---|---|
| Statutory processing time | Not established from a qualifying source No statutory decision period is stated. DETE requires an application to be received at least 12 weeks before the proposed employment start date, and describes up to three stages (queueing by employer type, processing by a decision maker, and an optional review within 28 days by a more senior official). |
| Observed processing time | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Fees |
|
Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-11[4] No minimum-presence day count and no maximum-absence rule is stated. Stated obligations are notification of short-time working or changed employment terms, notification of redundancy within four weeks, and return of the permit within four weeks of cessation. This records the absence of a stated rule, not a sourced statement that no rule exists. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2026-08-11[1][2][6] Not immediate. ISD classes a General Employment Permit holder as a Category C sponsor, who may be joined by a spouse, civil partner, de facto partner or (for a minor) parent after they have been legally working in Ireland for one year. Citizens Information states the same one-year point. See the ie-join-family-non-eea route for the income conditions. |
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| Eligible relations | spouse, registered partner, unmarried partner, minor child as of 2026-08-11[6] Category C reunification after one year covers the spouse, civil partner, de facto partner and — where the applicant is an unmarried minor child under 18 — the parent. Minor children of a Category C sponsor carry their own net-income table (see ie-join-family-non-eea). |
| Family may apply at the same time | No as of 2026-08-11[1][6] A Category C sponsor must have been legally working in Ireland for one year before an application may be made, so family cannot apply together with the principal. |
| Family members' work rights | authorisation required as of 2026-08-11[3][4] DETE states in terms that "Spouses, dependants or partners of General Employment Permit holders are not eligible for a Dependant Employment Permit and must apply for a separate employment permit in their own right" — that is, a family member may work but only on their own employment permit obtained under the normal criteria for that permit type. |
Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 7 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 7 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-08-11 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-11 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-17 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Types of employment permits
Citizens Information Board · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-02 · Accessed 2026-08-11 - [2] Residence rights of family members
Citizens Information Board · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-11 · Accessed 2026-08-11 - [3] Dependant/Partner/Spouse Employment Permit — eligibility, duration, fee
Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-11 - [4] General Employment Permit — eligibility, remuneration, labour market needs test, fees, renewals
Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-11 - [5] Types of employment permits — the nine permit types under the Employment Permits Act 2024
Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-11 - [6] Join non-EEA family member — sponsor categories, application, processing time, supporting documents
Immigration Service Delivery, Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-11 - [7] Long Term Residency — conditions and eligibility
Immigration Service Delivery, Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-02-06 · Accessed 2026-08-11