Third Level Graduate Programme
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Third Level Graduate Programme as of 2026-08-11[1][3] Registered as a Stamp 1G immigration permission. Citizens Information calls it the Third Level Graduate Scheme; ISD's page is headed Third level graduate programme. English is an official language of Ireland; no Irish-language official name appears in the sources read. |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | Third Level Graduate Programme as of 2026-08-11[1][3] |
| Legal basis | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2024-03-28[3] A graduate immigration permission registered as Stamp 1G and evidenced by an Irish Residence Permit; the registration fee is EUR 300 per person. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EEA as of 2024-03-28[3] |
|---|---|
| Criminal-record condition | Yes as of 2024-03-28[3] Applicants "are expected to be of good character and not to have come to the adverse attention of the authorities in any way", and must comply with the laws of the State as any non-EEA national renewing a permission must. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | 12 months as of 2026-04-16[1][3] Twelve months for a graduate with an award at Level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications, and twelve months initially for a graduate at Level 9 or above, renewed once for a further twelve months. |
|---|---|
| How the initial term is set | fixed |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-04-16[1][3] Only for graduates with an award at Level 9 or above, whose initial 12 months is renewed for a further 12 months subject to the overall eight-year limit on student conditions. A Level 8 graduate's 12 months is not renewed; a graduate who later achieves a higher award may re-enter the programme once more, and no graduate may access the programme on more than two separate occasions. |
| Renewal duration | 12 months as of 2024-03-28[3] The second twelve-month block for Level 9 and above. |
| Maximum total duration | 24 months as of 2026-04-16[1][3] Twenty-four months is the maximum on this permission itself (two 12-month blocks, Level 9 and above). Separately, time on Stamp 2 as a student and on Stamp 1G under this programme cannot exceed seven years in aggregate for a Level 8 graduate, or eight years where the graduate re-enters the programme at Level 9 or above. |
| Work rights | full as of 2026-04-16[1][3] |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | No as of 2024-03-28[3] The permission is granted to seek graduate-level employment; no job offer is required to obtain it. |
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| Labour-market test | No as of 2024-03-28[3] No labour market test attaches to the permission itself. A test may apply later to whichever employment permit the graduate moves onto. |
| Qualification requirement | degree as of 2026-04-16[1][3] A Level 8 or Level 9 (or above) award on the National Framework of Qualifications from a recognised Irish awarding body — the Irish universities, the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, the Institutes of Technology, or Quality and Qualifications Ireland — notified in writing on or after 1 January 2017. Evidence is the parchment or an official letter from the awarding body where the ceremony has yet to take place. |
| Employer sponsorship | No as of 2024-03-28[3] No employer is involved in the grant of the permission. |
| Job-search route | Yes as of 2026-04-16[1][3] |
Process
| Where to apply from | in-country only as of 2024-03-28[3] The applicant must already hold a current Stamp 2 student immigration permission and an up-to-date immigration registration card, and must apply within six months of being notified by the awarding body that the award has been achieved. |
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| Statutory processing time | Not established from a qualifying source No statutory decision period is stated. |
| Observed processing time | Not established from a qualifying source Not stated by either source. |
| Fees |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2024-03-28[3] No day count or absence rule is stated. 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 | No as of 2026-06-12[2] ISD's financial-thresholds page lists "Graduates under the Third Level Graduate Programme" among ineligible sponsors for non-EEA family reunification. This is a source stating the exclusion in terms, not an inference from silence. |
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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.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 3 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 3 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2024-03-28 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-11 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-17 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Immigration rules for full-time non-EEA students
Citizens Information Board · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-04-16 · Accessed 2026-08-11 - [2] Financial Thresholds for Non-EEA Family Reunification
Immigration Service Delivery, Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-12 · Accessed 2026-08-11 - [3] Third level graduate programme — conditions, duration of permission, fee
Immigration Service Delivery, Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2024-03-28 · Accessed 2026-08-11