Working Visa / Work Authorisation

To facilitate the recruitment of suitably qualified people from non-European Economic Area countries for designated sectors of the employment market where skill shortages as particularly acute, a working visa and work authorisation scheme has been introduced. This makes it possible for prospective employees with job offers from employers in Ireland to obtain immigration and employment clearance in advance from Irish embassies and consulates. Immigration Officers retain discretion in specified circumstances to refuse entry to any non-national. The new scheme does not replace but is a faster alternative to the work permit procedure that continues to be available in Ireland.

The European Economic Area comprises the European Union member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Employment protection legislation applies, in the same, to employees working on such visas, as to other employees.

Rules

Applications

At present the categories are -

• Information and computing technologies professionals/technicians
• Architects
• Construction Engineers
• Quantity Surveyors
• Building Surveyors
• Town Planners
• Registered Nurses

Working visas

If you have a passport from a country whose passport holders require a visa to enter Ireland and you have an offer from an employer in Ireland of employment in one of the designated sectors, you may be given a working visa by an Irish embassy or consulate.

Work Authorisation

If you have a passport from a country whose passport holders do not require visas to enter Ireland and you have an offer from an employer in Ireland of employment in one of the designated sectors, you may be given a work authorisation by an Irish embassy or consulate.

Countries whose nationals do not require an entry visa are:

Period of validity

A working visa/work authorisation is usually valid for two years, three months in the case of a temporarily registered nurse. Authorisation to continue to work and reside in the country may be granted at the end of the first period of validity. As a holder of a working visa/work authorisation, you are allowed to change your employer after arrival in Ireland as long as you continue to have authorisation to work and reside in the country.

Renewing working visas

Except in the case of temporarily registered nurses, at the end of your initial two-year period of stay in Ireland, you may renew your authorisation by obtaining permission from the Visa Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs, provided you continue to fulfill the conditions of the scheme.

Renewing work authorisations

• Outside Dublin

Except in the case of temporarily registered nurses, you may renew your working authorisation at any office of a superintendent of the Garda Siochana, provided you continue to fulfill the conditions of the scheme.

• In the Dublin area

Except for temporarily registered nurses, you may renew your authorisation at the Garda National Immigration Bureau, provided you continue to fulfil the conditions of the scheme.

Temporarily registered nurses

An Bord Altranais (The Nursing Board) issues certificates of temporary registration on the basis of which nurses can apply for working visas/working authorisation valid for three months. Temporarily registered nurses who not qualify for full registration within three months will not be allowed to remain in Ireland.

Nurses with full registration with An Bord Altranais may renew working visas/working authorisation in the same manner as set out above. The initial period of renewal will be for a further 21 months and thereafter for two further years at a time, provided the conditions for the scheme are still met.

Registration and permission to remain

Nationals of non-European Economic Area countries must register with the Garda Siochana in the areas in which they intend to reside within three months of arriving in the state. In the Dublin area, the registration is done at the Garda National Immigration Bureau. If you are living outside Dublin, you should register at the Garda Superintendent's Office in the relevant Garda District. You must also arrange with the relevant authorities, as mentioned, to extend your permission to continue to reside in the state for the periods for which they are valid.

Dependants

In general, if you hold a work authorisation, your spouse and/or minor dependant children may join you once you show that you are employed. If you hold a working visa, you must have been in Ireland for one year and have an expectation of at least a further year before you can be joined by your spouse and/or dependant children. In both cases, you must be able to support family members without the need for them to have recourse to public funds or paid employment (unless a family member holds a working visa /work authorisation or work permit in his/her own right.

How to apply

When applying for a working visa/work authorisation, you should present:

• A completed application form
• A job offer from an employer in Ireland, corresponding to the designated skills category in which you claim to be qualified, stating the starting date and pay and quoting the employer's registered number for tax purposes and your passport number
• A passport valid at least until the expiration date of the relevant working visa/working authorisation
• A photograph
• The visa application fee of 50.79 euro or equivalent or a work authorisation application fee of 36.82 euro or equivalent.
• If you are a nurse, you must also present a certificate of temporary or full registration issued to you by An Board Altranais
• If you have a job offer in the information and computing technologies sector, you should have a third-level qualification.

You can request a copy of the application form for a visa, be posted to you by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Where to apply

All information received from www.oasis.gov.ie