IMPACT – MEDIUM

What is the change? Ireland’s Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has announced several important updates for employment permits and residence permits. 

What does the change mean? General Employment Permits are taking about 10 weeks to process. EU Treaty Rights applications for EU nationals may take six months or more because of high volume. Foreign employees who have updated their Stamp 4 since they lodged an application for a spouse, partner or dependent must forward their new Stamp 4 to the Employment Permits section. In addition, officials have confirmed that the online employment permit application system is expected to launch by September.

  • Implementation time frame: Ongoing.
  • Visas/permits affected: Employment permits, residence cards.
  • Who is affected: Non-EU nationals applying for employment permits and family members of EU nationals.
  • Impact on processing times: Employers and applicants should factor in the delays when planning business schedules.
  • Next steps: Principal applicants with a pending dependent application must notify the Employment Permits section of their updated Stamp 4 with a copy of their passport.

BAL Analysis: BAL is monitoring processing times, as well as progress on the launch of the online employment permit system, which will streamline procedures and allow users to get online status updates. The DJEI has committed to having the system online by September.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in the United Kingdom. For additional information, please contact uk@bal.com.

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