Critical Skills Employment Permit

The Critical Skills Employment Permit helps employers recruit for occupations where Ireland has skills shortages. The occupation and salary requirements should be checked before preparing an application.

What makes it different

No labour market needs test. A General Employment Permit normally requires the employer to advertise the role first and show that nobody in the EEA could fill it. This requirement does not apply to Critical Skills applications.

Immediate family reunification applications. A Critical Skills holder can apply for family reunification without the twelve-month waiting period. Family members still need approval under the applicable immigration rules.

Stamp 4 after 21 months of qualifying employment. ISD’s upgrade criteria provide for an application after completing 21 months of employment in the State on the basis of a Critical Skills Employment Permit. Stamp 4 allows employment without an employment permit, subject to its conditions.

Work permission for eligible family members. Spouses and partners granted family reunification can work on Stamp 1G without their own employment permit. Eligible dependant minor children granted family reunification are registered on Stamp 1G from age 16 under ISD’s November 2025 arrangements. These work rights do not extend automatically to every family member.

The salary threshold

From 1 March 2026 the standard minimum annual remuneration for the listed-occupation route is €40,904, up from €38,000. The increase was 7.66%.

Further annual increases run to 2030, indexed to average earnings. A lower threshold applies to recent graduates at Level 8 or above within twelve months of graduating, and public-sector roles covered by national pay agreements are exempt from the threshold.

The threshold in force when the application is decided applies, even if the job offer was made before it changed.

Whether your occupation qualifies

The listed-occupation route requires a role on the Critical Skills Occupations List and the relevant remuneration and qualification requirements. There is also a higher-salary route for occupations with annual remuneration over €68,911, except those on the Ineligible List or contrary to the public interest. That route does not require an occupation to appear on the Critical Skills list; the Department’s other criteria still apply, including the necessary experience where the applicant does not hold a degree or higher qualification.

The list is reviewed periodically. The 2025 review, announced in May 2026, added six occupations: Agronomist, Construction Planner or Scheduler, Community Eye Care, Intellectual Property Professionals, Geospatial Surveyor, and Riggers within the games industry.

Job titles on the list do not always match those used by employers. The Department assesses the duties of the role, so the job description should explain how they relate to the listed occupation.

Where applications go wrong

An application can raise queries if the job description does not explain the duties, the salary relies on bonuses or allowances to meet the threshold, or the qualifications do not clearly relate to the occupation.

Check the job description, remuneration and qualifications together before submitting the application.

Common questions

Can I change employer on a Critical Skills permit?

The Department's change-of-employer process allows eligible holders to move within the same three-digit occupational classification after nine months from commencement of their first employment permit in the State, without applying for a new permit. Other conditions apply, and the updated permit must be received before starting with the new employer. A move outside that process requires a new permit application.

Does my spouse need their own permit?

No. A spouse or partner granted family reunification through a Critical Skills permit holder receives permission to work without a separate employment permit.