Ireland: Automatic Work Rights Granted to Eligible Partners of Irish Employment Permit Holders

• Eligibility. Individuals are eligible for such automatic work rights if they reside in Ireland with a valid Stamp 3 Irish Residence Permit under the non-European Economic Area (EEA) Family Reunification Policy, and their partner or spouse is:
  • A holder of a General Employment Permit, an Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit, or a Critical Skills Employment Permit (or a Reactivation Employment Permit for any of these permit types);
  • A Researcher on a Hosting Agreement, or a Non-Consultant Hospital Doctor on a Multi-Site General Employment Permit; or
  • A previous holder of any of the above work permits who now has a Stamp 4 permission.
• Grant of work rights. This grant of work rights now applies to all eligible initial applications (and renewals), as well as all current Stamp 3 permit holders, as follows:
  • Initial applications and renewals. Any eligible spouse or partner who makes an initial application for an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) under the non-EEA Family Reunification Policy will now be granted a Stamp 1G permission – which grants work rights (unlike Stamp 3 permissions). Additionally, eligible individuals who apply to renew a current Stamp 3 permission will be automatically granted a Stamp 1G permission instead.
  • Current Stamp 3 holders. Eligible individuals who currently have a Stamp 3 permission have now automatically been granted Stamp 1G rights.
• Proof of right to work. Affected individuals currently do not need to acquire a new IRP card in order to commence employment. Rather, they can provide employers with this letter. This temporary measure will remain in force until May 15, 2025, after which all affected spouses and partners would have renewed their IRP cards and received a Stamp 1G version.
• Limits. Stamp 1G permissions – which must be renewed annually – do not allow the establishing or operating of a business, nor self-employment.

These changes are likely to both increase the attractiveness of Ireland to foreign workers in the long term (as spousal rights can play a critical role in the decision-making process of globally mobile workers), while also increasing the pool of currently available foreign talent. Employers are likely to benefit from the larger labour market – especially important amid demographics-induced labour shortages affecting much of the world.

The spouses and partners of Critical Skills Employment Permit holders have been eligible to obtain a Stamp 1G permission and the right to work without a separate employment permit since March 2019. The extension of this dependent eligibility to cover a wider variety of employment permits aligns with broader trends seen elsewhere in Europe of making it easier for the family members of foreign nationals to participate in the labour market (for example Luxembourg’s similar reforms in 2023).

This reform highlights a general trend in Ireland to continue liberalising its immigration landscape (or scaling back restrictive policies), including its largest ever expansion of the employment permits system, stepping back from raising the minimum salary level for healthcare workers, and reinstating a more relaxed eligibility framework for Stamp 4 permissions.

Fragomen partner in Ireland Ángel Bello-Cortés worked closely with the Permits Foundation and other key stakeholders supporting this change for spouses and partners, consulting with businesses and assisting with representations to the Irish government.