Ireland: Details Announced on Forthcoming New Employment Permits Online Application System

• Portal accounts. Portal accounts for foreign nationals, employers and agents will be introduced, requiring employers and foreign national workers to set up an account on the system (which is not required on the current EPOS). Employers will need to submit key documentation (Companies Registration Office registration and revenue documents) to create an account. Agents will continue to have access on behalf of employee and employer users.
• Data protection. The new portal will feature data protection enhancements, with all correspondence accessible in the portal instead of being emailed to relevant parties (as is currently done).

This transition to an online portal is in line with Ireland’s continued digital transformation in the immigration space, along with the expansion of the online renewal process for Irish Residence Permit cards, the new Digital Contact Centre (an immigration self-service portal), and the new online process for in-country applications for permission under the De Facto Partnership scheme. We expect to see further application types move online in the coming months.

• Update April 7, 2025: The EPOS website will be taken offline at 18:00 (local time) on April 17. This means that EPOS will be offline for four business days. All completed draft employment permit applications must be submitted before the EPOS system is taken offline, as unsubmitted applications will not be transferred to the new system. The new system will launch on April 28, 2025.
• Downtime and delays upon system launch. Employers and foreign workers should anticipate a brief system downtime immediately prior to the launch, during which applications will not be accepted. Employers and foreign nationals are advised to complete any urgent applications before this downtime. Some delays in Employment Permit application processing are expected when the new portal launches.
• Resubmission of documents from existing EPOS applications. Application documents that are still live in the current system will need to be submitted before the current EPOS platform is taken offline, as those documents and applications will not automatically transfer to the new system.
• Benefits of new system. Foreign nationals will benefit from the new system through enhanced security features, the ability to track their application status in real time, and the ability to validate their data and electronically sign applications.

The government will provide further updates, including 'how-to' video guides, a comprehensive user guide, and an FAQ document, to assist users in navigating the new system. Fragomen remains in engaged in this work and will report on developments when available.

It remains to be seen how this new online system will interact with the government’s planned efforts to combine Employment Permits and visas into a single application procedure, which would allow Ireland to opt-in to the European Union’s Single Permit Directive. We will report on this as more information is available.