VisaIreland’s Stamp 4 employment requirement depends on the worker’s permit
Critical Skills and General Permit workers need different employment histories and a documented online stamp-change application.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Match the employment history to the right threshold
Ireland’s employment-permit workers approaching Stamp 4 should check qualifying employment rather than simply counting years since arrival. ISD’s checklist requires 21 months for Critical Skills Employment Permit holders and Hosting Agreement researchers, and 57 months for General Employment Permit holders, with the relevant permission registered under Stamp 1. These are different routes; residence for another purpose is not automatically qualifying employment.
Resulting registration normally lasts 24 months for Critical Skills or Hosting Agreement cases and 12 months for General Permit cases. Renewal submissions may be made 12 weeks before IRP expiry, but the next sentence refers specifically to meeting 21 months at expiry. General Permit applicants should ask ISD about their 57-month timing rather than reading that sentence as an exception.
Replace the old support-letter step with employment evidence
An ISD notice explains that DETE stopped accepting new Stamp 4 support-letter applications from 30 November 2023 for Critical Skills holders, Hosting Agreement researchers and qualifying multi-site hospital doctors. Existing letters remain acceptable, but someone applying now should not wait for a new letter from that discontinued process. The notice instead directs applicants to supply evidence to Immigration Services.
Its replacement bundle includes the passport identity page, both sides of the current IRP, relevant employment permits or Hosting Agreements and the latest payslip. The employer’s letter must be dated within the preceding three months and identify the job title, location and employment dates. Annual Revenue Employment Detail Summaries should cover each year of the employment-permit period. Request an accurate employment chronology before compiling the upload; a recent payslip alone does not describe the whole period being assessed.
Retrieve the tax records before submitting the application
Revenue’s payroll guidance explains how workers can inspect what their employer has actually reported. In myAccount, PAYE Services provides current-year payroll through the Manage your tax option; selecting the relevant job and payroll submission shows the reported information. Employers must report pay and Income Tax deductions by each payment date, and Revenue says the information updates overnight.
For earlier years from 2019 onwards, use Review your tax, select the year, then Employment Detail Summary and the relevant job. Ensure the employer has the correct PPSN: Revenue warns that otherwise the payroll information cannot be viewed. Download records covering the required years and compare the employment dates with the employer’s letter before uploading. Revenue’s display shows statutory deductions, not every private deduction from wages, so an omitted union subscription is not evidence that employment itself is missing.
Use the online stamp-change route and check the payment
ISD’s registration FAQ says renewals and stamp changes are online applications; an in-person appointment is used only when a registration officer specifically directs it. The standard renewal registration fee is €300, payable by credit or debit card when prompted during submission. This is an immigration registration charge, separate from the earlier employment-permit application.
The FAQ warns that selecting a fee-exempt category incorrectly can cause refusal for non-payment and require a new application. Check the permission choices as carefully as the attachments. For a registration problem or an unresolved eligibility question, use ISD’s Customer Service Portal, which accepts queries and provides application-status functions. A submitted request should not be described to an employer as a granted Stamp 4; retain the application record and wait for the actual decision and conditions.
Understand the work permission that an approval provides
ISD’s stamp description says an approved Stamp 4 permits employment without an Employment Permit and allows operating a business. Regulated professional work still depends on the relevant professional body’s conditions. The permission lasts for a specified period and must be renewed before expiry; it is not an unlimited residence grant.
The general stamp overview describes employment examples in rounded periods of two or five years. Those examples are less precise than the detailed registration requirements discussed above. When explaining a planned application to an employer, identify the specific category and supporting employment history rather than relying on the rounded description. Individual interruptions or mixed permission histories need ISD assessment.
