VisaIreland reserves its unpaid internship visa for placements required by a course
Visa-required students abroad need to show how the placement fits their studies and how they will pay for the trip.
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Check whether your course qualifies
Ireland's unpaid internship visa is for visa-required third-level students whose placement is essential to a full-time course at an accredited institution outside Ireland. Their discipline must also be on the relevant highly skilled occupations list. An optional placement for a recent graduate falls outside the published student conditions.
The Department of Enterprise lists occupations and, in some cases, specific skills within an occupation. Check the actual entry for your discipline and ask your school to describe how the course and placement match it. The list is also used for employment permits. Finding a match there only addresses the discipline question for the visa.
Immigration Service Delivery describes this route as covering less than 90 days in its introduction and uses up to 90 days elsewhere on the same page. If your proposed stay is exactly 90 days, ask the office handling the application which wording it applies before committing to dates.
Get letters from the school and host
Ireland's short-stay evidence guide asks for a letter from your university giving your course details, how far you have progressed and how much of the course remains. Ask the school to make clear which requirement the placement satisfies. If the letter calls it useful experience without explaining its academic purpose, the reviewer may be unable to see the connection.
Get a separate letter from the Irish host confirming what you will do and the expected dates. The evidence guide asks for an explanation of the relationship between the host and your school, with a hosting agreement where applicable. Compare the letters before filing. A host letter describing a different term or location can leave the case officer with two versions of the placement.
Both organizations should explain who will cover travel, accommodation and living expenses as applicable. Ask each party to specify what it is actually covering. For example, a university grant that pays accommodation may leave meals and transport to you. Keep the grant or other evidence showing what each confirmed payment covers.
Check pay rules before anyone signs
The immigration evidence guide places responsibility on the Irish host to check the arrangement against Irish employment law, including minimum wage legislation. The Workplace Relations Commission explains who is entitled to the national minimum wage. Ask the host to confirm how it has classified your actual duties before you describe the placement as unpaid on the visa form.
If the placement is paid, Immigration Service Delivery publishes a separate Atypical Working Scheme route for eligible internships and directs cases that qualify for the Internship Employment Permit to the employment permits department. Paid internship guidance calls for information about the contract and salary. Obtain the right instructions before submitting anything if the host's offer changes.
File the visa and prepare for arrival
Use AVATS to apply for a short-stay C visa. Select Internship for the travel reason and enter Unpaid in the field that asks for the work approval number. Immigration Service Delivery says applications can be made up to three months before travel.
Check the general AVATS instructions for how to complete and submit your application, including the step for printing the summary sheet. Keep the information in the form consistent with the letters your school and host have supplied. Where the visa office asks for travel or refusal history, gather the earlier records in time to provide complete answers.
Ireland's entry visa fee table shows €60 for a single-entry visa and €100 for multiple entries, subject to exemptions. Confirm the fee and payment method with the office where you will submit the application. Check whether extra local charges apply before treating the listed amount as your entire application cost.
Irish border guidance explains that a visa allows you to travel to the border to request entry. An immigration officer makes the admission decision. Pack the host and college letters with your travel documents so you can explain the purpose, dates and funding of the visit. Check the permission the officer gives you for the actual departure deadline.
