Hi,
Working in Ireland can be quite easy or very difficult depending on what your individual situation is.
The easiest route would be if you have an Irish spouse, parent or grandparent (and sometimes great-grandparent) If so, you could apply for Irish citizenship through your connection to them and be free to come over as you wish. Alternatively, if you have a similiar connection to any other EU country, as all EU nationals are free to move/work/live throughout the EU without any further hassle or permission. Check out the Dept of Justice here in Ireland at
www.justice.ie. They handle citizenship.
If not, your options would be either a Work Authorization (WA) or a Work Permit(WP). Both are legal permissions to work in Ireland but vary in their regulations. Assuming that you are a citizen from the States, you don't need a visa.
The WA is given to a very select group of the workforce that the Irish government feel is lacking here in Ireland. It is applied for and paid in your home country embassy before you come over. I think that basically all you need is a valid job offer from an Irish employer. It is available only to certain 'job descriptions' that are listed by the Irish government. Currently, the list includes Dr, nurses, town planners, engineers, architects, and some IT. It is valid for 2 years and can be renewed. The important factor (or what I believe to be the clincher) is that you can move throughout the work force anywhere in Ireland on a WA as long as you stay in the same sector of work (ie: a engineer in Dublin can move to a engineering position in Waterford). You cannot do this on a Work Permit (WP). Check out all on WA on The Dept of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
www.entemp.ie
A Work Permit (WP) is much more restrictive and difficult to get. First you must find an Irish employer. The employer must then prove to the Irish government that they sourced everywhere in Ireland and then the entire EU before resorting to hiring an non-Irish/EU national. The employer does this by posting the available position with FAS (the Irish employment people) for 4 weeks and if no one could be found to fill the position, then it can be offered to you. The employer applies for & pays for the WP which currently is €500 per year and submits the FAS letter proving that you were the only person to be found to do this particular job. The current process takes about 8-10 weeks to process and you cannot work while you are waiting. Once approved, you are legally bound to that employer, you cannot change jobs and move to any other Irish employer. If you want to change jobs, the process starts over. I have heard that 'procedures' were supposed to be in place for people with a current WP who want to move jobs, supposed to be quicker and easier, but I'm not sure of the reality of the process. In any event, all correspondence is between the employer and the WP office, you cannot inquire on your own behalf about where in the line your WP is on being approved. You are not even supposed to have the actual paper WP with you, it is supposed to be kept on file by the employer. The WP is renewable on a yearly basis but you must insure that that WP is renewed well before the expiration date as if it is not, you're back to square one and the employer would have to re-apply for a New Work Permit for you as opposed to a Renewal. When you get your approval of a WP, you must present yourself to the local Garda station (the Irish police) for registration with the immigration officials there, they want your address, contact details, copy of the WP and you will be issued with a Immigration card (credit card size) and will have your passport stamped for the time that your WP is valid. You must do this as you have to submit a copy of the passport stamp when you apply for a WP renewal and if you leave Ireland to visit another country, the stamp will be inspected at customs to allow you back into the county. All will be revealed on the same website as WA
www.entemp.ie
These procedures were not as strict when I came over in 2000. It seems that every year, more and more regulations and restrictions are placed on the Irish immigration system and it's not encouraging. Also, you read news articles about employers treating non-nationals badly with improper wages and work standards, basically the non-national is at the mercy of the employer so you must insure that the employer that you will be working for is legit. Also, sometimes, news articles refer to those on a Work Permit as 'non-skilled' or 'lower-wage' but that is not true, basically, if you are not lucky enough to fit the critera for a WA, then a WP is the only route.
I have read that the government is trying to enclose all immigration issues under a new department supposed to begin in April. They are hoping to streamline the processes for WP, WA, citizenship, asylum, etc...and have everything under 'one roof'. Stay tuned I say. You can check out the press release on this under
www.justice.ie under Press Release section for 2004/2005.
Current affairs can be read on the newspaper webiste
www.unison.ie and accomodation can be found on
www.daft.ie. Also, movetoireland.com can help with the questions of bank accounts, tax, driving licences.....general living in Ireland day to day details.
Good luck with it. It is do-able if you have patience and do not give up.
Sincerely,
Maria
