Good afternoon,
Although I can understand your frustration with the Irish work permit system (I'm here under a work permit so I know all too well), it would appear that you would probably not be granted a Work Permit, if for no other reason than you overstayed your original 90-day entry agreement.
When you arrived here from the States, the Immigration official at the airport would have stamped your passport with a 90-day visitor pass, which only allows you to stay for 3 months. Although you can look, you can't work legally under that stamp.
To get a work permit here, an Irish employer must first advertise said position locally, nationally and then internationally (with the EU) to ensure that, first the position was offered to an Irish citizen, then, failing that, offered to a EU citizen. The employer registers the opening with FAS (the Irish employment department) then wait 4 weeks for any and all possibe Irish/EU people to apply for the job. If after 4 weeks, no one can be found, the job can then be offered to you, the non-national. The employer must submit the documents from FAS proving they looked along with the work permit application form.
There is a list of jobs determined to be 'ineligible' for a work permit, so don't even bother trying: (restaurant, bar, hotel, general ops, clerical/admin, sales, childcare...) which is fully listed on Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment
www.entemp.ie
Most people opt for the yearly work permit (500.00) each & cannot be transferred to another job. One permit per person in that specific job. Your potential employer would have to send a photocopy of your passport along with the visitor stamp as well, so they would catch on that you overstayed your time.
You cannot work while the work permit decision is being made (could take up to 10-12 weeks), you cannot get social welfare either, so you must arrive here with enough money for accomodation, food, etc.... Once the work permit is approved, you must present yourself along with the permit to the Garda to have your passport stamped & receive your GNIB (Garda Natioanl Immigration Bureau) card which proves you registered with the Garda as required. This registration process is repeated every time you get a new permit or change address.
Sorry to be a downer, but this is the reality of it. Currently, the government are reviewing their immigration system & are introducing a Green Card system (not in place yet) but only for highly-qualified, highly-paid people who have the desired skills in areas of the workforce that are particularly under-staffed in Ireland. Check out the
www.entemp.ie for those recent Press Releases.
Regards,
Maria
