Renewal at a glance
If you employ a non-EU worker on an employment permit, the renewal is your responsibility as much as theirs. Miss the window and your worker comes off the payroll until a new permit issues. Here is what matters:
- The window: any time in the 4 months before the permit expires, and within 1 month after expiry (Regulation 15, Employment Permits Regulations 2024).
- The cost: €750 (renewal up to 6 months) or €1,500 (up to 36 months). No fee after 5 years of continuous employment.
- No Labour Market Needs Test. You do not need to re-advertise the role.
- The catch: the salary must meet the threshold in force now, not the one that applied when you hired. Thresholds increased on 1 March 2026.
- The protection: file the renewal before the permit expires and your worker keeps the legal right to work while DETE processes it. Miss the window and that protection is gone. A permit that lapses with no application in is a worker who cannot legally work for you.
If your worker's permit expires within the next 4 months, the window to act is open now. WhatsApp Monette and she will tell you exactly what your renewal needs.
When to apply: the renewal window
DETE accepts renewal applications across two windows set by Regulation 15 of the Employment Permits Regulations 2024: any time in the 4 months before the permit expires, and within 1 month after expiry. There is no eight-week cut-off — a renewal filed three weeks before expiry is still in time.
Both ends of that window matter:
- Apply more than 4 months out and the application is not accepted.
- Apply after the expiry date and you have at most one month to get the renewal in. For that first month a standard renewal is still possible under Regulation 15(1)(b), but the worker must stop working until the renewed permit issues.
- Apply during the 4-month window and early still matters — anything that needs additional information, a salary correction, or a missing document will run past the expiry date, and if processing is not complete before expiry, the worker must pause.
The practical rule for employers: put a reminder in your calendar for 5 months before every permit expiry date you are responsible for. That gives you a month to gather documents and check salary compliance, then you file on the first day the window opens.
Filing in time is what protects the worker. Under the Employment Permits Act 2024, if the renewal is submitted before the current permit expires, the worker can keep working while DETE processes it, even if the expiry date passes before a decision. But that protection only attaches if you filed in time. Let the permit lapse with no application in, and the worker must come off the roster. For a nursing home or a kitchen that depends on that person, the renewal window is the difference between a rota that works and one that does not.
How to apply
Renewals are submitted through the Employment Permits Online system, the same portal you'd use for a new permit. Either the employer or the employee can make the application, and either can pay the fee. In practice, the employer usually handles it, because most of the documents DETE wants are employer documents: payslips, the employment contract, and company details.
The system generates a renewal checklist for the application. Work through it line by line. Renewal refusals are rarely about eligibility; they are about missing documents and salary figures that do not match the payslips.
What renewal costs
| Renewal duration | Fee |
|---|---|
| Up to 6 months | €750 |
| More than 6 months, up to 36 months | €1,500 |
| Unlimited duration (after 5 years continuous employment) | No fee |
If a renewal application is refused, 90% of the fee is refunded. Most employers renew for the full 36 months, because the per-year cost is lower and it pushes the next renewal three years out.
Salary thresholds at renewal: the 2026 trap
This is what's catching employers out in 2026. Renewal applications are assessed against the minimum salary thresholds in force on the date the renewal is submitted, not the thresholds that applied when the worker was first hired.
Salary thresholds increased on 1 March 2026:
- General Employment Permit (standard roles): €36,605 per year
- General Employment Permit (care assistants and home carers): €16.12 per hour — €32,691 per year on a 39-hour week, or €33,529.60 on a 40-hour week
- Critical Skills Employment Permit (degree roles): €40,904 per year
If you hired a worker two years ago at the threshold that applied then, their current salary may now be below the figure DETE requires for renewal. The fix is simple but it has to happen before you apply: increase the salary, issue an updated contract, and make sure at least one payslip at the new rate exists before the renewal goes in.
Always confirm the current thresholds against the live DETE employment permits pages before submitting. These figures change, and the figure on the day you submit is the one that counts.
Documents you need
The renewal pack is mostly evidence that the first permit period happened the way the original application said it would:
- Payslips covering the period of the current permit. DETE checks that the worker was actually paid the salary stated on the original application. Gaps or underpayment are the fastest route to a refusal.
- Current employment contract showing a salary that meets the threshold in force at renewal.
- The renewal checklist generated by the Employment Permits Online system for your application.
- Workforce details confirming the 50/50 rule is still met: at least 50% of your employees must be EEA, Swiss or UK citizens at the date of the renewal application. See our 50/50 rule guide.
What you do not need: a Labour Market Needs Test. The 28-day advertising requirement applies to new General Employment Permit applications, not renewals. You will not need to re-advertise the role.
What goes wrong with renewals
Four failure patterns account for nearly every renewal problem we see:
- The window is missed. Nobody owns the expiry date, the 8-week deadline passes, and the application becomes a race against the clock.
- The salary is below the current threshold. The worker was hired at an older, lower threshold and nobody adjusted pay before the thresholds rose.
- The payslips do not match. The original application promised one salary and the payslips show another, lower figure. DETE treats this seriously; it can affect the employer's ability to get any future permits.
- The 50/50 ratio has slipped. The business has hired more non-EEA staff since the original application and now fails the workforce ratio test.
Every one of these is avoidable if the renewal is started at the 5-month mark instead of the 5-week mark.
After 5 years: the unlimited duration permit
Once a worker has been in continuous employment with the same employer for 5 years or more, they can apply for an unlimited duration employment permit. There is no fee, and it ends the renewal cycle permanently.
For employers, this is the retention milestone worth planning around. A worker on an unlimited permit has no more renewal deadlines, no more fees, and no more risk of a paperwork gap taking them off your roster. If you have staff approaching the 5-year mark, the unlimited permit application is the renewal to get right.
If the permit has already expired
If the permit expired less than a month ago, a standard renewal is still possible under Regulation 15(1)(b) of the Employment Permits Regulations 2024 — but the clock is running. The worker must stop working until the renewal is granted, so file the same week you discover the lapse.
If more than a month has passed since expiry, a standard renewal is no longer available. The route back is the Reactivation Employment Permit, a separate scheme for workers who held a valid permit but fell out of the system through no fault of their own. It is slower and the worker cannot work while it is processed. Treat it as the recovery option, not the plan. If you are reading this and the permit has recently lapsed, contact us today rather than next week.
What CA Recruitment does
CA Recruitment manages employment permit renewals for Irish employers, whether or not we made the original placement. The renewal service covers:
- Permit expiry tracking, with the renewal started at the 5-month mark
- Salary threshold check against the current DETE figures, before submission
- 50/50 workforce ratio check
- Document pack preparation: payslips, contract, checklist
- Submission and follow-up through the Employment Permits Online system
- The worker's immigration registration renewal alongside the permit
Most of our renewal work comes from employers who handled the original permit themselves and do not want to carry the renewal risk a second time. If that is you, WhatsApp Monette with the permit expiry date and she will tell you exactly where you stand.
Permit expiring in the next 6 months? Start the renewal now.
We check the salary threshold, the 50/50 ratio, and the document pack, then file inside the renewal window so there is no gap in your worker's right to work. No obligation on the first call.
Frequently asked questions
Hiring as well as renewing? If you are also looking to bring in new overseas staff, our Work Permit Guide for Irish Employers covers the full process for first-time permits, and our guide to the cost of hiring an overseas worker breaks down every fee involved.
Any time in the last 4 months before the permit expires — and if you miss that, within 1 month after it expires. Regulation 15 of the Employment Permits Regulations 2024 sets both windows. There is no cut-off eight weeks out: a renewal filed three weeks before expiry is still in time. Filing at the start of the window still matters, because DETE's queue does not move faster for you, but a late application is not automatically a lost one.
€750 for a renewal of up to 6 months, or €1,500 for a renewal of more than 6 months and up to 36 months. After 5 years of continuous employment with the same employer, the worker can apply for an unlimited duration permit at no fee. Refused applications get 90% of the fee back.
No. The 28-day advertising requirement applies only to new General Employment Permit applications. Renewals do not require the role to be re-advertised.
The core documents are payslips covering the period of the current permit, the worker's current employment contract showing a salary that meets the threshold in force at the date of renewal, and the renewal checklist generated through the Employment Permits Online system. DETE checks that the worker was actually paid what the original permit application said they would be paid.
Yes. The renewal is assessed against the thresholds in force on the date it is submitted, not the thresholds that applied when the worker was first hired. Following the 1 March 2026 increases, that means €36,605 for standard General Employment Permit roles, and €16.12 per hour for care assistant and home carer roles (€32,691 per year on a 39-hour week, €33,529.60 on a 40-hour week). If the worker's current salary is below the applicable figure, increase it before applying.
Yes, provided you filed the renewal before the current permit expired. Under the Employment Permits Act 2024, a renewal submitted in time lets the worker keep working while DETE processes it, even if the expiry date passes before a decision. The protection only applies if the application was in before expiry, which is exactly why the renewal window exists and why filing early matters. Miss it and the worker has to stop.
For the first month after expiry a standard renewal is still possible — Regulation 15(1)(b) of the Employment Permits Regulations 2024 allows it. The permit is not in force in the meantime, so the worker must stop working until the renewal is granted. Past that month the renewal route closes, and the Reactivation Employment Permit is the way back for workers whose permits lapsed through no fault of their own. It is slower than a renewal and the worker cannot work while it is processed. Either way, act the same week you find the lapse.
Either can apply through the Employment Permits Online system, and either can pay the fee. In practice the employer usually manages it because the application is built on employer documents: payslips, the employment contract, and workforce details for the 50/50 check.
After 5 years of continuous employment with the same employer, the worker can apply for an unlimited duration employment permit. There is no fee for this application and it removes the renewal cycle entirely.
Yes. We manage renewals for any Irish employer with permit-holding staff, including the timing, the salary threshold check, document preparation, and the Employment Permits Online submission. Most employers come to us 5 to 6 months before expiry so the renewal is filed at the start of the window. WhatsApp Monette with the expiry date to get started.