In short: To hire someone from outside the EEA, you need an employment permit from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE). CA Recruitment manages that process for you, whether you have already found the worker or need us to find one. You stay the applicant and sign what needs signing. We do the rest of the work.
What we handle
The application form is only one part of an employment permit. Most delays come from the steps around it: a role that was never eligible, an advert that doesn't meet the Labour Market Needs Test rules, a contract that doesn't match the form, or a visa application started too late. We run the whole sequence:
- Eligibility check. The occupation code, the Ineligible List, any quota, the salary and the 50:50 rule, before you spend anything on the process.
- Labour Market Needs Test. The 28-day advertising step, where the permit requires one, with the records DETE expects to see.
- The application. Prepared and submitted on Employment Permits Online, with your business as the applicant and CA Recruitment as your appointed agent. We track it and answer any request for further information from DETE.
- Visa and arrival. We work through the long stay (D) employment visa with your worker where their nationality needs one, then the immigration registration once they are here.
- After the start date. Renewals, and change-of-employer applications for workers who already hold a permit.
Already have a worker, or need one found
Employers come to us from two directions.
You have already found the person
A garage owner finds a qualified mechanic in the Philippines. A restaurant has a chef who wants to come over. A farm has a worker recommended by someone already on the team. The hard part, finding the right person, is done, and what is left is the permit and the visa. We take that on for the candidate you bring us.
Before anything else we check the role against the permit rules. If the job title you would naturally use is the one DETE refuses, it is far better to find that out now than after 28 days of advertising.
You need the worker as well
If the vacancy is still empty, we can source and vet the candidate too, then run the same permit and visa process. Either way you deal with one team from the first conversation to the worker's first day.
The eligibility check comes first
Not every job can get a permit, and the job title alone doesn't decide it. DETE classifies each role by its Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, based on the duties. Then it asks four questions.
- Is the occupation on the Ineligible List? If it is, no General Employment Permit is available and no salary changes that. The same garage that can get a permit for a motor mechanic cannot get one for a service adviser, because DETE codes that job as a receptionist (SOC 4216), which is on the list.
- Is there a quota? Some eligible occupations are capped. Motor mechanics, car mechanics, auto electricians and motor vehicle technicians share a pool of 1,000 permits from 13 May 2026. Once a quota fills, applications still waiting in DETE's queue are rejected, so timing matters. Our guide to hiring mechanics from overseas covers this in detail.
- Does the salary meet the threshold? For a General Employment Permit the standard minimum is €36,605 a year. A reduced €32,691 applies to healthcare assistants, home support workers, meat processor operatives and horticulture workers (with a minimum of €16.12 an hour, so more than €32,691 on a contract over 39 hours), and €34,009 to recent Irish graduates. A Critical Skills Employment Permit starts at €40,904 for occupations on the Critical Skills Occupations List where the worker holds a relevant degree. Any occupation not on the Ineligible List can also qualify at a salary over €68,911, and relevant experience can stand in for the degree.
- Does your workforce pass the 50:50 rule? For most General Employment Permits, at least half of your employees must be EEA, Swiss or UK nationals when the application is made.
The General Employment Permit and Critical Skills Employment Permit pages set out the full rules for each.
The Labour Market Needs Test, where it applies
Most General Employment Permit applications need a Labour Market Needs Test. The role is advertised for at least 28 consecutive days on JobsIreland.ie, EURES and at least one other public online jobs platform, to show no suitable EEA candidate came forward. A Critical Skills Employment Permit doesn't need one, and some other roles are exempt.
This step still applies when you already have a candidate in mind. We place the adverts, keep the log of every application received and what happened to it, and make sure the advert matches the job that goes on the permit.
The application itself
Applications are filed on DETE's Employment Permits Online system, which replaced the old EPOS portal in April 2025. Most people still call it EPOS. Either the employer or the worker can be the applicant, and an appointed agent can complete the application for either.
When we run it, your business is the applicant and we act as your appointed agent. It keeps the permit in your name, and it decides who gets the refund if DETE says no: if an application is refused, DETE refunds 90% of its fee to the applicant, not to whoever paid. We build the document pack, including a signed contract of employment whose salary, hours and job title match the form, and coordinate the part of the form your worker completes from their own account. The step-by-step version is in our employment permit application guide.
DETE charges its own statutory fee. For a General Employment Permit that is €500 for six months or less, or €1,000 for more than six months up to 24 months. A Critical Skills Employment Permit is €1,000. Applications are processed in date order, and DETE publishes its current processing dates.
Visa, travel and registration
The permit and the visa are two separate steps, run by two separate departments. Once the permit is granted, a worker from a visa-required country, the Philippines included, applies for a long stay (D) employment visa before travelling. Workers from countries that don't need an entry visa can travel on the permit, but they still need it before they can work. Our work permit vs work visa guide explains how the two fit together.
After arrival your worker registers with immigration and receives an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card. The registration fee is €300. A worker on an employment permit holds Stamp 1 permission.
Renewals and change of employer
A first General Employment Permit is issued for up to two years and can then be renewed. Critical Skills Employment Permit holders don't renew; they move on to Stamp 4. We keep track of the expiry date and prepare the renewal in good time.
If you want to hire someone who already holds an Irish permit with another employer, the rules are different. A General or Critical Skills permit holder can usually change employer once nine months have passed since they started their first permitted job. The move has to stay within the same occupation (for a Critical Skills permit, the same broader occupation group), and they cannot start with you until DETE has issued the updated permit in your name. Our change of employer guide covers the detail.
What the law expects of you as the employer
- Pay what the permit says. The salary and hours on the contract are the ones DETE approved.
- Don't pass the costs on. Under section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024, you cannot deduct from the worker's pay, or seek to recover from them, any charge for the permit application, for their recruitment, or for travel costs you have already paid. It is a criminal offence, and an agreement signed by the worker doesn't make it lawful.
- Never hold their documents. Neither you nor anyone acting for you may keep the worker's passport or other personal documents.
A recruitment agency, not a law firm
CA Recruitment is a recruitment agency. We are not solicitors, and we don't give legal advice or act as anyone's legal representative. What we do is manage the permit and visa process, which for a straightforward hire is an administrative job rather than a legal one.
Some cases are legal ones. If an application has been refused and you want to challenge the decision, if the hire involves an intra-company transfer or a group structure, or if you have a compliance dispute, speak to a solicitor. We will tell you so when we see it. Our recruitment agency vs immigration law firm guide sets out where the line sits.
Hiring from outside the EEA?
Tell us the role, the salary and, if you have one, the candidate's nationality. We'll tell you which permit applies and what the process involves.
Frequently asked questions
Either can. DETE accepts an application from the employer or from the worker, and an appointed agent can complete it on behalf of either. When we run it, your business is the applicant and CA Recruitment acts as your appointed agent. One practical reason this matters: if an application is refused, DETE refunds 90% of its fee to the applicant, not to whoever paid.
Yes. We start by checking the role, the salary and the worker against the permit rules, then run the Labour Market Needs Test where one is needed, file the application as your appointed agent, and work through the visa and arrival steps with your worker. The process is the same whether we found the candidate or you did.
No. CA Recruitment is a recruitment agency. We are not solicitors and we do not give legal advice or act as your legal representative. We manage the permit and visa process. If your case needs legal work, such as challenging a refusal, an intra-company transfer inside a group structure or a compliance dispute, we will tell you to speak to a solicitor.
For a General Employment Permit, DETE charges €500 for a permit of six months or less and €1,000 for a permit of more than six months up to 24 months. A Critical Skills Employment Permit is €1,000. If an application is refused, 90% of the fee is refunded to the applicant. The visa and travel are separate costs.
In our experience, plan on six to eight months from the first advert to the worker's first day for a General Employment Permit hire. That covers the 28-day Labour Market Needs Test, DETE's processing queue, which moves during the year, and the visa stage. A Critical Skills Employment Permit is usually quicker because it needs no Labour Market Needs Test.
No. Under section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024, an employer cannot deduct from a permit holder's pay, or seek to recover from them, any charge for the permit application, for their recruitment, or for travel costs the employer has already paid. A breach is a criminal offence, and an agreement with the worker does not change that.