Long Term Residency Applications

Persons who have been legally resident in the State for a minimum of five years (i.e. 60 months) on the basis of work permit/work authorisation/working visa conditions may apply to this office for a five-year residency extension. They may also apply to be exempt from employment permit requirements.

Long Term Residency is granted on the basis that a non-EEA national has completed a minimum of five years (i.e. 60 months) legal residence in the State on work permit conditions which is reflected in the corresponding Stamp 1 or Stamp 4 endorsements on a person’s passport (not by the dates of commencement and expiry of each work permit/work authorisation/working visa). Periods of time for which a person has not been legally resident in the state (i.e. does not have an up to date endorsement on their passport) cannot be counted towards an application for Long Term Residency.
A successful applicant in this situation will be granted Permission to Remain on a Stamp 4 which is valid for 5 years.
Temporary stamp 1 permission granted to applicants in order to for them to apply for a new employment permit will not be counted towards their eligibility for this scheme. Only stamp 1 permissions where the applicant held a valid employment permit issued to them by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will be reckonable for this scheme.

Applications from Spouses/Dependants

The spouse and/or dependant(s) of the applicant for Long Term Residency may also apply for Long Term Residency. In order to apply for Long Term Residency as a spouse/dependant,

the applicant must be legally resident in the State as a spouse/dependant for the required 60 month period(i.e. minimum of 5 years).
Successful applications from those who apply as a spouse/dependant will be granted Permission to Remain on a Stamp 3. This particular long term permission does not exempt the spouse/dependant(s) from employment permit requirements.
It should be noted that in order to submit an application for Long Term Residency as a Spouse/Dependant (Stamp 3) you must be the Spouse/Dependant of an applicant who has already been granted Long Term Residency on Stamp 4 conditions.

I am ineligible to apply for Long Term Residency IF

The applicant is an EEA National (EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein & Norway).
The applicant has permission to remain on the basis of his/her marriage to an Irish national (refer the applicant to Spouse of Irish National Unit).
The applicant has permission granted by the EU Treaty Rights Unit pursuant to The Directive 2004/38/EC and the Free Movement Regulations.
The applicant has permission to remain on Student Conditions (Stamp 2 & Stamp 2A).
The applicant has been made redundant and has been lawfully resident and worked for 5 years with an employment permit issued by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or has been lawfully resident and has worked in accordance with an employment permit for less than 5 years and has been made redundant involuntarily.
The applicant has permission to remain under the old IBC and IBC-05 schemes or has had such permission renewed. (refer to IBC section).
The applicant was granted permission to remain under the Turkish Agreement (Turkish Association – Stamp 4 for 1 year – renewable with local Immigration Officer).
The applicant has permission to remain on the basis of an Intra-company Transfer.
The applicant is working at a foreign embassy in the State.
Permission to Remain issued under the Work Holiday Authorisation scheme is not counted for the purposes of Long Term Residency.
The applicant currently resident in the State under Business Permission.
The applicant has permission to remain on a stamp 4 basis after qualifying under the 2004 Student Probationary Extension.
The applicant was granted permission to remain under Permission to Remain under section 3 of the Immigration Act, 1999 or was granted permission under the International Protection Act 2015 or entered the State under the International Protection Act Family Reunification scheme.
The applicant was granted permission under the Atypical Working Scheme.
The applicant was granted a Stamp 1 permission by the Minister for Justice which allows them to work without the need for a work permit.
The applicant was granted permission under the Special Student Scheme.
The applicant was granted Stamp 0 permission.
The applicant was granted permission under the policy for victims of human trafficking.
The applicant was granted permission under the policy for victims of domestic violence.
The applicant was granted permission under the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP)
The applicant was granted permission under the Start-Up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP)
The applicant was granted permission as the de-facto partner of an Irish national or a non-EEA national (excluding de-facto spouses of Critical Skills Employment Permit holders)
The applicant was granted permission to work under the Labour Market Access scheme.

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