Provisions for 5 year workers

Section 1

  • Persons who have worked for 5 consecutive years or more and who currently hold a valid Employment Permit with an Employment Permit issued by the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment (Immigration Stamp 1)

        or
  •  Persons who have worked for 5 consecutive years or more and currently hold a Working Visa or a Work Authorisation issue under the Working Visa/Work Authorisation Scheme.

New Arrangements

All non-EEA persons who currently hold a valid employment permit or a valid working visa/work authorisation issued under the Working Visa/Work Authorisation Scheme and have done so for 5 years or more consecutively and have been working lawfully during that time will be exempted from the requirement to hold a work permit.  This applies equally to those who are still in employment and to those with an employment permit who, having completed 5 years work, have since been made redundant.

Certain conditons will apply.


Eligibility

A. Employment Permit Holders

To avail of this concession the non-EEA migrant worker must meet the following requirements

  1. Applicant must have completed 5 consecutive years employment in Ireland with employment permits issued by the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment
    NB
    • A person who was made redundant before completing their 5 years employment does not qualify for this particular concession but may qualify for an extended "grace period" under Section 2 below.
    • For the purposes of this concession, a work permit that has expired in the previous 3 months will be accepted as "current".
      Evidence Required from applicant:  Your recent employment permit and payslip.   You will need a redundancy notice showing that you have been made redundant involuntarily and a P45 form (applies to workers made redundant).

      and
  2. Must have immigration permission Stamp 1 for that 5 year period and be lawfully present in the State. Evidence Required from applicant:  Your current Passport endorsed with immigration Stamp 1 and your current GNIB Card
     
     and
  3. Must be registered for Tax
    Evidence Required from applicant: P60 form for 2008 tax year

    and
  4. Must have a clean record as regards criminality and immigration.


Acceptable Gaps in Registration

It is recognised that there will be cases where the applicant has for one reason or another some short gaps in their immigration registration in the 5 year period.     Some tolerance will be allowed in this area.    The acceptable gaps in the past 5 years for the purposes of this concession only will be

  1. No gap in residence permission can exceed 3 months
  2. The total gap in residence over the past 5 years cannot exceed 6 months.

Condition (1) may be applied to current gaps in registration.   In other words, a foreign national whose residence permission has expired within the previous 3 months may be eligible for the concession provided that over the full 5 year period, the total of all gaps, including the current one, does not exceed 6 months.    Persons with a current gap in registration in excess of 3 months are ineligible for this concession.     No backdating of permissions will be possible.

NB:  To enable this concession to work efficiently in the interests of migrant workers and the immigration authorities it is necessary to operate simple guidelines and to be able to deal with all cases over the counter.   Therefore immigration staff will have no discretion to apply this concession to cases where the gaps in registration exceed those set out above.     The Immigration Authorities will not be in a position to engage in any examination of the reasons for gaps in registration.   It is the responsibility of any foreign national to ensure that their registration is kept up to date.    Therefore any case that does not meet the eligibility requirements for the Concession under Section 1 will fall to be considered under Section 2 and the migrant worker will require an employment permit from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment.

Qualifying Applicants

Persons who satisfy the eligibility criteria for this concession will be issued a Stamp 4 immigration permission for 1 year signifying the right to be present in the State and to be employed without an employment permit.    Terms and conditions include:

  • Permissions granted may be renewed annually
    NB:   It is important to note that renewal will not be automatic.  Persons granted the permission are expected to work and to support themselves and any dependents and, if made redundant, the person concerned must seek new employment.  (Also, since immigration policies are subject to change, it cannot be assumed that Stamp 4 will always be available to persons in this category).
  • The Holder of this permission cannot become an undue burden on the State
  • The holder of this permission will be free to work in any employment and will no longer be limited to the current employer. Should they subsequently be made redundant they are free to seek other employment.
  • The Stamp 4 permission in these cases cannot be construed as conferring any other rights or entitlements. It is not long term residence and it cannot be seen as any guarantee of permanent status.
  • The concession is being made irrespective of whether the person is currently an applicant for long term residence.

B. Work Authorisation and Working visa holders

To avail of the concession under Section 1,   the non-EEA migrant worker must meet the following requirements

  1. (i) Applicant must have held an immigration stamp 4 for five or more consecutive years on the basis of a work authorisation or working visa and is lawfully present in the State. 
    Evidence Required from applicant
    • Current Passport endorsed with immigration  Stamp 4 and work  authorisation or working visa sticker.  
    • Current GNIB Card

       and
  2. Must be registered for Tax
    Evidence Required from applicant: P60 form for 2008 tax year

     and
  3. Must have a clean record as regards criminality and immigration.


Acceptable Gaps in Registration

As per employment permit holders.    
Again, the determination of eligibility will be on the basis of the stamps in the passport and the immigration authorities cannot enter into any consideration of the reasons for the gaps in registration.

Qualifying Applicants

Persons in this category already hold stamp 4 permission.    The effect of the concession in these cases is that the restriction as to the sector in which the person can work is removed.   This will be signified by the insertion of the words "all sectors" on the work authorisation or working visa.   Persons who satisfy the eligibility criteria for this concession will be issued a Stamp 4 immigration permission for 1 year signifying the right to be present in the State and to be employed without an employment permit and without restriction to a particular sector.    Terms and conditions include:

  • Permissions granted may be renewed annually

    NB:   It is important to note that renewal will not be automatic.  Persons granted the permission are expected to work and to support themselves and any dependents and, if made redundant, the person concerned must seek new employment.  (Also, since immigration policies are subject to change, it cannot be assumed that Stamp 4 will always be available to persons in this category).


    The Holder of this permission cannot become an undue burden on the State
  • The holder of this permission will be free to work in any employment and will no longer be limited to a specific sector of the economy.
  • The Stamp 4 permission in these cases cannot be construed as conferring any other rights or entitlements. It is not long term residence and it cannot be seen as any guarantee of permanent status.
  • The concession is being made irrespective of whether the person is currently an applicant for long term residence.

Questions and Answers:

Q.    When can I apply for conversion to this type of Stamp 4?

A . This form of Stamp 4 will be available to you when your existing stamp 1 comes up for renewal unless in the interim

  • you are changing employers
  • on redundancy

You should not call in to the immigration office except in these circumstances.
 
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Q.    Is this permission the same as long term residence? 

A.   No.  This limited permission allows you to work without an Employment permit for 12 months. There is no guarantee of renewal or of the current concession continuing indefinitely.  Long term residence will run for 5 years (no annual registration is required) and will not be subject to the same conditions as the limited stamp 4 provided in this case.

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Q.      Does this concession apply where I have worked for 5 years in total but not consecutively?
 
A.     No.  In that case you will be dealt with under Section 2 below in the event of redundancy.  If you are still in employment you will continue with your existing Stamp 1 permission.

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