Non EU citizens: Employment Permit & Visa requirements

If you are not an EU citizen and would like to work as a Pharmacist in Ireland, you will need a work permit and visa. You will also need to be registered with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) before you can apply for an Employment Permit in Ireland.

There are 2 types of permits:

• General Permit
• Critical Skills Permit

To be eligible for the General Permit, the employer has to first fulfill the Labour Market Needs Test.

The employer must advertise the vacancy:

• with the Department of Social Protection Employment Services/EURES employment network for at least 4 weeks and
• in a national newspaper for at least 3 days (~350-450 euro) and also
• in either a local newspaper or jobs website for 3 days (Clarity can post for this for free)

Once the job has been advertised for the required time, the employer can then obtain the permit for you and the costs are as follows:

• €500 for an employment permit of 6 months or less in duration
• €1,000 for an employment permit from 6 months up to 24 months in duration

See more information here.

To be eligible for the Critical Skills Permit, your occupation must be on the Critical Skills list, or you must have an employment offer of over €64,000 per year.

The employer has to obtain this permit for you and the cost for it is €1,000.

For more information on the Employment Permits please check the Government website - Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Finally, you will need to apply for the Employment Visa. Note that you can only get this visa after you have obtained an employment permit. However, some countries may be exempt from the visa requirement.