Ireland Internship Visa
If you are a non-EEA citizen and you would like to travel to Ireland to do an internship, you may need to obtain an Irish Internship Visa.
To receive assistance with your application, call our lawyers today at +1 844 290 6312.
Page Contents:
- What is the Irish Internship Visa?
- What are the requirements for the Irish Internship Visa?
- How to apply for the Irish Internship Visa?
- How can an Irish employer apply for an Intern Permit?
- How much does the Internship Visa to Ireland cost?
- Is there an alternative way to come to Ireland as an intern?
- How can IAS help?
- Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Irish Internship Visa?
The Irish Internship Visa is intended for non-EEA citizens who want to come to Ireland to complete an internship that can help them get professional experience or enhance their work skills. Only individuals who are full-time students enrolled in a third-level study course abroad can apply for this Irish visa. Those who are entering Ireland to participate in an unpaid internship are not eligible for an Internship visa.
The Irish Intern Visa is a type of Employment Permit to Ireland where foreign citizens can travel to Ireland to work as paid interns. Depending on your personal circumstance, you may apply for either a Long Stay ‘D’ Intern Visa or a Short Stay ‘C’ visa for stays less than 90 days.
To be able to receive the Ireland Intern Visa, applicants need to have a job offer in Ireland at the time of applying and be enrolled as a student in a full-time course at a school outside Ireland. It is also possible for an Irish employer or host company to apply for the Internship Employment Permit on behalf of the non-EEA citizen.
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What are the requirements for the Irish Internship Visa?
The main eligibility requirement for the Irish Internship Visa is that applicants have to be full-time students enrolled in a third-level course at an academic institution outside of Ireland but who have secured a job offer for a paid internship in Ireland.
In addition to that, non-EEA citizens wanting to obtain the Intern Visa need to meet the following requirements:
- Be able to prove that the internship is relevant to their course of study
- Be able to prove that the internship will help them enhance their career prospects
- Have been offered National Minimum Wage or higher for the work done during the internship
- Be coming to fulfill a role included on the Highly Skilled Eligible Occupations List
- Have ties in their home country that will make them leave Ireland once the internship finishes
- Be able to provide details of any financial support they will be receiving (an official bank statement or other documents which prove financial support)
- Be able to prove that the internship has been approved by the academic institution in the applicant’s home country.
Keep in mind that to be able to obtain an Intern Visa, you have to have secured a job offer in Ireland. Unfortunately, it is not possible to apply for this visa if you are thinking of looking for an intern position after arriving in the country.
How to apply for the Irish Internship Visa?
You should apply for the Internship Visa to Ireland up to 3 months before the intended date of your travel. You have to submit your application from abroad. To apply, you have to complete an online application form in which you provide details of your planned internship in Ireland.
After you submit the application form, you have to pay a visa application fee of either €60 for a single-entry visa or €100 for a multiple-entry one.
Once you settle the payment, you have to start gathering documents that prove your eligibility for the Intern Visa. Your portfolio of evidence should contain original documents written in English or Irish. If your documents are in another language, they will need to be accompanied by certified translations. It should be noted that translations that have been made in the EEA or Switzerland do not need to be authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Our lawyers can help you put together a portfolio of evidence with all the documents that might be required. Once the documents are collected, you will have 30 days to send them off to the designated visa office stated on the application summary sheet.
The waiting time for this particular visa varies depending on how many people apply around the same time. Nevertheless, the processing takes at least twenty days.
How can an Irish employer apply for an Intern Permit?
For an Irish employer to be able to take in foreign citizens as interns, they need to apply for an Intern Permit. They need to prove that they are genuine and legal and they need to be registered with the Revenue Commissioners.
Sometimes, employers also have to be registered with the Companies Registration Office/Registry of Friendly Societies. Moreover, Irish employers who want to accept interns from abroad need to agree to pay them for their work.
Intern Permits are granted to employers on the condition that more than half of the employees in their business are EEA nationals.
If you are an Irish business owner and you want to recruit foreign interns, get in touch with our lawyers. They can explain to you in detail how you can do that. Thanks to their help obtaining an Intern Permit will be easy.
How much does the Internship Visa to Ireland cost?
When applying for the Internship Visa to Ireland, you have to pay the visa application fee of either €60 for a single entry permit or €100 for a multiple-entry one. In addition to that, however, you have to pay the appropriate fee for your Internship Employment Permit. Depending on how long your internship in Ireland will last, you will have to pay:
- €500 for a permit valid for up to 6 months
- €1000 for a permit valid for between 6 and 12 months.
In the event that your application is unsuccessful, you are entitled to a ninety percent refund.
Is there an alternative way to come to Ireland as an intern?
If you want to come to Ireland as an intern, you can also consider applying for the Atypical Working Scheme. It is another permit intended for highly skilled foreign citizens. To be eligible for the Atypical Working Scheme, you have to meet the following requirements:
- You are coming to Ireland to fill a position facing a shortage of skills
- You will be getting paid for your work in your internship position whilst in Ireland
- You received a letter of approval
- You successfully applied for the Atypical Working Scheme prior to arriving in Ireland.
The Atypical Working Scheme is the best route for those who want to come to Ireland as Paid Researchers or Locum Doctors working in the general practice, the hospital sector, or the primary care sector.
Our lawyers can assess your circumstances and advise you on whether you should apply for the Internship Visa or the Atypical Working Scheme.
How can IAS help?
At IAS, our lawyers have expert knowledge of Irish immigration law and they have helped many clients successfully apply for various visas to Ireland, including the Internship Visa.
If you hire one of our lawyers, they will assess your personal circumstances and determine whether you meet the eligibility requirements for the Internship Visa. Then, they will guide you through each step of the application process, making sure you understand what is expected from you.
Thanks to the help of our immigration lawyers, you can be certain that your application has been completed to the highest standard, thus maximizing the chances of a positive outcome.
Even if your application is unsuccessful, our lawyers can help you find a solution.
Call us today at +1 844 290 6312 to find out more about how we can help to make this process as stress-free as possible.
Last modified on August 8th, 2023 at 10:22 am
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Frequently Asked Questions
When applying for the Internship Visa to Ireland, you can indicate whether you want to obtain the Short Stay ‘C’ Visa or the Long Stay ‘D’ Visa. If you get the former, you will be able to spend up to 90 days in Ireland. Keep in mind that it is not possible to extend Short Stay Visas to Ireland so after these three months, you will have to leave the country.
If you obtain the Long Stay Internship Visa, you will have the right to spend more than 90 days in Ireland. The exact validity of your visa will depend on the duration of your internship in Ireland. Still, after your internship comes to an end, you will have to return to your country. You will not have the right to stay in Ireland permanently on the Internship Visa.
When applying for the Internship Visa to Ireland, you have to provide details of your internship in Ireland. If your application is successful, you will be able to come to Ireland to work in this specific position. You will not have the right to seek other employment.
To be able to obtain the Internship Visa, you have to prove that the internship in Ireland is relevant to your course of study. You cannot get an Internship Visa to come to Ireland to do an internship of your choice.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to apply for the Internship Visa to Ireland without first securing a job offer in Ireland. In the online application form, you have to provide information about your internship in Ireland. That means that you need to have been accepted as an intern prior to applying.
Moreover, you can only come to Ireland on the Internship Visa if your internship in Ireland is paid. Your Irish employer has to agree to be paying you the National Minimum Wage or more.
Unfortunately, family members are not eligible to come with you if you are in Ireland under an Internship visa. If you would like them to join you while you are in Ireland, they will need to apply for separate Irish visas.