Landing in Ireland: The Arrival Guide for Every Stamp and Route
Whether you arrive on a work permit, to study, as a graduate, or to join family, your first job is to register your immigration permission and get your IRP. Here is the arrival guide for every stamp.
Arriving in Ireland is only half the journey. Whatever brought you here, a job, a course, a graduate offer or a family reunion, your first practical task is the same: register your immigration permission and receive your Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card. What differs is the stamp you are registered under, because the stamp decides what you may and may not do. This guide walks every arrival audience through it, as of mid-2026. Rules, fees and thresholds change, so always confirm against the official pages linked below before you act.
Two things happen: entry, then registration
It helps to separate the two moments. When you land, an immigration officer grants you an initial landing permission. Then, if you plan to stay beyond three months, you must formally register that permission and be issued an IRP card. Registration is done in person: if you live in Dublin, at the Burgh Quay Registration Office (by appointment through the ISD portal); if you live outside Dublin, at your local immigration registration office, usually run by the Garda. Register within the early weeks of arriving rather than leaving it until your landing stamp is nearly up.
The IRP card is what you will use for everyday life, from opening a bank account to proving your status to an employer or landlord. The card shows your stamp, and the stamp is the whole story.
Stamp 1: employment permit holders
If you arrived on a General or Critical Skills Employment Permit, you register for Stamp 1. Bring your passport, your employment permit and a current contract of employment to your appointment. Stamp 1 ties your right to work to that permit: you work for the employer and in the role named on it, and a change of employer generally means a new or amended permit.
The milestone to keep in view is Stamp 4. Holders of a Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP) can typically apply to move to Stamp 4 after roughly 21 months, using a support letter from DETE. General Employment Permit holders take a longer road, usually five years of permit-based residence. Either way, diary the date early; Stamp 4 removes the permit tie entirely.
