Your Stamp 4 route
Stamp 4 lets you work for any employer, or run a business, without an employment permit, and it counts as reckonable residence toward citizenship. Several separate routes reach it: employment permits at 21, 57 or 60 months, Long Term Residency, marriage or partnership with an Irish citizen, and the Start-up Entrepreneur Programme. Pick your situation to see the exact test, your earliest date, the documents ISD needs and how the routes compare.
Your situation
CSEP
21 months of employment from your start date.
Your employment
The 21-month and 57-month groups are not interchangeable. Time on a General Employment Permit never counts toward the 21-month Critical Skills total, and gaps without a valid stamp or IRP do not count.
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Official sources
Rules last verified 25 August 2026.
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