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Ireland residence and citizenship

The lowest comparable cited investment amount on file for a residence route in Ireland is $55,965, for the Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP). Ordinary naturalisation in Ireland needs 5 years of legal residence.

Last updated: 9 November 2026

Checked — Sources last checked 9 November 2026 by the automated residence and citizenship review.

Residence routes in Ireland

Investment, own-income, remote-work and permanent routes. Scroll across the table to see every column.

RouteKindMinimumProcessingTo citizenship
Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP)Investor$55,965—5 years
Retirement / independent means (Stamp 0)Retirement or own income———
Long Term Residency after employment permitsPermanent residence——5 years
Without Condition As To Time (Stamp 5)Permanent residence——5 years

"Minimum" is a cited investment threshold in its stated currency. A USD figure appears only when a supported conversion is on file; "—" means no supported amount is on file, not that it is free. "To citizenship" counts the years of residence before a naturalisation application. A zero-year entry states no residence wait; citizenship still needs a separate decision.

Work, family, study and other routes (7)
RouteKindMinimumProcessingTo citizenship
Critical Skills Employment PermitWork——5 years
General Employment PermitWork——5 years
Family member of EU/EEA/Swiss citizenFamily—up to 6 months5 years
Spouse or civil partner of Irish citizenFamily——3 years
De facto partner of Irish citizenFamily——5 years
EU/EEA/Swiss free movementEU / EEA free movement—up to 6 months5 years
British citizen Common Travel Area residenceEU / EEA free movement——5 years
Each route's conditions and sources

Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP)

Not for EU citizens, Swiss citizens.

Non-EEA innovative-business founder of good character with EUR 50,000 available for the proposed business; Russian and Belarusian citizens are excluded by the current programme notice. EUR 50,000 × 1.1193 USD/EUR = USD 55,965 business funding, not a passive investment. EUR 350 × 1.1193 = USD 391.76 application fee. Quarterly evaluation is not a bounded processing time. Stamp 4 is reckonable toward ordinary five-year naturalisation; eligibility follows the programme's applicant criteria.

Sources: Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (Immigration Service Delivery), ECB EUR/USD reference rate (European Central Bank), Immigration permission stamps (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

Retirement / independent means (Stamp 0)

Financially independent retiree. Official guidance calls for individual income of EUR 50,000 per year plus access to a separate lump sum, but says investment sums are not normally measured; this is an income requirement, not a minimum investment. A route-specific application fee was not established. Stamp 0 is excluded from long-term residence and does not itself establish a reckonable naturalisation path. Eligibility follows the independent-means conditions.

Sources: Retire to Ireland (Immigration Service Delivery), Immigration permission stamps (Immigration Service Delivery), Long Term Residency (Immigration Service Delivery), Stamp 0 and naturalisation policy (Minister for Justice and Equality, Dáil written answer)

Long Term Residency after employment permits

Employment-permit holder with 60 months of qualifying legal residence; dependants may qualify after the same period. Five-year permission is renewable; ordinary naturalisation may be applied for after five reckonable years. Eligibility follows the official employment-permit and residence tests.

Sources: Long Term Residency (Immigration Service Delivery), Immigration permission stamps (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

Without Condition As To Time (Stamp 5)

Eligible non-EEA resident after eight years (96 months) of qualifying legal permission. Stamp 0 and student Stamp 2 do not count. A filing fee and bounded processing time were not established. Ordinary naturalisation may already be available after five reckonable years; eight years here is the time to this indefinite permission, not the minimum naturalisation time. Eligibility follows the specified stamp list.

Sources: Without Condition As To Time (Immigration Service Delivery), Immigration permission stamps (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

Critical Skills Employment Permit

Not for EU citizens, Swiss citizens.

Qualifying non-EEA employee with a critical-skills job offer. EUR 1,000 × 1.1193 USD/EUR = USD 1,119.30 for the permit application (up to 24 months); an employer applicant cannot recover the charge from the worker. A qualifying holder can move to Stamp 4 after two years. No investment minimum or bounded processing period is stated. Stamp 1 and 4 count toward five-year naturalisation. Eligibility follows the employment-permit category.

Sources: Critical Skills Employment Permit (Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment), Employment permit fees (Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment), ECB EUR/USD reference rate (European Central Bank), Immigration permission stamps (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

General Employment Permit

Not for EU citizens, Swiss citizens.

Qualifying non-EEA employee and sponsoring employer. Standard six-to-24-month permit application is EUR 1,000 × 1.1193 USD/EUR = USD 1,119.30; the shorter permit is EUR 500 and employer applicants may not recover the fee from the worker. No investment minimum or bounded processing time is stated. After five years of qualifying work permission, Stamp 4/long-term residence may be available; Stamp 1 counts toward ordinary five-year citizenship. Eligibility follows the permit criteria.

Sources: General Employment Permit (Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment), Employment permit fees (Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment), ECB EUR/USD reference rate (European Central Bank), Immigration permission stamps (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

Family member of EU/EEA/Swiss citizen

Qualifying non-EEA spouse, partner or dependent family member of an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen exercising Treaty rights. A permanent residence card is available after more than five continuous years. No fixed investment or application fee was established. Official EU Treaty Rights guidance says a decision can take up to six months; this sets the maximum to six months, with no stated minimum. Naturalisation generally requires five reckonable years. Eligibility follows the official relationship categories.

Sources: EU Treaty Rights (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

Spouse or civil partner of Irish citizen

Foreign spouse or civil partner of an Irish citizen may receive permission to live and work, subject to case-by-case approval. After at least three years of marriage/partnership and three years of qualifying residence, naturalisation may be requested. No fixed investment, filing fee or bounded processing period was established. Eligibility follows the official relationship category.

Sources: Irish citizen spouse residence (Immigration Service Delivery), Immigration permission stamps (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

De facto partner of Irish citizen

Not for EU citizens, Swiss citizens.

Non-EU/EEA/Swiss partner of an Irish citizen with at least two years' documented cohabitation may obtain renewable Stamp 4 residence. A visa or preclearance charge applies but the page does not give a single amount across offices; No fixed investment or bounded decision time was established. The three-year spouse/civil-partner citizenship exception does not apply to de facto partners, so ordinary five-year reckonable residence is used. Eligibility follows the published relationship criteria.

Sources: De facto partner of an Irish national (Immigration Service Delivery), Immigration permission stamps (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

EU/EEA/Swiss free movement

Only for EU citizens, Swiss citizens.

EU, EEA or Swiss citizen exercising Treaty rights in Ireland. Permanent Residence Certificate may be requested after five continuous years. There is no investment requirement; an application fee was not established. Official EU Treaty Rights guidance says an application decision can take up to six months; this sets the maximum to six months, with no stated minimum. Ordinary naturalisation after five qualifying years. Eligibility follows the official nationality definition.

Sources: EU Treaty Rights (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

British citizen Common Travel Area residence

British citizens may live and work freely in Ireland under the Common Travel Area. This is a nationality entitlement rather than a visa application; no investment or application charge is asserted. A bounded processing period is inapplicable. Ordinary naturalisation can follow five years of qualifying residence. Eligibility follows British citizenship, not all UK residents.

Sources: Common Travel Area (Immigration Service Delivery), How to become an Irish citizen (Immigration Service Delivery)

Citizenship in Ireland

  • Years of residence before naturalisation: 5 years
  • Years before permanent residence: 5 years
  • Dual citizenship allowed: Yes
  • Residence and presence: Five years of reckonable residence in the preceding nine, including one continuous year immediately before applying; ordinarily no more than 70 days absent in that final year.

Naturalisation is discretionary. Marriage or civil partnership with an Irish citizen can reduce the residence requirement to three years, subject to separate conditions. Five years to permanent residence applies to qualifying employment-permit holders and EU/EEA/Swiss free movement; Stamp 5 without condition as to time requires eight years. Retirement Stamp 0 is not a qualifying route to long-term residence or ordinary naturalisation. Ireland has no current CBI programme; the Immigrant Investor Programme closed to new applications in 2023. No general language test is stated by the cited citizenship guidance.

What is the cheapest residence visa in Ireland?

The lowest comparable cited investment amount on file for a residence route in Ireland is $55,965, for the Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP). Routes for people living on their own income or working remotely (Retirement / independent means (Stamp 0)) ask for proof of income, not an investment.

How many years to citizenship in Ireland?

Ordinary naturalisation in Ireland needs 5 years of legal residence. Permanent residence is possible after 5 years. Five years of reckonable residence in the preceding nine, including one continuous year immediately before applying; ordinarily no more than 70 days absent in that final year.

Does Ireland allow dual citizenship?

Yes. Ireland lets a new citizen keep another nationality, subject to the other country's rules.

Tax and residence days

A residence permit and tax residence are different tests. See the Ireland tax rates, count your days with the Ireland day test and see what changed in the data, day by day.

Sources

The Ireland profile cites 18 sources, 17 of them from a government or a statute. Data as of 2026-Q4.

Rules, fees and minimums change, and many routes have conditions not shown here. Did you find an error? Tell us, with the source.

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This page is general information. It is not legal, immigration, tax or investment advice. Check the official source and ask a qualified immigration lawyer before you apply or invest.