# Your first week in Ireland | Checklists | Moving to Ireland > The first week sets the pace for everything that follows, because two of the slowest processes in Ireland, the PPS number and immigration registration… Source: https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/checklists/your-first-week-in-ireland/ Checklists · Step 3 of 4 # Your first week in Ireland 4 min read · Updated 13 September 2026 The first week sets the pace for everything that follows, because two of the slowest processes in Ireland, the PPS number and immigration registration, both start with an online booking that you can make on day one. Get those in the queue, get a phone and a travel card, and start the property search, and the rest of the month will run smoothly. This guide is a day-by-day plan; adjust it to your own arrival day. Figures are correct as of September 2026. ## Day 1: the airport and the basics If you are a non-EEA national, the immigration officer will stamp your passport with a **landing stamp**. Read it: it gives you permission to stay and tells you to register with Immigration Service Delivery within **90 days**. Keep every document you showed at the border; you will show them again at registration. Before you leave the airport, buy an Irish prepaid SIM (no address needed) and a **TFI Leap Card**. The adult card costs a **€5** refundable deposit with a €5 minimum top-up, and inside Dublin the 90-minute fare of **€2** covers bus, Luas and DART with a daily cap of €6. Buses from Dublin Airport into the city accept the Leap Card. In Cork, the airport bus and city buses also take Leap. ## Day 2: apply for your PPS number You cannot be paid correctly, register with Revenue, open most bank accounts or apply for a GP visit card without a Personal Public Service number, and you can only apply once you are in Ireland. Log into **MyWelfare.ie** with your MyGovID, fill in the application, upload your documents and book an in-person appointment at a PPS Number Allocation Centre. You need: - Your passport (EU citizens can use a national identity card). - Proof of address dated within three months. For a new arrival this can be an official letter confirming your address from your hotel, hostel or landlord, or a household bill with a note from the bill holder. - Evidence of why you need the number, such as a job offer or a college acceptance letter. Your number is not issued at the appointment; the Department runs further checks and posts it to you afterwards, and it does not publish a processing time. Take the earliest appointment you can get, anywhere you can reach. ## Day 3: book immigration registration Non-EEA nationals aged 16 and over must register and get an Irish Residence Permit. Log into the ISD customer portal, book an appointment at the registration office at Burgh Quay in Dublin, and gather the documents listed for your permission type. Appointments are normally available within **two to three weeks**, and the permit costs **€300**, paid by card. Your IRP card is posted to you after the appointment, so make sure you will have a stable address by then or use your employer's address if they allow it. ## Days 3 to 7: find somewhere to live Start viewing immediately. The rental market moves in hours, not days, and a good listing on Daft.ie can have dozens of enquiries by lunchtime. Set up alerts for your target areas, respond within minutes, and bring a folder to every viewing with:
ItemWhy
Passport or IDLandlords must verify who they are renting to
Employment contract or offer letterProof you can pay
Recent payslips or bank statementsProof of income and savings
Reference from a previous landlordReassurance for the agent
Employer or character referenceUseful if you have never rented before
Know the rules before you hand over money. A deposit cannot exceed **one month's rent**, and advance rent cannot exceed one month. Never pay a deposit without having viewed the property in person and met the landlord or a licensed agent; read our guide to common rental scams. Once you sign, ask the landlord for confirmation that the tenancy is registered with the RTB. ## Also this week - Register with Revenue: once you have a PPS number, create a myAccount and register your job under Jobs and Pensions, which stops emergency tax. If your number has not arrived by your first payday you will be taxed at the emergency rate and refunded later. - Find a GP: phone practices near your temporary address and ask if they are taking new patients. Many Dublin lists are closed, so expect several calls. - Learn the emergency numbers: **112 or 999** for emergencies, and the local GP out-of-hours service for urgent care at night and weekends. - Walk the areas you are considering at 8am and 8pm before you commit. - Tell your embassy you have arrived if your country asks citizens to register. ## What you can and cannot do yet You can work, sign a lease, use public transport and see a GP as a private patient from day one. You cannot yet open most traditional Irish bank accounts (they want a PPS number and an address), claim the Rent Tax Credit, or exchange your driving licence (the NDLS wants proof of your PPS number and address). All of that follows in the first 90 days. ## ★ Useful links - [MyWelfare: apply for a PPS number](https://services.mywelfare.ie/en/topics/identity-services/personal-public-service-pps-number/) - [ISD: register your permission for the first time](https://www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/how-to-register-your-immigration-permission-for-the-first-time/) - [Revenue: starting your first job](https://www.revenue.ie/en/jobs-and-pensions/starting-your-first-job/index.aspx) - [TFI Leap Card](https://about.leapcard.ie/) - [Residential Tenancies Board](https://www.rtb.ie/) ![](https://www.movingtoireland.co/apple-touch-icon.png) You have read 25% of this guide ## Keep reading in the Moving to Ireland app The rest of **Your first week in Ireland** — about 3 minutes more — is in the app, free to download, alongside 98 other guides and a checklist built around your own move. Still to come in this guide - Day 2: apply for your PPS number - Day 3: book immigration registration - Days 3 to 7: find somewhere to live - Also this week [Download free on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/moving-to-ireland/id6446055261) iPhone and iPad · no account needed ## More on checklists [All 4 guides in this section](https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/checklists/) - ### [The complete moving to Ireland checklist](https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/checklists/moving-to-ireland-checklist/) Moving country is a long list of small tasks, and the order matters: you cannot open most bank accounts without an address, you cannot get paid properly… 4 min read - ### [Three months before you move to Ireland](https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/checklists/three-months-before-you-move/) Three months out is the point where a move to Ireland stops being an idea and becomes a project. The things you do now are the slow ones: immigration… 4 min read - ### [Your first 90 days in Ireland](https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/checklists/your-first-90-days-in-ireland/) The 90-day mark is not arbitrary: it is the deadline on the landing stamp for non-EEA nationals to register with immigration, and it is roughly how long… 4 min read Keep going ## Get the full moving roadmap in the app Moving to Ireland turns 99 guides into a personal checklist. Tell it your passport, whether you have moved yet, and who is coming with you, and it lays out every step in order — from the visa to the bins. - Step-by-step checklist - Tailored to your passport - Pre-move & post-move - Family & pet sections [![Download Moving to Ireland on the App Store](https://www.movingtoireland.co/images/app-store-badge.svg)](https://apps.apple.com/app/moving-to-ireland/id6446055261) ★★★★★ 4.9 on the App Store [![Expats who settled in Ireland, two five-star App Store reviews, and the Moving to Ireland app showing its relocation checklist](https://www.movingtoireland.co/images/app-social-proof.webp)](https://apps.apple.com/app/moving-to-ireland/id6446055261)