Stamp 4 is the permission most non-EEA residents in Ireland are working towards. It cuts the link between your right to live here and a single employer, lets you set up a business, and keeps the citizenship clock running. This guide explains the main routes to Stamp 4, what the permission allows, how the long-term residency scheme works after 5 years on employment permits, and how the timeline runs on to naturalisation. Figures are correct for September 2026.
What Stamp 4 gives you
Routes to Stamp 4
| Route | When you can apply | Initial Stamp 4 duration |
| Critical Skills Employment Permit holder | After 21 months working on the permit | 2 years, renewable |
| Long-term residency (any employment permits) | After 60 months on Stamp 1 or Stamp 4 based on permits | 5 years |
| Spouse or civil partner of an Irish citizen | On approval of the application, if living together in Ireland | Set by ISD, renewable |
| Stamp 1G holder (graduate or CSEP spouse) | After 5 years on Stamp 1G | Set by ISD |
| Refugee status or subsidiary protection | On grant of status | 3 years, renewable |
| Parent of an Irish citizen child | On approval, subject to conditions | Set by ISD |
| Immigrant Investor Programme (closed to new applicants since 2023) | Existing approvals only | Set by ISD |
The Critical Skills route is the quickest for most skilled workers: the permit runs for 2 years and after 21 months you apply directly to Immigration Service Delivery for Stamp 4, with no support letter from the Department of Enterprise needed since 30 November 2023. General Employment Permit holders do not get this shortcut and rely on the long-term residency scheme instead.
Long-term residency after 5 years
The Long Term Residency scheme is for people who have completed at least 60 months of legal residence in Ireland on the strength of employment permits issued by the Department of Enterprise. If approved, you receive a Stamp 4 valid for 5 years, which lets you work without a further permit. The key rules as published by ISD are:
- Residence is calculated from the stamps in your passport and the validity dates on your expired IRP cards, not from the dates on the permits themselves. Any gap without a stamp or valid card is not counted.
- Only Stamp 1 granted on the basis of a work permit, and Stamp 4 granted to Critical Skills (formerly Green Card) holders, qualify. A mix of the two adding up to 60 months is fine.
- Stamp 0, Stamp 1A, Stamp 1 under the Atypical Working Scheme, contract for services permits, Stamp 4 under the investor or start-up entrepreneur programmes, and Stamp 1 granted by the Minister for Justice to work without a permit do not count.
- You must be of good character, must not have been an undue burden on the State and must not have breached your previous conditions.
Apply by post to the Domestic Residence and Permissions Division. If approved you are asked to pay a €500 fee within 28 days of the approval letter; miss that window and the file is closed. You then register the new permission online and pay the €300 IRP fee on top. There is no appeal against a refusal, but you can re-apply at any time. As of September 2026 ISD warns of high volumes and delays in acknowledging applications, so apply as soon as you pass 60 months and keep your existing permit renewed in the meantime.
The naturalisation timeline
Stamp 4 is not permanent residence, and it does not remove the need to renew. Most people treat it as the last stop before citizenship. Under the current Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act you need 5 years of reckonable residence in the previous 9, including 1 continuous year immediately before applying (3 years if you are married to or in a civil partnership with an Irish citizen). Time on Stamps 1, 1G, 1H, 3, 4 and 5 counts; time on Stamps 0, 1A, 2 and 2A does not.
| Step | Cost or time (2026) |
| Naturalisation application fee | €175 |
| Median time to decision (Department of Justice, 2024 and 2025) | About 8 months |
| Certificate fee, standard adult | €950 (€200 for minors and widowed spouses of Irish citizens; nil for refugees and stateless applicants) |
| Citizenship ceremony | Invited after payment; 19 ceremonies were held in 2025 up to November |
Be aware that in September 2026 the Government approved priority drafting of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026, which proposes raising the residence requirement to 8 years and adding language and civics tests. It has not been enacted, and how it would treat pending applications is not yet settled. If you are close to 5 years, check the current law and consider applying early.
