University of Galway

Work during study

A non-EEA student on a course listed on the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP), registered on Stamp 2 student conditions, has a concession to work up to 20 hours per week during term-time and up to 40 hours per week during vacation time, without needing a separate employment permit. Vacation periods are defined as June, July, August and September, plus 15 December to 15 January. Students on a course leading to a major NFQ Level 7 award or above may also undertake an internship or work placement that is an integral, assessed part of their course, including outside the normal hours limit.

Post-study work visa

Third Level Graduate Programme (Stamp 1G, sometimes called Ireland's 'stay back' option) . Up to 2 years
Available to a legally resident non-EEA graduate who holds a Level 8 (honours bachelor's) or Level 9-or-above (master's/doctoral) award from a recognised Irish awarding body, notified of the award on or after 1 January 2017, who applies within 6 months of that notification and has not already exceeded the 7-year overall limit on student permission. A Level 8 graduate is granted 12 months' permission, to a maximum of 7 years' cumulative student permission overall. A Level 9-or-above graduate is granted 12 months initially, renewable for a further 12 months (24 months total) provided they can show the immigration authorities they have taken genuine steps to find graduate-level employment (e.g. job interviews, registering with graduate recruiters) and stay within an overall 8-year limit on student conditions. A graduate may re-enter the programme once more after achieving a still-higher award, but never more than twice in total, and it is intended for seeking graduate-level employment and applying for an employment permit — not an open-ended stay.

Route to permanent residence

The Stamp 1G graduate permission does not itself count as an employment permit, but its holder is explicitly allowed to apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit while still in Ireland on Stamp 1G — Citizens Information's own eligibility page for that permit lists 'stamp 1, 1G, 2, 2A or 3 permission' as sufficient standing to apply from inside the country. A recent graduate gets a lower salary bar for that permit: if the qualification was awarded within the 12 months before applying and the job is on the Critical Skills Occupation List, the minimum salary is reduced (EUR 36,848, versus EUR 40,904 for that list generally, both as of this reading). From an employment permit, the standard route to long-term status is Long Term Residency: at least 5 years (60 months) of legal residence in Ireland held under a qualifying Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment employment permit (successive permits, including a combination of a Critical Skills Employment Permit and other permit types, can be added together), after which a grant of Long Term Residency allows a further 5 years of work in Ireland without needing another employment permit. This is distinct from, and does not itself equal, Irish citizenship or an unconditional permanent 'Stamp 4' — those follow their own separate rules.

Route to citizenship

Irish citizenship by naturalisation is granted at the Minister for Justice's absolute discretion under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 as amended, administered by the Immigration Service Delivery's Citizenship Division. An applicant must have at least 1,825 days (5 years) of 'reckonable residence' in the State within the 9 years before applying, made up of 365 days of continuous residence immediately before the application plus a further 1,460 days (4 years) of reckonable residence within the 8 years before that; a spouse or civil partner of an Irish citizen can instead apply after 3 years of marriage or civil partnership plus 3 years of reckonable residence on the island of Ireland. Not every immigration status counts toward reckonable residence, and applicants must also show good character. Ireland permits multiple citizenship: Immigration Service Delivery states directly that Irish law does not require giving up another citizenship either to naturalise as Irish or to claim Irish citizenship by birth or descent, though it flags that an applicant's other country of citizenship may not allow the same.

What the government currently prioritises

The Critical Skills Employment Permit — the main employment permit a Stamp 1G graduate would realistically apply for — is explicitly built around a Government shortage list: a job on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's own Critical Skills Occupations List qualifies at a lower minimum salary (EUR 40,904/year generally, or EUR 36,848/year for an applicant who was awarded their qualification within the previous 12 months) than a job in an occupation that is merely not on a separate 'ineligible occupations' list (EUR 68,911/year). No labour-market needs test (advertising the role first) applies to this permit either way. Reading the List itself (organised by the UK's Standard Occupational Classification, SOC 2010, current from 13 May 2026 under SI 213 of 2026) directly, rather than relying only on a secondary description of it, confirms this dataset's brief was right that ICT, engineering and specific healthcare roles feature heavily: under 'ICT Professionals' and 'Information Technology and Telecommunications Professionals' it names IT specialist managers, IT project/programme managers, IT business analysts/architects/systems designers, programmers and software development professionals, and web design and development professionals; under 'Engineering Professionals' it names Civil, Structural and Site, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, Design and Development, Production and Process, and Chemical Engineers, plus Material Scientists; and under 'Health Professionals', 'Therapy Professionals' and 'Nursing and Midwifery Professionals' it names Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, Radiographers, Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Speech and Language Therapists, among many others. An occupation only qualifies if it also carries a specific named specialism listed under 'Employments with Specific Skills' where the broad category requires one — appearing in a broad category alone is not always enough.