Global uncertainty, local consequences: Employee relocations to Ireland

At a glance

• Global geopolitical instability and changing personal circumstances are prompting employees to reconsider where they live and work.
• For employers, employee relocations raise a range of immigration, employment and tax considerations that should be assessed at an early stage.

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Ongoing geopolitical instability brings varied employment-related implications, including employees:

• Being required to utilise force majeure leave.
• Submitting remote or flexible working requests.
• Finding themselves unexpectedly abroad and not able to travel back to their normal working location due to travel restrictions and / or flight cancellations.  

Another significant impact is the growing volume of relocation requests, particularly within global organisations where employees may seek to return to their home country or to be based in a different office location. Further, in certain circumstances, national embassies may call on citizens to leave newly emerging conflict zones, prompting necessary business realignments. 

There are three primary pillars for employers to consider pursuant to a relocation request:

• Immigration.
• Employment.
• Tax.

Immigration

For employees moving (or returning) to Ireland, it will be necessary to assess that individual's right to enter, work and live in Ireland. 

Right to reside, work and live in Ireland

Irish, UK, EEA and Swiss nationals are generally entitled to reside, work and live within Ireland, without submitting any advance application. 

Visa required / non-visa required

Certain nationalities can enter Ireland without an entry visa, whereas others must have been granted an entry visa before entering the State. Employers should review the Department of Justice website to ascertain whether an entry visa or pre-clearance is required: Visa & Non-Visa Required Nationalities - Immigration Service Delivery.

Note an entry visa only provides permission to enter. It does not:

• provide an entitlement to reside in the State; nor
• confer permission to work.

Residence permission and / or permission to work is conferred in the form of 'stamps' and / or employment permits.  

Employment permits are role specific and are issued for particular employers, job functions and salary levels. An employment permit does not of itself grant a right to reside in Ireland and permit holders need to separately register with Irish Immigration for their residency permission / stamp.

The most common types of employment permits are outlined below. The salary thresholds changed at the start of March 2026; you can access our Genie article on that update here.

Critical Skills Permit

The role must either (1) have a salary of EUR40,904 or more and be on the 'Critical Skills List' or (2) have a salary of EUR68,911 or more per annum and not be on the 'Ineligible Occupations List'.

Holders of this type of permit are permitted to have their immediate family members join them in Ireland (subject to entry visa requirements). Partners / Spouses of a Critical Skills Permit Holder are granted Stamp 1G permission which enables them to live and work in Ireland. 

General Employment Permit

To be eligible for this type of permit, the applicant must be earning EUR36,605 or more per annum (subject to some exceptions). The applicant must possess the relevant qualifications, skills or experience that are required for the employment. It may be necessary to satisfy a Labour Market Needs Test. General Employment Permit holders are not entitled to have their immediate family members join them until they have completed one year of employment on their permit in the State. 

Intra-Company Transfer Permit

This permit is designed to facilitate the temporary transfer (secondment) of senior or key employees from an overseas company to its Irish branch. It enables the employee in question to stay on foreign payroll, and it is not necessary to place the employees on an Irish employment contract. Holders of this type of permit are permitted to have their immediate family members join them in Ireland (subject to entry visa requirements).

Applicants may be granted a maximum period of up to 24 months for the first permit, which may be extended up to a maximum stay of five years.

Localisation requirements

Generally, an employment permit will not issue unless at the time of application at least 50% of the employees in the employing entity are EEA / UK / Swiss nationals. This is known as the 50:50 rule. 

Once an employment permit has been secured, it may be necessary for the individual to obtain an entry visa so that they can travel to Ireland. Following their arrival in Ireland they must complete the second stage of the process by obtaining residency permission from the Immigration Service Delivery. Without this registration, the individual does not have lawful residence status, even if an employment permit has already been granted. 

It is worth highlighting that while employment permits do not of themselves confer residency entitlements, certain residency permissions do of themselves confer the right to work in Ireland.  

Employment

Relocating an employee to Ireland requires consideration of a number of elements from an employment law perspective including:

• Employing entity: Will the employee be engaged through an Irish entity, or a remote working arrangement through the current entity? Alternatively, employees may be engaged through an Employer of Record arrangement.
• Duration: For example, is this a temporary arrangement pursuant to the conflict only so that the employer can require the employee to return to their current work location in future?
• Minimum employment obligations: Employees residing and working from Ireland are ordinarily subject to Irish employment laws and protections, including the right to be protected from unfair dismissal after one year’s continuous service, protections from discrimination, statutory rest breaks and statutory leave entitlements.
• Employment contract: Employers are required to notify employees in writing of certain core employment terms within five days of employment commencing and to provide a full written statement of terms within one month of employment commencing. 

Tax

First rule - ensure your tax teams are aware of any such relocations.

Typically, where an employee carries out the duties of their employment in Ireland, their employing entity (regardless of where it is resident) is obliged to register as an employer with the Irish Revenue Commissioners and operate payroll tax on all salary and most benefits in kind provided to employees. If the employing entity is not incorporated in Ireland, it must register as a foreign employer for payroll tax purposes.

It will be necessary to assess what tax implications there are for the employing entity should an employee be relocated to Ireland and this must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis due to differing jurisdictional requirements. 

Permanent establishment

Where there is no employing entity in Ireland, and employees relocate here, there is a risk of creating a permanent establishment for corporation tax purposes. Consideration will be given to the individual’s importance to the strategic direction of the company (eg are they making high-level decisions?). Again, specific tax advice should be sought on this point. 

Liabilities

Employers should be aware that it is a criminal offence to employ an individual without the appropriate working permission in place. Fines of up to EUR250,000 can be issued and employers can be sentenced to up to ten years’ imprisonment.

If you have employees considering relocating to Ireland, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your usual DLA Piper Ireland contact. Our Global Mobility team can assist with all aspects of employee relocations. For further details, see here.