Moving to Ireland: your first weeks, in order

Is moving to Ireland easy?

It depends on your passport and on how fast you find a home. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) counted 110,600 immigrants and 62,500 emigrants in the year to April 2026, a net inflow of 48,100. Of the 5,525,600 people usually resident, 931,000 (16.8%) were non-Irish citizens, and 1,597,700 lived in Dublin (CSO, 24 August 2026). For an EU or UK citizen the paperwork is light. For a non-EU citizen it starts with a permit. For nearly everyone the hard part is the rental market, which this guide gives numbers for.

Who needs a permit, and who registers?

• EU and EEA citizens. You do not need to register with the immigration authorities or hold a residence card. You can stay up to 3 months without restriction, or 6 months while you look for a job. Beyond 3 months you must be working, have enough money and sickness insurance, be a student or be a family member of someone who is. Family members from outside the EEA must apply for residence and register (Citizens Information).
• Everyone else who works. Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) says that if you want to work in Ireland and are not from the EU, the UK or another country the page names, you need a valid employment permit or atypical permission first, and depending on your nationality a visa as well (ISD, coming to work). The Department of Enterprise says an application for any employment permit must be received at least 12 weeks before the proposed start date (Department of Enterprise). Your employer usually files it.
• Registration. If you come from outside the EU, the UK and one other European country, and stay longer than 90 days, you must register your permission with ISD (ISD). You register within 90 days; if you cannot get an appointment in that time, ISD says it will not cancel your permission while you wait. Our guide to the IRP and the PPS number has the steps.

This is an overview, not advice on your case. For a permit question, ask your employer or a lawyer. Our research found no Irish licence regime for immigration advice, which a lawyer should confirm, so ask any adviser who regulates them.

What does the first-year paperwork cost?

• IRP registration, where the fee applies: EUR 300 per person (ISD required documents).
• Exchange of a foreign driving licence: EUR 65 (Citizens Information).
• Employment permit: paid by the applicant, which means employer, employee or an authorised agent (Department of Enterprise).

The IRP fee is waived for minors under 18, spouses and civil partners of Irish citizens and some other groups, which ISD lists. We give no employment permit fee, because the fee table we found on the Department’s site is dated 2014.

Rent is the larger number. Our arithmetic for scale: two months’ rent upfront, the legal maximum, on the nationwide average two-bedroom apartment of EUR 2,204 comes to EUR 4,408 before you have lived there a day. Add the IRP fee of EUR 300 and the licence exchange of EUR 65, if both apply to you, and the first-weeks bill passes EUR 4,700 before furniture, travel or a deposit on a utility. Ask your employer which of these it pays.

What does renting cost in 2026?

The Daft.ie rental report for the second quarter of 2026, as reported by the Laois Nationalist on 24 August 2026, gives these figures (Laois Nationalist):

• an average two-bedroom apartment costs EUR 2,204 a month nationwide;
• market rents rose 1.4% across the country between March and June;
• in June, market rents were 6.5% higher than a year before in Dublin, 13% higher in Galway city, 12% in Cork and 11% in Limerick;
• on 1 August, just under 2,400 homes were available to rent nationwide. Availability in Dublin fell 18% over the year to fewer than 1,150 homes, while in the rest of the country it rose 40%.

These are secondary figures from a newspaper report, and we could not open Daft.ie’s own page. The rules for tenants changed on 1 March 2026 for new tenancies. Rent increases are capped at the lower of inflation or 2% a year, new tenancies become tenancies of minimum duration of 6 years once you have rented for 6 months without a valid notice of termination, and a landlord may re-set the rent only in certain cases (Citizens Information). On upfront payments, you cannot be forced to pay more than two months’ rent, which means a deposit of a month’s rent and a month’s rent in advance (Citizens Information). Our guide to finding a flat in Dublin walks through the search.

Which city should you start in?

Dublin has the most people and the tightest market. The Daft.ie figures above show that Galway city (+13%), Cork (+12%) and Limerick (+11%) rose faster in the year to June than Dublin (+6.5%), and that availability outside Dublin grew 40% while Dublin’s fell 18%. The report’s author said the extra cost of renting in Dublin compared with the rest of the country has fallen to its lowest level on record (Laois Nationalist). So a job in Dublin does not oblige you to live in the city, and a commute from a town nearby is an option to price. We found no official commute figures and give none. Where your employer is matters more than any national average.

What do I do in the first weeks?

1. Before you leave. Non-EU: your employer files the employment permit at least 12 weeks before the start date, and you apply for a visa if your nationality needs one. You cannot get a PPS number yet.
2. On arrival. Book your IRP registration appointment, which you can only do after you arrive, at ISD’s Registration Office at 13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2. Bring your documents and proof of address.
3. Find an address. A tenancy agreement, a utility bill, a bank statement, an official letter or confirmation from a hotel can all serve as proof of address for a PPS number, if dated within 3 months (Citizens Information). A hotel letter works while you search.
4. Apply for a PPS number. Online on MyWelfare with a basic MyGovID account, then an in-person appointment; the number comes by post. Your employer asks for it only when you take up the job.
5. Open a bank account. You need photo ID and proof of address less than 6 months old. An Irish Residence Permit counts as photo ID (Citizens Information).
6. Sort your licence. Check the recognised-states list. A licence from a recognised state can be exchanged for EUR 65, within 1 year of its expiry, with your PPS number and photo ID. You are normally resident if you live in Ireland at least 185 days in a calendar year (Citizens Information).

How long does it all take?

The sourced times, in one place:

• Employment permit: file at least 12 weeks before the start date.
• Registration: within 90 days of arriving; appointments open only once you are in Ireland, the visit takes no longer than 30 minutes, and the IRP card arrives by post, which ISD says is within 10 working days (ISD).
• PPS number: apply once you are here; we found no official processing time.
• Proof of address for a PPS application: not older than 3 months.
• Licence exchange: within 1 year of the licence’s expiry date.

In practice the first month is built around two dates: the day you land and the day your IRP card arrives. Everything that needs your address is easier once you have a lease or a hotel letter.

What about health care?

EEA and UK nationals, and anyone ordinarily resident in Ireland, are entitled to the same public health care as Irish citizens. Depending on income you may be eligible for a medical card. If you are from outside those groups, check with ISD whether you need private health insurance, and read the list of documents for your stamp, since some require private medical insurance. Private treatment must be paid for in full, or through private insurance (Citizens Information). We did not research private plans, and ReloFinder gives no insurance advice.

When does a relocation agent help?

Housing is the main reason, then the paperwork order above. EuRA’s directory listed 10 destination service providers in Ireland in our research on 6 October 2026 (EuRA). We found no Irish relocation association. See what a relocation agency costs in Ireland, how to choose a relocation agent in Dublin and the settling-in guide. To see agencies, get matched or open the Ireland directory. How we rank explains the order.

What we could not source

We did not research the salary thresholds of each employment permit, the Stamp categories beyond the IRP guide, importing a car, bringing pets, tax or the school system beyond the guides above. The Daft.ie figures are secondary. We found no official figure for how long a PPS number takes. This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice.