Work in Ireland as a foreign doctor, nurse or AHP (2026)

• IMCIrish Medical Council

  Doctors

  How to register with the IMC

• NMBINursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland

  Nurses and midwives

  How to register with the NMBI

• CORUCORU, Health and Social Care Professionals Council

  Allied health and social care professions

  How to register with the CORU

• PSIPharmaceutical Society of Ireland

  Pharmacists

  How to register with the PSI

• Dental CouncilDental Council of Ireland

  Dentists

  Read the registration guide

• PHECCPre-Hospital Emergency Care Council

  Paramedics, advanced paramedics and emergency medical technicians

  How to register with the PHECC

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   1. Find your regulator and check you can apply

   Read the recognition route for qualifications gained outside Ireland on your regulator's website: NMBI, IMC, CORU, PSI, the Dental Council or PHECC. Most regulators compare your training with Irish and EU standards, so you need your full transcript and syllabus, not only your degree certificate. NMBI, for example, says a nursing or midwifery programme shorter than three years without an extra course is unlikely to meet the threshold even for a compensation measure.
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   2. Prove your English

   Each regulator sets its own English rules. NMBI and the Dental Council accept IELTS Academic and OET at set scores, and NMBI does not accept combined results, IELTS One Skill Retake, IELTS online or OET at home. Test results usually need to be less than two years old when the regulator looks at them, so time your test carefully.
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   3. Apply for recognition of your qualification

   You apply online, upload certified copies of your documents with certified translations, and pay the recognition fee. Certificates of good standing (NMBI calls them a Certificate of Current Professional Status) must usually be recent; NMBI asks for one issued in the last six months from every jurisdiction where you practised. Incomplete files are the most common cause of delay, and NMBI closes recognition applications if missing documents are not provided within six months.
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   4. Complete any compensation measure or exam

   If your training differs from Irish standards, the regulator may ask you to complete a compensation measure. For nurses this is an RCSI aptitude test (general and psychiatric nursing only) or a supervised period of adaptation of at least six weeks in an approved Irish hospital; midwives and other divisions complete adaptation. Doctors may need the IMC's PRES exams and non-EEA dentists sit the Dental Council examination.
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   5. Register

   Once your qualification is recognised, you make a registration application, provide any remaining evidence (such as English) and pay the registration fee. Only then can you practise under the protected title. Keep your registration active by paying the annual fee and meeting continuing competence requirements.
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   6. Get a job offer

   Apply to the HSE, voluntary hospitals or private employers. Many employers interview while recognition is in progress, and some offer posts during the adaptation period, paid on specific HSE grades for nurses awaiting registration. Read the offer for the contract length, because a Critical Skills Employment Permit needs a job offer of at least two years.
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   7. Get your employment permit

   You or your employer apply to the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment on Employment Permits Online, at least 12 weeks before the proposed start date. Most registered health professionals qualify for the Critical Skills Employment Permit; other roles may need a General Employment Permit. The fee for either permit for 6 to 24 months is €1,000, with 90% refunded if the application is refused.
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   8. Apply for your visa and travel

   If you are a visa-required national, you apply for a long stay employment visa after the permit is granted, up to 3 months before you travel, from the country where you live. Bring your original permit and supporting documents, because an immigration officer at the border decides on entry. If you are not visa-required you still go through immigration control on arrival.
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   9. Register your immigration permission and plan your next stage

   If you stay more than 90 days you must register your immigration permission and receive an Irish Residence Permit. After 21 months of employment on a Critical Skills Employment Permit you can apply for Stamp 4; on a General Employment Permit the qualifying period is 57 months. Keep your registration with your regulator and your immigration permission renewed on time, because gaps do not count towards long-term residence or citizenship.

• Each regulator sets its own English requirement. Passing a test for your regulator is separate from immigration rules, which do not set a general English test for employment permit holders.
• NMBI (nurses and midwives): IELTS Academic overall 7.0, with at least 7.0 in any three components and 6.5 in any one component; or OET with grade B in three components and C+ in one. Results must be less than two years old, from a single sitting. NMBI does not accept combined results, IELTS One Skill Retake, IELTS online or OET at home.
• NMBI exemptions: training in English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States or the United Kingdom, or 3 years of post-registration practice in the last five years in one of those countries.
• Dental Council (dentists): the Dental Council lists English proficiency for the registration examination as OET or IELTS with a minimum of 7.0 or B in all modules.
• IMC (doctors), CORU (health and social care professionals), PSI (pharmacists) and PHECC set their own accepted tests and scores. Check the regulator's English language page before you book, because scores, validity and exemptions differ.
• Plan for the two-year validity window: if your recognition, compensation measure and registration take longer than expected, a test that was valid when you applied may have expired by the time you register.

• Critical Skills Employment Permit

  For occupations on the Critical Skills Occupations List, which includes medical practitioners, registered nurses, registered midwives, pharmacists, radiographers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians and medical scientists. You need a job offer of at least 2 years. DETE's permit page sets the minimum at €40,904 a year with a relevant degree (€36,848 if you qualified in the previous 12 months), but where the role is in the public sector and covered by a public sector pay agreement, including Section 38 employers, the pay is the agreement rate. For nurses and midwives, the qualification must be one NMBI accepts for registration. No labour market needs test applies. The fee is €1,000, with 90% refunded if refused.

  Read the guide

• General Employment Permit

  For eligible occupations not on the Critical Skills list, or job offers shorter than 2 years. DETE sets the minimum annual remuneration at €36,605 in general, and €32,691 for health care assistants and home support workers. A labour market needs test applies unless the role is on the Critical Skills list or another exemption applies. The fee is €500 for up to 6 months or €1,000 for 6 to 24 months; renewals cost €750 or €1,500. Since 15 May 2024, Immigration Service Delivery registers eligible spouses and partners of General Employment Permit holders who have been granted family reunification on Stamp 1G, so they can work without their own employment permit.

• Doctors: Stamp 1H

  Irish Immigration Service Delivery gives Stamp 1H to doctors holding a two-year Multi-Site General Employment Permit to work as a non-consultant hospital doctor (NCHD) in any public hospital or health care facility. It says these doctors have similar benefits to Critical Skills holders, and the same conditions apply to them and their families.

• Entry visa and immigration registration

  You must have the employment permit before you apply for an employment visa. You can apply up to 3 months before travel, and processing times vary by country. If you stay more than 90 days you must register with immigration and receive an Irish Residence Permit; DETE says delays in registering can affect later applications for long-term residence or citizenship.

• Family: spouses and partners

  Critical Skills Employment Permit holders can apply for immediate family reunification. A spouse or de facto partner of a Critical Skills holder may be given Stamp 1G, which allows them to work without an employment permit; Stamp 1G is renewed annually. General Employment Permit holders have more limited family reunification rights, but since 15 May 2024 their eligible spouses and partners who are granted family reunification are also registered on Stamp 1G. Check the Join Family pages at irishimmigration.ie.

• Stamp 4 and long-term residence

  After 21 months of employment on a Critical Skills Employment Permit you apply directly to the Department of Justice for Stamp 4, without a support letter since 30 November 2023. It is granted for 2 years and renewable, and lets you live and work without an employment permit. General Employment Permit holders can apply after 57 months. After 60 months of legal residence on employment permits you can apply for long-term residence; the permission fee is €500, plus the registration fee.

Public health service pay follows the HSE's consolidated salary scales. These are the annual basic rates effective from 1 June 2026, after the 1% increase under the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026. The top figures include long service increments where the scale shows them. Allowances (such as the nurses' location allowance of €2,798 and specialist qualification allowance of €4,204) and premium pay for nights, weekends and on-call are extra. Private employers set their own pay.

Pay for your profession: Doctors · Nurses · Midwives · Dentists · Pharmacists · Physiotherapists