IRP Registration Ireland and How to Get Your PPS Number as a New Arrival

You land at Dublin Airport with your Critical Skills Employment Permit approved and your visa stamped. The immigration officer at the border marks your passport and tells you to register with Immigration Service Delivery within 90 days. That is the start of a process that, if you do not handle it correctly, can delay your salary payments, block your bank account, and put you on emergency tax at 40% of gross income.

Here is what the first 90 days actually look like, and what you need to do in what order.

Step One: Book Your IRP Appointment Before You Arrive

The Irish Residence Permit is the physical card — credit card sized, with your photograph, that proves you are legally resident in Ireland. Without it, you cannot get a PPS number. Without a PPS number, you cannot be on payroll correctly, open most bank accounts, or access public services.

The bottleneck is appointments. In early 2025, the responsibility for all first-time immigration registrations nationwide shifted to Immigration Service Delivery (ISD). All first-time applicants — regardless of which county they live in — must attend an in-person appointment at:

ISD Registration Office 13/14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2

Appointments are booked through the Digital Contact Centre (DCC) portal (irishimmigration.ie). Slots are released on a rolling 90-day basis. They fill within hours of being released. The practical implication: book your appointment the moment your employment permit is approved, before you have a start date, before you book flights. If you wait until you land, the earliest available slot may be weeks away — eating into your 90-day registration window.

What to Bring to the Burgh Quay Appointment

Arrive with the following documents. Missing any one of them can result in your appointment being rescheduled, which means booking another slot in the same competitive queue.

• Passport with the permit endorsement stamp
• The approval letter for your Critical Skills Employment Permit
• Your signed employment contract
• Proof of address in Ireland — a signed lease agreement or a utility bill in your name
• Two passport-sized photographs
• Payment of €300 (credit or debit card only — cash is not accepted)

The address requirement is where most people hit problems. If you are staying in corporate housing, a hotel, or temporary accommodation, these addresses will not be accepted for IRP registration without additional documentation.

If you are in corporate housing: Request a formal Letter of Residence from the housing provider that identifies the specific property and confirms you are residing there. Pair this with a utility bill for that address. This combination is generally accepted by ISD, but call ahead to confirm they will accept it for your specific situation.

If you are staying with friends or family: Get a letter from the property owner confirming you are residing there, plus a utility bill from that address. Your name does not need to be on the utility bill, but the address must match.

After the Appointment: Waiting for Your IRP Card

Following a successful appointment, your IRP card is posted to your Irish address within 10–15 business days. While you wait, you have a record of the appointment — keep this with you, as it demonstrates you have completed registration even before the card arrives.

Your IRP card shows your Stamp type. As a Critical Skills Employment Permit holder, you will receive Stamp 1 on your first card.

Step Two: Apply for Your PPS Number

A Personal Public Service number is a unique 7-digit identifier you need to work legally in Ireland, access the healthcare system, open most bank accounts, pay taxes, and access government services.

The application is digital, through MyWelfare.ie, but it requires a "Verified MyGovID" account — and this can only be set up once you have:

1. Your IRP card (in hand, not just booked)
2. An Irish mobile phone number
3. A verified Irish address

There is a hard dependency chain here: permit → IRP appointment → IRP card in hand → MyGovID verification → PPS number application. You cannot shortcut this sequence.

What happens without a PPS number: The moment you start work, Revenue needs your PPS number to put you on the correct tax credits and rate. If your employer cannot register your PPS number before your first pay run, you are placed on Emergency Tax. Under emergency tax in 2026, Revenue withholds up to 40% of your gross salary until your PPS number is registered. This can mean losing several hundred or even thousands of euros from your first paycheck that you will need to reclaim later.

The reclaim process works — Revenue will return the overpaid tax once your PPS number is active — but it can take weeks, and in the meantime you are short a significant portion of your income at the exact moment you are paying deposits, buying furniture, and setting up a new household.

The Sequence That Minimises Delays

Your Spouse's Registration

Your spouse or de facto partner follows the same Burgh Quay appointment process. Their IRP card will show Stamp 1G, which gives them unrestricted work rights in Ireland from day one. They also need their own PPS number, which follows the same sequence — their own IRP card, their own MyGovID, their own PPS application.

Children under 16 do not need an IRP card and reside on your permission. At age 16 they must register and typically receive Stamp 3.

Registering Your IRP Renewal

Your initial IRP card is valid for the duration of your employment permit, typically two years. Renewal applications must be submitted at least six weeks before expiry. Renewal applications for those outside Dublin can in some circumstances be handled through local immigration offices after the first-time registration — check irishimmigration.ie for current guidance, as this has changed several times in recent years.

Do not let your IRP card lapse. An expired card can create complications when applying for your Stamp 4 at the 21-month mark, as you need a currently valid card as part of that application.

The Ireland Critical Skills Employment Permit Guide includes a post-arrival timeline covering the IRP, PPS, bank account, and tax registration steps in order, with the specific forms and portal links for each.

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